MUMBLINGS October 19, 2006

As many of you know, for decades I have been writing about my travels and several other subjects. It has been my policy never to write about any place that I have not personally visited. However, I am going to make an exception to this.

The last several months I have been hearing a lot of comments about one of the Emirates in the Persian Gulf, Dubai, which is located east of Saudia Arabia. In fact, I have heard so many amazing things about the little small island that my traveling partner, Matt Metcalfe and I have decided to visit it as soon as practical. The weather is hot there now. Hopefully, we will go there later this year or the first of next year.

In the meantime, let me tell you a little something about Dubai. It is one of the Emirates that makes up the Seven United Arab Emirates in the Persian Gulf.

A few years ago, it was my privilege to visit one of the Emirates, Byrain. It was very interesting. Chic Mohammad, who was the brother of the ruler, invited me to his palace and also invited me to stay in his downtown hotel, which was beautiful.

He was an interesting person and sent his limousine downtown to bring me to his palace. Upon entering, several Arabs in their white garbs lined up on either side of the entrance, led me down to where he was sitting on his thrown. We got along well, he could talk fairly good English and he wanted to talk to me further that afternoon. He came to his hotel where I was staying and we talked a while longer. Like most Arabs, he says that camels are one of the greatest animals on earth, giving them transportation, clothing, milk and food. He also had some beautiful Arabian horses and he gave me one, but I had no way to bring it home.

Anyway, Dubai is one of these Emirates, which is actually one country, but each island has its own ruler.

Dubai has a population of 1,241,000, is the most populous and second largest Emirate in the United Arab Emirates after Abu Dhabi. Dubai is distinct because revenues from oil account for only six percent of its gross domestic product. A majority of the Emirate's revenues are from tourism. With enormous construction and development in various industries, Dubai has attracted world attention through innovative real estate projects, sports events, conferences and Guinness records.

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The official language is Arabic. However, English, German, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Persian, Urdu and Tagalog are also widely spoken.

The current ruler of Dubai is H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Like the preceding ruler, his older brother H.H Sheikh Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, he is also the Vice President and the Prime Minister of the UAE.

The government's decision to diversify from a trade-based oil reliant economy to one that is service and tourism oriented has made real estate more valuable, resulting in the property boom from 2004-2006. Construction on a large scale has made Dubai to be known as one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

The property boom is largely driven by big projects. Land is so expensive, they are building more by filling in some of the adjoining Persian Gulf.

In February 2005, the construction of Dubai Waterfront was announced… it will be 21/2 times the size of Washington D.C., roughly seven times the size of the island of Manhattan. It will be a mix of canals and islands full of hotels and residential areas that will add 500 miles of man-made waterfront. It will also contain their second tallest building in the world. This is just one of the new real estate projects announced at this time.

Oil reserves in Dubai are less than one twentieth that of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Dubai maintained its importance as a trade route through the 1970s and 1980s. Today, Dubai is an important tourist destination and port, but also increasingly developing as a hub for service industries.

See you again soon, I hope.