The streets are emptying in Dubai, which is great if you are trying to get around that city by town. Scientists reckon that at this rate, by July there will be approximately 1 mall for every 8 people. That is not a reflection on the how few people there will be left but more on how many malls there are in that town.
A while ago, a guy I know told me that the reason you never see the Burj Al Arab photographed from front on, out at sea, is because the design features the largest cross in the Middle East. That’s why I was surprised to see this shot on the front page of The National, Abu Dhabi’s main newspaper. You can see for yourself, it does look like a cross. But it also looks like the mast of a ship, which is the theme of the design. According to my ‘source’ he reckons it was done on purpose by the architect. Some kind of subversive Christian plan…. Not so sure. For my money the greatest crime perpetrated by the Burj Al Arab is the interior decorating. Imagine Lenny Kravitz and Hugh Hefner set up an interior decorating company. That’s the look they have captured so well. That might be why they don’t let the general public do walk in’s.
This is a weird place. It is like a nation on steroids. Well, oil actually. Everything happens in a hurry here. Prices and buildings go up faster than anywhere else in the world and the speed thing transfers onto the roads too.
You know how in a normal country if it starts raining, people slow down a bit? Not here. Rain just means people want to get where they are going faster. Fog is a similar story. A Lebonese mate of mine who is a speed nut explained why he drove home at night in thick fog at over 170 K’s in the fastlane. He said if he went any slower he risked being run into from behind by a speeding car…I’ve already picked out the black shirt for his funeral.
The main drag between Dubai and Abu Dhabi is almost as dangerous as the road from Baghdad airport. The speed limit in the UAE seems to be a rough guide only. Or that’s how everyone treats it.
So I’m barreling along at 160 in my little rental car, thinking I am truckin and suddenly a large white four by four screams into the rear view mirror with his lights flashing, which is the Emirate sign for ‘get out of my way, my Lexus is 2 months old and I have to get to the dealer and trade it in’.
The speeding local races past and as I watch him ripping up the fast lane with his chunky tread at 180, I think to myself, there goes an impatient driver…until, a few seconds later, he is overtaken on the outside, on that spare bit of road between the lane marking and the crash barrier, by a guy in another 4x4 going about 215.
This is a typical drive from Abu to Dubai, so it’s no surprise that like their buildings and indoor ski fields, when the Emeraties have a car crash, they make it the biggest in the world.
Cars only burst into flames in crashes, in two places. The movies and the UAE. It happens all the time, but this morning’s bash and burn was big, even by UAE standards. Over 200 cars. Here’s a link taken by some rubber neckers a few hours after the carnage. ff to around the 6 min mark to see the real wrecks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-RbMT5DJpY
