Oil be honest, the UAE surprised me

I spent a few nights in Abu Dhabi with a friend and his very hospitable and generous family. In preparation and while there I learned a lot about the UAE and the region. I had never been anywhere near here before, and I flew over most of the height and width of Iran from Azerbaijan and then back to Prague. I doubt that Iran is somewhere I’ll ever visit on the ground, so it was enthralling to watch the Iranian cities and towns pass by below.

With respect to the UAE, I learned that there are seven emirates in the country, each with its own leadership, and Abu Dhabi is in fact the capital of the UAE. Each emirate has its own head city of the same name, and Abu Dhabi as an emirate is by far the largest and richest (from oil), not Dubai. Dubai is the most populated and most well-known emirate and city, and it makes up for its lack of oil by focusing on business development and tourism. There’s even a part of one emirate inside an exclave of Oman within the UAE – how crazy is that?

Historically the emirates were sparsely populated given the harsh conditions which don’t support life well. There are in fact no major bodies of fresh water in the entire country. Only in modern times with electricity, air conditioning, and water desalination has it been feasible to support a large population. But to enable the fast growth that the country is experiencing (Dubai and Abu Dhabi primarily), the UAE has had to rely on immigration, and in fact native citizens now only number around 11% of the total population! Millions of foreigners, primarily south Asians, have flocked to the UAE to help to construct all the countless new buildings and to work in the huge service industry. There are way more Indians than Emiratis in the country.

There have been, and continue to be, reports of human rights abuses by employers who recruit and then overwork the newcomers, particularly in construction, but also in service. Many call on the UAE government to do more, and accuse the leadership of turning a blind eye to the mistreatment and to the confiscation of passports.

During my short visit I packed a lot in, but only really explored Abu Dhabi and Dubai. As for Dubai, it’s a fascinating place to visit, like Las Vegas, but it’s not somewhere I’d personally want to spend much more time in. Picture a really spread-out New York City pretending to be Orlando, but plopped into the Arabian desert. I much preferred Abu Dhabi, where the pace was slower, things seemed more “genuine”, and there were attractions that weren’t just about being the largest or tallest or some other superlative. All that said, Dubai, with the Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Dubai Fountain, Palm Jumeirah, Museum of the Future, Dubai Frame, and Global Village, is a transfixing and unique destination.

While the UAE is known for having some relatively strict rules, I saw very few police evident.

Some example DON’Ts from the article above:

1. Critique on social media, even just another person.

2. Swear, use profanities or make rude gestures in public, as this can be treated as an obscene act.

3. Display open affection (kissing, hugging). In some cases, even holding hands in public is risky (especially if you are not married).

4. Dance in public (outside licensed clubs or private homes) or play loud music in public places like beaches or parks.

5. Share a hotel room with someone of the opposite sex if you aren’t married or closely related — this is technically an offence for unmarried couples.

6. Photograph women in public without their consent or behave in a way that disrespects religious beliefs/practices.

7. Bring in certain medicines without permission. Before traveling there I made sure to get rid of all the pseudoephedrine I had for congestion I was dealing with, because possessing pseudoephedrine is a no-no.

There are numerous negative stories about the UAE, and about Dubai in particular, but many of these turn out to be untrue, like that the Burj Khalifa, one of the very most advanced engineering projects ever, doesn’t have a sewer system and so relies on “poop trucks” to ship out its daily waste.

But some of the bad things are fact, such as the destruction of underwater ecosystems to create fake islands, now sinking, in the gulf. And a downside of being in a desert environment is the dust storms. One had blown in just before my arrival, and the large particulate matter hung in the air for days, leading to extremely poor air quality:

And in another strange story, UAE head Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s daughter, Princess Latifa, once unsuccessfully tried to escape the UAE, but was caught and then disappeared for years.

On a more positive note, there are so many ongoing developments and mega-projects in the UAE, it’s mind-blowing. Here are some which have already been completed:

And there are countless Instagrammable locations!

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Here’s an example nighttime Dubai Fountain water and light show. It’s not the song we saw, as there are multiple different shows offered (for free).

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BBC’s telling of Abu Dhabi’s rag to riches story:

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Today’s dad joke:

Why do Emiratis build such huge buildings?

Because their hands are too sheikh-y to construct miniatures!