I don’t think many people had even heard of Dubai at (say) the time of Zimbabwean independence in 1980 and I for one never saw any reason why I should ever get there on my travels.
Column by Dusty Miller
(I did know of its existence through collecting the stamps of the old British Empire, when Dubai was one of the Trucial States whose postal material was either very dull or pictorially bright and interesting, with nothing in between.)
Times change, and in the past three years alone I’ve flown and cruised in and out of the spectacular duty — and tax-free port, now a major international travel hub, some 16 times.
Usually airline passengers are on the ground there only a short time, often in the wee hours, and the most they see of this thriving city-state is its mouthwatering Aladdin’s Cave duty-free shopping sprawling over several hectares at the ever growing and pulsating Dubai (DXB) international airport.
On one occasion, I flew in from Jo’burg and out to London Heathrow within two hours, kicking myself when I heard a tannoy announcing that the next flight by Emirates was to Glasgow. I was desperately short of time and had to get to Edinburgh (expensively by British Midlands International) to catch a lift to Aberdeen for an important family event. When I booked, Emirates didn’t fly to Glasgow, which would have been more economical and saved hours. Since then, the Gulf airline has also added Newcastle to its growing list of destinations. You can reach Edinburgh from Newcastle-upon-Tyne or Glasgow cheaply by road or train in under an hour!
I toyed with the idea of visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Adelaide, South Australia, for Christmas/New Year, but when I checked flight quotations in September it was a bit over my budget, flying through eitherPerth, Melbourne or Sydney.
Suddenly, in late November, when listlessly Googling flight prices, fares had dropped substantially. Why? I asked myself, half expecting a peak season increase: because Emirates had launched a direct flight to Adelaide on November 1.
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Good on them, I thought, scurrying to book before the “bargain” price increased.
Faced with a 19 hour 10 minute wait in Dubai, I wasn’t fazed because there’s just so much to see, do and buy there. Also Emirates provide a free hotel room and transfers to passengers facing delays of more than eight hours. (Travelling from Harare or Lusaka to Dublin, Ireland, the wait is 23 hours 50 minutes!)
Due to changed circumstances, I spent the best part of two nights in Dubai before continuing my journey of adventure to the Antipodes, booking into the Le Meridien, which is close to the airport and offers a free luxury 4WD transfer service. Trip Advisor currently ranks this 37th out of 453 hotels in Dubai. Another 100 luxury hotels are planned. Clearly a Gulf growth sector.
I had very mixed feelings about Le Meridien: the sparkling swimming pools and colourful, fragrant garden, alive with birds including scores of cheeky Indian mynahs, were delightful. I ate only in the buffet, which was one of the finest I’ve sampled anywhere on my travels over many decades.
Staff were pleasant but apparently under-trained and not too knowledgeable about the outfit’s operations. The room was fine, but nothing to rave about, especially as my previous stay in a swish luxury hotel was at the breathtakingly lavishly plush Taj Hotel, Cape Town.
Unexpectedly, they offered me free late check-out at noon, which seemed a bit pointless when their computer records would have shown them I was flying at 2am, so would need to leave by midnight! Perversely, they surcharged about US$80 for early check-in. Obviously, when a flight lands at 6am, folk want to be in their rooms by 7am or 8am at the latest! They certainly don’t want to hang around in the heat of the Persian Gulf for the usual 2pm check-in! Especially if their onward flight leaves at (say) 3pm!
I had just stepped out of a great and refreshing shower when the doorbell rang. Swathed in fluffy white Turkish towels I opened it to find a young Asian man who wanted to clean the room. “Eh?” I said. “I just moved in 45 minutes ago, but I’m off for breakfast in half an hour if you need to give it a swift going over.”
That was the last the room saw of any cleaners until at least 10pm the next day! But after exciting hours spent touring the old and new Dubai, shopping (if you’re pushed for time buy EVERYTHING at Carrefour a French-based chain of mega superstores operating throughout the Gulf: much cheaper than airport duty-free) revelling in a thrilling 4WD desert safari, including falconry and wonderful belly-dancing and touring the Emirates Airways catering kitchens, I was too tired to care much!
Breakfasts and supper from the buffet eaten on a marble stoep overlooking the swimming pools were stupendous, especially when coming from a land-locked African state. I ate fish: smoked salmon, kippers, smoked trout, prawns, crabs, clams, mussels, calamari and octopus until they were coming out of my ears!
Top chefs give hands-on gourmet cooking lessons in a state-of-the-art brushed steel kitchen just off the buffet stoep and there are more than a dozen in-hotel speciality restaurants other than the buffet. They obviously had several functions rooms because an amazingly opulent Arab wedding reception, which looked like something out of Bollywood, was taking place as I debussed from the safari vehicle to quickly shower, finish packing, check-out (14 hours before my time was up) and head for the airport, en route to Australia.
Dusty Miller travelled to Australia, via Dubai, on Emirates, at his own expense but was up-graded.
Continued next week.
- dustym@zimind/co.zw
