Our first impression of Dubai was the expanse of it all, it is like Texas in that everything is bigger. If there is a master plan for this Emirate it certainly expects to be massive in time. The airport is huge, the highways through the city are 8 lanes in each direction and there are huge plots in the desert which contain nothing at the moment but the advertising signs are already erected boasting of yet another golf course, shopping complex and housing development to come.
This is old Dubai on the creek, where the dhows still off load cargo by hand. It is hard to imagine that 30 years ago the strip of coastline just a mile from this souk was nothing but sand. Now it is virtually solid concrete and tarmac for probably 20 miles. No expense has been spared in building the most modern shopping malls, chrome, steel and glass high rise buildings, fountains, gardens, golf courses and even an indoor ski slope.
This is Dubai Marina taken from the Crescent, a boulevard which circles the extremities of The Palm. It is not downtown but merely one neighbourhood of the city linked to the main business district and airport by an elevated train system and the highway network.
Dubai is an exciting, happening place. It has many similarities to Miami: glitzy and extravagant, containing every brand of luxury car, jewelry and fashion on the planet. Food is very good, wine prices are extortionate. However, it is also a place of extreme waste and clearly at this point in time there is little concern for the consumption of oil, recycling or food availability, people here are clearly living it up.
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