Dubai

28.11.-04.12.2023

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What a contrast! A moment ago we were cycling along gravel roads through the heat and solitude of the Al Qudra desert, spending the night with our tent secretly but undisturbed at the idyllic Flamingo Lake and now we are approaching – visible from afar through the haze – the imposing skyline of Dubai, the most populous of the seven emirates, which will celebrate the 52nd anniversary of their unification into the UAE in a few days’ time, on National Day on 2 December.

However, the route into the urban area leads well before the city over the superbly developed ‘Dubai Cycling Course’, which is surrounded by carefully laid out and maintained green areas. The short challenge of the only 5% gradient is replaced by the admiration of the architectural splendour of a bridge reserved for cyclists, which crosses a sprawling motorway junction in an elegant sweep without a crossing.

Suddenly, however, this cycle route ends in front of a six-lane highway that is only halfway legal to cross, and we are already immersed in the dense and fast-moving car traffic, which we don’t find particularly difficult to integrate into given the considerate driving style that prevails here; the repeated need to cross several lanes that divide in different directions nevertheless requires a certain amount of courage and trust in God and is not completely stress-free.

Immediate relaxation is offered by arriving at the spacious, inviting Jumeriah Beach, whose temptation we cannot resist and where we rinse off our desert dust and sweat in the refreshing waves of the Persian Gulf. So we enjoy the onward journey, which leads almost exclusively along the beach, and easily find our elegant Airbnb accommodation in Business Bay, the starting point for exploring the city, which is so rich in superlatives. Here are some highlights:

• The beautiful iconic building in the shape of a sail, the ‘Burj Arab’, which was still outside the city when I last visited Dubai almost a quarter of a century ago and is now surrounded by dense development.

• Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall – both complexes for which the term ‘shopping centre’ is an absolutely inaccurate, almost inadmissible description. Instead, they almost fulfil the function of a complete, self-contained, fully air-conditioned and secure community, offering practically all the functions, facilities and amenities required for a luxurious life in a fabulous world of total affluence, untouched by the hardship of reality outside. No doubt a welcome refuge for the wealthy in the Emirates, especially during the hot summer months.

• In addition to the outlets and branches of all international luxury brands, the gold and diamond jewellery boutiques and the up to three-digit number of restaurants, a wide range of amusement and entertainment attractions are also part of the almost bewildering spectrum of offerings. The indoor ice rink and ski slopes of Dubai Ski with live penguins are certainly an outstanding example, as is the Underwater Aquarium with its underwater zoo, which goes beyond the scope of anything that has gone before. Seeing exotic fish in a kaleidoscope of shapes and colours alongside over 400 manta rays, reef sharks, hammerheads, zebra sharks, blacktip sharks and whitetip sharks up close, even while they are being fed, is a very special experience.

• The Miracle Garden also fits into the framework of superlatives, a flower garden with an abundance of arrangements that is probably unique in the world. Where else can you see an Airbus A380 made entirely of flowers in the middle of a motif garden overflowing with blossoms?

• Perhaps not quite as unique, but wonderful to watch is the spectacle of the Dubai Water Fountain, which in the evening presents changing choreographies of water fountains dancing to music every half hour. The waterfall in the centre of the Dubai Mall though a bit more static, is no less impressive.

• The absolute experience, however, was seeing the sunrise at a height of 456 metres from the 125th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building at 828 metres, even though we had to get up at 4.30 a.m. after a very short night.

• In addition to these attractions, which are open to the public, we had a very personal event the evening before, which will therefore resonate particularly intensely – the invitation from good old and dear friends from my professional past: Ara and Muriel had invited us to their villa in Dubai’s district of exclusive residences on the artificial peninsula ‘Palm Jumeirah’ for a wonderful dinner and fine drinks. During the good conversations, some of which were of course about the years of working together, we not only forgot time and space but also the fact that a certain excess of alcoholic drinks – which we had been missing for months – cannot remain without effect. Nevertheless, and not because of this, the four of us agreed in the end that there had to be an Encore for this meeting, whether in the shadow of Cologne Cathedral or Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Unexpectedly, the wintry weather and heavy snowfall in the south of Germany cause our booked flights and train journey to be postponed on our departure date, which demands a great deal of organisational effort from me due to multiple changes and leads to an extension of our stay in Dubai, not necessarily the worst place to be.

We use the extra time to visit Dubai’s old town, the historic Al Fahidi district, which is also home to the ‘Dubai Museum’, which offers an insight into the history of the city and its development up to the present day – or so they say. To our great disappointment, we find out that it is closed for renovation! We also don’t manage to visit the ‘Museum of The Future’, which presents the planned and expected further development of this dynamic city: all visiting dates are fully booked until the beginning of January.

This means we can relax and make the transfer to the airport early, where the next surprise awaits us on our return journey to Germany: the fifth flight cancellation! They simply don’t want to let us go home. But we manage to overcome this obstacle too, like so many others on this adventurous journey, which ends with our arrival in Cologne on the morning of January 5, 2023, around seven weeks earlier than originally planned.