Quote:
Originally Posted by LakeCleElum
Been there, visited both 7 star hotels....Thought it was a great place until I spent a day with a friend from England who is there long-term as an advisor to the AE Police.
Consider:
1) Last year, a German couple were jailed for 3 months for kissing in public
2) Men and women attend almost all functions in separate groups - even weddings
3) All magazines, internet and even emails are checked and censored...
4) Some AE states insist hotels put hidden cameras in the televisions to monitor activity in the room you rent!
5) Some AE states allow no alcohol what-so-ever. You can be arrested for bring a bottle of wine to your hotel room.
6) The weather, heat to 130 and constant haze.
7) Working conditions - Construction workers are brought in from India. Low pay, no safety procedures, and they are bussed out of town at night and housed in tents.
8) I was there during "Ramadan" - Can't find a place to eat anywhere. Cannot be seen eating in public!
9) Citizens pay no taxes - How does this attract me to vacation there????
10) Drivers are crazy and the Police are Lazy!!!!!
After 2 days, I had seen most of 2 states and was ready to leave.....Leaders want this to be a tourist destination. They will have to drastically change their culture to get my tourist dollars!
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Sorry but the above is simply not correct in many areas. Have been based out of Dubai the last 5 weeks.
Consider the truth:
1. Possible, PDA (public displays of affection) are not really allowed in most of the muslim world. Many Europeans sunbathe in the nude at home and if they were getting "frisky" here in Dubai they very well could have been put in jail. That said, if they did the same thing in many places in America the same thing can very well happen.
2. Not totally true in Dubai or any of the UAE. Saudi Arabia this is correct. It does happen at some functions but not all. How much do you know about the muslim culture? This is NORMAL in their world!!!!
3. Sorry, not true at all. Yes some websites are censored but thats it. I have come in and gone out 15 times in the last 5 weeks and this is simply not true.
4. Thats possible and I know that it happens in Russia, but its not widespread. I know that most hotels in the UAE are not even allowed to have cameras in the elevators. Trust me, I have been in the "security ops HQ" and know where they have cameras in one if the best 7 star hotels in Dubai.
5. All religious muslims are not supposed to drink. What part of this do you not understand? You can have booze all over the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar. Saudi, Kuwait, Yemen and so on they will put you in jail for it. You know the rules, stop *****ing over it.
6. You are also describing most of Arizona, Nevada and Southern California in the Eastern part of the state. Bullcrap about the haze. Just flew out of Dubai yesterday and vis was over 50 miles. This is something called WEATHER and it changes every couple of days everyplace in the world.
7. You mean kinda like our workers from Mexico? BS on the "housed in tents." There may be a few in temp housing like this but most are in apartment compounds.
8. Do you even do any research about the places you visit? Ramadan is a period of feasting for devout muslims. Why would the restaurants be open if there are no customers eating? The muslmins can eat before and after the sun goes down. You as a tourist can get food in ANY HOTEL, so learn about their customs and stop your *****ing.
9. You are finally totally correct on this one. They want people to come and visit then leave, or stopover on a journey elsewhere. There are many countries in this part of the world who have no taxes.
10. You are also describing a good portion of America and some places in Europe.
They could care less about your US $$$ and will never change their culture to attract anyone. Do you travel very much? Countries do not change their culture to attract ANYONE. Right now Dubai and the UAE are so stuffed full of people from Europe, Asia and Russia that they could care less about the $$$. The Euro is so strong now that tourists are flocking to Dubai and the people there are very happy about it. They are not missing you and your $$$ by the way.
Joe
(who is in Bombay India right now and heading back to Dubai to stay in one of those 7 star hotels tonight)