I've always wanted to visit different regions and cultures of the world....I find it interesting. That being said, it's something I'd never do, there are very few regions of the world that I would feel safe traveling to so I think I'll just stay home and go to the beach.
I think RICH when I think of Dubai. I have so many places yet to visit in my own country ... Dubai isn't on my bucket list at all.
I'm a fan of regions with a way cooler climate and Dubai isn't or ever will be on the list. It's like 107 degrees there right now.
I think of a hot and sandy city. I hear if you have money and can afford to stay in the upscale hotels it is an amazing place, but I do not have that kind of money. I also have read that the drivers are some of the worst in the world. If someone wanted to pay for my trip there, I would more than likely go, as I love visiting new places. With that said, there are quite few other places I would love to see before ever going there.
Generally, Dubai is very welcoming to Western tourists, they have probably the finest western-style accomodations in the entire Arab world. Exceptional shopping. Be warned: Everything is expensive there. It gets extremely hot. The local laws are uber strict, and they don't play. I saw no druggies, drunks, trash or homeless people. It is unabashedly a playground of the rich.
My wife and I vacationed there in 2010, (her first time in the Middle East) and I can't say I've ever gotten better service or seen a more diverse assemblage of people. Lots of Brits. Love the bloody Brits. I would say if Dubai were closer to the US, there would be less trepidation about going there, its an amazing place, but being a muslim country brings a unique set of protocols that those unused to other cultures may find odd, or disagreeable. Dubai (the UAE) is not Saudi Arabia by any means, you aren't confronted by resentful stares or open dislike of capitalist infidels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMr-WX3Nf_k
Reason enough for me to give Dubai a big thumbs down as a tourist destination. Your money helps support insane religious practices if you go there.
Slave labor built Dubai.
If you don't believe me, look up "Slaves of Dubai" or "Women slaves in Dubai" and there will be article after article of what those poor people are going through trying to send money home-- when they were originally promised a good decent job, which to them, wasn't asking for that much-just enough to feed their families back home and maybe save a little money if they worked there for 5 years minimum.
Slaves from India, Pakistan, parts of Africa, and the Philippines and many other countries are working 12-18 hours a day in 120* F and above heat and living 12-15 men in one tiny small hot room with metal walls and roofs where they have to eat standing up because there's no room to sit, with one bathroom (a hole in the ground) for 50 people .
The buildings and kitchens are full of roaches, flies that cover their food while they're trying to eat only rice and potatoes, and there's only two kitchen sinks for 200 people where they cook.
Not only that, they had to pay for this job to a "recruiter" in their homeland for a job there and hope of a better future, then when they get there the payment contract they signed is torn up and they earn 3/4 of what they were promised at first, then many are never paid again after a few months (and still owe the recruiter their fee of equivalent of $2000 US dollars, which they had to borrow from friends and relatives)
Then their passports are taken away so they can't leave, and any exit visas, so they can return home, are refused.
But when they die from over exertion (heat stroke, extreme fatigue) they are finally sent home, dead, to their grieving families. They have 16 year old young men dying of heart attacks from the conditions and sent home to grief stricken families. Then the recruiter that the deceased worker still owes demands that money from the surviving extended family members.
Anyone visiting there is contributing to this ongoing travesty, so no, I won't be going there. Even the airplane pilots that take you there are so exhausted...there are videos of pilots AND copilots ASLEEP AT THE SAME TIME on the airlines Dubai own (plane is on autopilot but still).
All of this is found on YouTube and Google. There are so many sites I couldn't link them all, but please feel free to look them up.
Who is the latest person using this slave labor building a state of the art golf course there?
Donald Trump.
No I'm scared of going to Muslim countries.
When I think of Dubai .. I immediately think of opulence. The weathiest of the the wealthy. Then I think of the other end of the spectrum .. The ones who don't 'fit' in that environment .. The poor ... And in comparison one could say the poorest of the poor in a very close proximity geographically speaking. A definite clash of social standing and class ranging from empowerment by obtuse wealth to crushing poverty.
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