Baron B. Benham
Founder & Chief
Investment Advisor
Baron's Travel
Dubai
Hi Everyone!
It took 18 plus hours of flying at an average ground speed of 655mph but I
am now in Dubai. I am staying at the world famous Grosvenor House
(see photos below). It's quite a place.
Click on the images to enlarge
Grosvenor House
Grosvenor House
Grosvenor House
My friends apartment at the Grosvenor House is on the 40th Floor. The views
from his balcony are amazing in the sense that I've counted somewhere between
40 and 50 major high rise's going up simoultaniously. I've heard that 15% or
more of the worlds highrise cranes are here in Dubai and it's easy to believe
when you are here to see it first hand. In fact, one crane is so close that I
could reach out and almost touch it from our balcony as it rotates on it's axis.
I would have to guess that there are over 200 high rises going up right now
with two of those planned to be the worlds tallest buildings. Hotels and
high rise condos are everywhere and they sell condos at kiosks in the malls
like we sell cell phones and perfume. I've seen signs advertising condos
with as little as 1% down. Sound familiar to you? The population growth
rate is something like 20-25% a year with most growth being from foreigners.
Sports is the theme of Dubai to spur tourism but gambling is taboo. On the
drawing board is a Vegas style development that will be twice the size and
grandeur of Vegas. I had a hard time seeing it being a success without
legalized gambling so I inquired and was told that even gambling might
become legal in ten years.
Despite considerable advanced planning I still hit some communications
snags. My email is now working but I'm still not sure if mass emailing to
all of you is going to work? I'll find out soon enough when I send this email
out.
I also have internet access but it is heavily sensored. I had to route my
connection through the hotels server (or Dubai's server) and it blocks
things based on content. Using Google is also different. The Arabic
language is written and read backwards so Google is flipped backwards.
Even the scroll bar is on the left instead of the right. It takes some
getting used to.
My cell phone doesn't work either. I've spent hours on this issue on
the phone with T-Mobile Internatilonal Tech support (I hate to find out how
much my phone bill will be for that). I also bought a local Sim card and minutes
and that doesn't work either. I'm so fed up you can't believe it. When I get
back T-Mobile and Blackberry have some explaining to do.
Therefore, the only way to reach me is by email. I will check often but
remember that I am one day ahead (if it's Sunday in Arizona it's Monday
in Dubai. Dubai time is 11 hours ahead of Arizona time. So when it is 2am
here it is 3pm in Scottsdale. The good news is so far I'm only catching
a few hours of sleep a day so I'm checking my email often.
Today is day five of my visit if you count my arriving at 7:30pm and
hitting both the Buddha Bar and Club 44 (44th floor). Both are located in
the Grosvenor House Hotel where I am staying.
I flew Delta Airlines my entire two leg trip. My 3 1/2 hour first leg to
Atlanta was actually 4 1/2 hours due to an air traffic control computer outage.
Seating was cramped too. I read investment magazines most of the flight
and slept an hour. My 14 1/2 hour leg from Atlanta to Dubai was bearable
only because I watched movies, documentaries, and television shows all
the way. I sat next to an Army Soldier on his way back to Qatar. He was
a good guy and we had an empty seat between us. So we used it for our
junk and the extra tray table for more stuff. I watched more video
programming on the way to Dubai than I have at home or the theater in several
months! I just hope Delta updates the movie menu before my return flight
or I'll be forced to sedate myself and sleep all the way home!
Since arriving I've been on the go non-stop and fortunately barely suffered
from jet lag or sleep deprivation but I'm sure they both will catch up with me
and soon!
Most of the places I've been to and seen I can not even pronounce and so
I'm not going to try and list them here. I have been to the shopping mall
twice for a quick in and out regarding my mobile phone. It is where the
indoor skiing facility was built. I've seen it inside and out but not had time
to ski yet.
One particularly amazing place we dined at is El Casr. I'm assuming I'm
spelling it right. The architecture was amazing and they have created a
river walk that smokes our canal (calling our canal a river walk is marketing
hype stretched to the absurd) complete with boat taxis. We dined on the
banks of the river walk at the Trader Vic's restaurant and yes it's the same
Trader Vic's as in Scottsdale.
As for the people, I've seen a whole bunch of Indian's from India and every
other nationality immaginable. I've heard 75% of the population are foreigners
and I would have to say that's about what I have experienced. The native
Muslim's dress in all sorts of ways. Most surprising to me are the ladies
wearing Burka's! I didn't think they did that here. More surprising is that
these are wealthy women wearing high heels and carrying designer purses
while talking on cell phones. (how come their cell phones work?) Everyone
here has a cell phone and they are all using them all the time. I've also seen
teenage Muslim women wearing blue jeans and a head scraf and others in
jogging suits. Jeans seem to be what most folks wear. Many Muslim men are
wearing white linen outfits that are like a dress. I don't know what they call what
they are wearing. It is a major religious holiday right now so perhaps I'm seeing
more traditional wear than normal. I have no idea since I have no other time
frame experience to compare this to. Blue jeans dominate though. Everyone
is in blue jeans including the young Muslims and everyone has a cell phone
sprouting from their ear but me!
The night club life here is amazing. Everyone is making loads of money
and spending freely. Sitting next to me was a table of six blondes and a
girl with jet black hair. They were all in their mid 20's or early 30's. So
I struck up a conversation and invited them all to my birthday party for the
next night. They didn't show! Um? Turns out they were from all over the world
and worked for Emirates Airlines. Well Delta may be ready when you are but
Emirates is already there. No comparison as far as flight attendants go. I tried
to fly Emirates to Dubai but that turned into a major fiasco so I took Delta.
Virtually every sign is in both English and Arabic including the McDonald's
we passed on the way in from the airport to our apartment. Right now
I'm watching television while working on this. Television here is sensored as
is the internet and possibly this email for moral and decency content.
I have a car and driver at my disposal. My dirver is Muslim and prays
five times a day. He recently vanished for a short time. I thought he was
in the the bathroom but it turns out he was praying. So I asked him to pray
for me too! I can use all the help I can get! He is a jovial guy and justifiably
proud of Dubai and what his people are doing. His name is Mohamid but
we call him Big Mo or just Mo for short.
My birthday party was two nights ago. A total of about 48 people joined
in on the fun. Half I met via friends referring them to me before I arrived and
the other half work for Dubai Aerospace or are friends of those that do. I
had a blast and partied late!
Tonight I am having dinner at the world famous Burj Al Arab seven star (a
self proclaimed designation that is probably accurate) hotel that looks
like a white sail of a sail boat. It's spectacular from the outside. They have
about seven restaurants in the hotel. We are dining at the restaurant at the
top of the building in the T structure located on the opposite side of the helicopter
pad. In the photo below the restaurant looks tiny but it's actually very big.
It's just that the hotel is so big and the photo is from a considerable distance.
Burj Al Arab Hotel
The following views are from my Grosvenor House 40th Floor balcony.
We are very near the Arabian Gulf
That's the trunck of Palm Island in the distance. That was ocean out there a
couple years ago!
The pool and spa are below. I hung out over the balcony for this shot.
How would you like to have your office in the sky as a crane
operator?
Instant high rise city!
Here are a few of the dozens of photos I took while driving around. They are all
of buildings and so I have only included a few of the more interesting. High rises
are everywhere with hundreds more sites staked out to build more high rises.
This is the commuications building. That is a huge golf ball
looking object on the top. Looks like a giant t-shot to me!
This is a photo of the world's tallest building. I understand they topped it out while I was in town. No doubt in my honor. Note the building
of to the left that is also under contruction. It is probably only about 40 stories! I don't know how tall the world's tallest building ultimately
became. The exact height was kept a secrete as a second building some where in Dubai was aiming to be the tallest. So the two buildings
have been in competition. Perhaps the building off to the left is slated to be the tallest in six months or so. They build a floor a day around here!
Well, that's it on the photos. Unfortunately many of the photos from my trip didn't
come out very well and really don't express the impact of the places I'm been such
as the El Casr. Still other photos are of people in bars and restaurants that are only
interesting if you know the folks.
I've also been to the Golden Souq which is a gold bazaar/market where you can
purchase gold jewelery from hundreds of merchants. This was the most expensive
part of my trip!
I doubt if I will be able to share another email about my trip with you let alone a youtube
video like I wanted. My schedule is such that I just won't have the time. I hope
this narrative and the photos and links I've shared give you all an idea of what this
place is like. It is a mixture of old and new with people from every corner of the
planet. It is a bee hive of activity and an enviable model for the middle east.
Thanks, I'll be home this Thursday. See you soon!
Baron
Here are some more interesting links to check out.
Click on the images to enlarge
