Dubai, a place like no other. A cosmopolitan city of six million. A combination of Beverly Hills, New York City and Las Vegas all on steroids. It is the Middle East but feels like LA. Located on the Southeast coast of the Persian Gulf, on the edge of the Arabian Desert. Dubai is one of seven emirates (states) that make up the country of United Arab Emirates (UAE). Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the two leading emirates. Only 15% of the population are Emirate, the rest are expatriates. The expats are chiefly Indian, Pakistani and Filipinos, but you see people for all over the world here. There are 50,000 Americans living in the UAE. A world class vacation spot if your loaded, some interesting sights, great beaches and all kinds of international cuisine. You can eat food from any country in the world in Dubai, Yuma and I had UAE, Persian, Indian, Pakistani, Mexican, American, Omani, Chinese, Italian, and English food. And it's safe virtually 0% crime.
The coolest thing about Dubai is the cars. When I first arrived I took a taxi to my hotel along a 12 lane highway that looked more like the 405 freeway in LA. On the highway, there were pickup trucks, big SUV's and sports cars. Gasoline is $1.00 per gallon. Even the police drive hi-end sports cars. Here are some of the cars the police have in their fleet: a McLaren MP4-12C, Bugatti Veyron for a mere 1.6 million dollars, Aston Martin, Lamborghini Aventador with a top speed of 217 MPH, Ferrari and some BMW's, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Audi and Bragus for off road. The world's largest Lamborghini showroom is here in Dubai. In the 1960's there was 13 cars in Dubai and 30 in Abu Dhabi.
It's crazy to see what Oil has done to this country in my lifetime. Dubai is already planning for the day they run out of oil. They see the internet and tourism as the new black gold. With plans to provide internet services throughout the Persain Gulf and the world. As for tourism they have some amazing plans. My favorite is the new 500 MPH Hyperloop train from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in 12 minutes. It now takes 1-1/2 hours by car. It's 90 miles!
I will be back to ride the Hyperloop.
