So it's been nearly a decade since I wrote anything in this blog, too long to worry about so I'll skip the chit-chat and get straight down to business...
I've begun my recent set of adventures in the Middle East - first 10 days in Dubai, and now I've been sitting on my chuff for a month in Doha, Qatar. It's been fascinating to be here in the scorching heat, and to witness a culture so alien to me that it makes the Chinese culture seem relatively Antipodean. I couldn't really say I'd ever fall in love with the region, but it's been a very rich experience to be here!
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| Now we know how dogs feel |
The first thing to note is that, contrary to what I'd naively imagined, it's less than ideal as a summer vacation spot. Summers here are as debilitating as winters in northern Europe - worse actually, because you can't really dress for the occasion. When it's 48 degrees outside, the only options are peeling off your own skin, developing a
Mr Freeze suit, or staying inside all day.
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| Night-time can be pleasant though |
With that said, not an incredible amount of "touring" has been going on over here! In Dubai, after a weekend with my gal chilling out and doing a bit of fine dining at "Pier Chic", I headed off for my first real AirBnB experience, staying in a random studio apartment in the middle of randomsville Dubai with my very friendly and hospitable Sudanese host, Saeed. Was pretty cool to see a bit of the real Islamic lifestyle first-hand - the days and nights dotted with prayer-alarms, and bows, and the chance to ask culture-shocked questions. I naturally couldn't resist giving my own take on the strict segregation laws... Saeed tells me that they are there because when an unwedded or non-familiar man and woman are in the same place together, the devil appears. I can vouch for that, but I would say why not learn to spar with the devil, instead of trying to murder the poor bugger: he ain't going nowhere notime after all. Saeed closed philosophically saying "Oh well, I guess it's just a matter of interpretation."
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| Saeed et moi |
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| The "suburb" where Saeed lives. Apartment block to the left, hot Infinity to the right |
From Saeed's gaff it was about an hour's travel by bus and metro to basically anywhere, but transport is cheap and I got to experience the true joy of the segregated society that way. On buses, there are 8 seats up the front of the bus with a sign saying "Ladies & Families Only." Stop me if you've already heard this story. Picture the scene if you will: an hour-long bus ride, 5 empty ladies-only seats, no seats left anywhere else, 4 people standing, and 4 ladies sitting in the general peasant seats. Getting told off for sitting in a lady-seat, I stand and glare at the cow-eyed women dotted around the non-specific perches, hoping for a glimmer of common sense, but to no avail. Men and women are mildly terrified of each other here so I'll certainly not get the slightest reaction. Finally one lad gets up from his seat 2 rows back from the lady section, and another young man gallantly offers the position to his girlfriend. I resist the urge to rant at him, saving it for the internet instead.
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| People are strange when you're a stranger (stranger) |
Here the clash of modernisation & tribal tradition is palpable. Consider that at the start of last century this entire place was a desert with a few bedouins eking out a living diving for pearls, and now just a couple of generations later the grandchildren of those fellows and their hidden women are driving (terrifyingly!) around brand new cities in brand new Mazerattis, Bugattis, you-name-it-attis. Their culture encountered oil, and thereby sudden and immense wealth, and I think the resulting identity crisis will go on for many years to come.
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| Tents nowadays... |
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| ... & Camels 2.0 |
The most notable place where one can encounter this identity crisis must surely be in the grotesque, gargantuan, glittering malls that define Dubai almost as much as its overbearing mess of penis-envy skyscrapers. As the mosque next door sings out its summons to prayer, billboards across the mall proclaim "Your every desire fulfilled!" Really? Is this the place we all come to die? And how does that statement fit in the local mindset alongside the imperative of the Qu'ran? Surely they'd say, canonically speaking at least, that it's Allah who fulfils all desires rather than the local mall? My questions unanswered, I wander uselessly for a while, savouring the air-conditioning, hiding from the heat, hiding from the skyscrapers, hiding from Dubai.
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| A cheeky wine served on the sly! |
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| A souq, a rare sensation of culture, albeit tout-central |
Qatar on the other hand was family-time, and me-ona-couch-time, and I can just as well paint that picture with some more photos:
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| Cuzzies |
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| Doha West Bay |
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| The Pearl by night (apartment view) |
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| A pork and booze run. Oh lawd how we have sinned! |
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| Homey |
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| Doha, Corniche view |
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Paddlin' with my peeps
Air temp: 40º
Water temp: 30º |
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| Cool |
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| Hot |
I've actually had a great time over here, in a mostly couch-based philosophising kind of way, but now it's onward and upward - Al Ain for a few days, then Nepal...
