The construction that has taken place in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the UAE in general over the last 40 years or so has been phenomenal. This part of the world has grown from mud huts to some of the most modern and eye catching structures anywhere in the world. It seems to be a constant contest of "can you top this".
I was in Dubai this weekend and although I went to two malls (it's still brutally hot, what else am I going to do?) I was driving, so was paying attention to the roads and what was around them. One of the highways running out of Abu Dhabi to Dubai takes you across Saadiyat Island and Yas Island and all the way to Dubai (120 kilometers or so or about 75 miles) which is the speed limit 120km/hr in a car 80 kms/hr in a truck and the trucks are not allowed in the 3 left lanes and they don't go there out of fear of a ticket.
But the highways are essentially brand new and 4, 5 or 6 lanes wide. Lit with overhead lights the whole way. Which is good since some drivers don't use their lights. Truly built with the future in mind. Interestingly enough you're able to pull off at a rest area and gas up, go to the convenience store or simply the drive thru at Burger King or McDonald's. Stop me if this sounds familiar. But the rest areas also have small Mosques so the travelers can get off the road at prayer time to pray. They don't worry about being at their Mosque to pray, but they are provided a mosque on the side of the highway if they want.
It's also strange to see cars pulled over on the side of the highway and people simply jumping the guard rail to go to a store or restaurant that might be open. Or you'll see men just standing on the side of the highway waiting for their ride to work to stop and pick them up.
Something else we found out in our CPR/First Aid class was there is no Good Samaritan Law here so we were told that even though we are now certified in cpr, first aid and how to use and AED we should never stop at a car accident and render help. We could be punished by the law or simply sued by the person or family. So we're only supposed to render aid to people at NYU or people we know.
Driving through downtown Dubai you're on a surface road that is 5 lanes wide, going 62 mph and you simply veer off in exit lanes that give you access to all the stores that are there or apartment buildings or malls. It's like nothing I've seen in Boston, NYC or Chicago. You're going right through this canyon of huge buildings much like you might have seen in the movie Inception that came from Leonardo DiCaprio's mind. By the way if you haven't seen Inception you should.
Right next to the highway is an incredibly modern metro transit rail system that parallels the highway from about 25 kilometers outside of Dubai all the way through it. A simple clean looking system raised above the ground with space age looking stations all along it.
It's simply interesting to see how a young city can be planned and developed when you have all technology available to make it modern right from the start.
Stay Cool,
Wayne
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