Vacation gone bad

[Baashi]

First leg of the trip: I got stuck in Reykjavik hotel (two nights) due to strong gusts. That was nobody’s fault. From the get go, the whole plan was in tatters. I was going to meet with my wife in Amsterdam Airport and board the same plane to Dubai with her. It didn’t work out that way.

 

Missy had to improvise and deal with the situation on her own. She doesn’t speak Arabic. Her mobile was no use!!! Spring, damn you! Unlike the rest of the world, we don’t normally use sim (small chip that allows ur cell to connect to the local mobile carrier) cards in the states. I couldn’t call her, she couldn’t call me nor could she call her friends and relatives.

 

Long story short she took a cab and went straight to the hotel. I arrived in the next day. The plan was to rent a car but after I assessed driving habits of locals and the terrible traffic jam Dubai experiences, I decided to use the cab instead.

 

I won’t mention how expensive that city is. Two week hotel stay costs a fortune. I had plenty of cash enough for the whole stay. But my wife with her infinite wisdom spent all on dahab!! The vendors she was dealing with don’t take cards she said. I started using my plastic. But somehow for some reason unknown to me all six of my credit cards declined!!!!!!!! I had two check cards full of cash and after the first withdrawal they started to decline.

 

Wait! That’s not it. I bought a calling card, called the bank, and get stuck with alternating automated instructions and elevator music. Before I get to the teller, I ran out of minutes! I’m a patient man and I sat there scratching my head thinking what to do before I call my siblings in the states for help. My beloved wife oblivious to what is happening to me came back from outside and wanted to go back to that darn Gold market. I was this close to explode but held my breath. She also tried her plastic which is same (joint one) as one of the cards I have already tried to no avail.

 

Later that evening I had to meet with my former colleagues who kindly invited us to a dinner. Since I didn’t have a cell phone with me, I gave them the Hotel’s phone number and my room extension number. To call them I had to have a calling card…I didn’t have one. Somehow the clerk didn’t let the call from my former boss through.

 

To make the matter worse my wife had this conspiracy theory that there are forces that are working against me and they are the ones who froze my accounts. I was in Sharjah. So I went to this mall called Mega Mall and tried one of the HSBC ATM machines and bingo! The check card worked with this particular vendor and the machine spit all it had in its belly out. Things worked out pretty good from there on. Still my plastics were no use.

 

We had a blast from there on. I didn’t like Dubai. It’s too noisy, too crowded, and too metropolitan for me. In a way it is a city under construction. There is a gap, I thought, between the ongoing projects which are impressive by any account, and the transportation infrastructure. The city doesn’t have a car pool lane or for that mass transit lane. Once you get into the highway particularly the one that connects Sharjah to Dubai, you are at the mercy of the pace of the traffic. I haven’t seen any bypass lane that can take some of the traffic congestion off the main one.

 

Since we were kinda short for cash we didn’t do many of the things that we had planned to do. We wanted to go to Sohar, Oman. I put that in the backburner. But I managed to go to Abu Dubai. The contrast between the two cities could not have been more pronounced at least to me. Abu Dubai is cleaner, less traffic, and overall much calmer.

 

I find Ujman and a city located in the outskirts of Abu Dubai to be less developed. They reminded me Somalia: dusty, garbage outside, and some places the plumbing is well pretty gross.

 

The upside of this trip was I got much needed encouragement from the business nomads in Dubai. I met old friends who made it big (by nomad standards). I like what I saw and find them to be risky takers numero uno. It is amazing how these folks do what they do in a country where there is no safety net whatsoever. They pay the school fee, healthcare, etc with no help from the State. They rely on themselves and that’s a big plus. Overall UAE Somali community are more self-reliant bunch than the folks in my neck of the wood.

 

I took lot of pictures and the best ones are the pics of the boats hauling goods to Somalia. Insha’Allah I will post them in due time.

 

I wanted to meet the nomads in Dubai especially Northerner who was so kind to give me his digits. Unfortunately, I lost his contact numbers. He could have come to our rescue the day we got lost in Sharjah.

 

Speaking of that day briefly I took a cab from the Gold market in Dubai to Sharjah. The traffic was so bad that I asked the cab driver to take the first exit and drop me to the bus station. The little I know the country doesn’t have a lane for the busses. First we waited standing for about 45 minutes all the while the busses were just sitting there and bus driver chitchatting with the locals.

 

And then this bus pulled off and all the passengers rushed to it. We asked a bystander if this was one is heading to Sharjah since it didn’t have any markings indicating its destination. They were kind enough to ask ladies first and since I was with my wife they let me in too. The bus dropped us in Rotana Square. I pulled the map thinking that it will help. Long story short we got lost.

 

Excuse the rampling….didn’t have time to reread what I wrote up there.

 

One more thing. The first thing my wife and I noticed is the Athan. The masjids are everywhere literally every block or so it seems.

[Valenteenah.]

Lo0oL! WoW...THAT's some vacation! Despite the initial stress, it sounds like you had a bit of a blast but you don't want to admit it.

 

I can understand your wife's susceptibility to the Gold markets. It's very very difficult to walk away from gold, especially if you have a bit of cash burning a hole in ur pocket!

[Nomen nescio]

yeah man, seems like you went through a lot. good thing you made it through.

[Som@li]

Yeah, sorry for the rough time, but that is life,I hope u enjoyed a bit.

[Pujah]

What an interesting trip...I hope you had good time between getting lost and being broke.

Seriously I know the feeling something similar happened to me when I went to the UK unbeknown to me one of my cards(Discover) is not accepted outside the States and it was frustrating to say the least but thank God I wasn’t relaying on it.

 

So is the IT industry really booming on that side of the world OR is it all hearsay?

[ElPunto]

^Indeed a very interesting account of your trip. Looking forward to the pictures.

[StarGazer]

what an adventure Baashi....bloggin' eh?

It seems like God was testing your patience....you strike me to be a patient person & passed it with flying colours.

 

btw, Somali ladies are still facinated with dahab huh....if I were her, I woulda shopped 4 clothes, shoes, bags..lol...ok that's just me!

 

Keep 'em coming!!! pics to prove your trip?

 

oh, I have this fear of relying purely on cards.....and those fears came true for you. Always carry some cash...the old fashioned way!

[Pi]

Baashi, duqa, that's one rollercoaster of a trip. I plan on going to dubai this winter, IA. Anyhow, the pics, dude, the pics... you're pretty sick at taking them too. I remember the iceland pic.

[Gabbal]

At least, now you are prepared for next time my man.

[sheherazade]

Lol at description of Ajman, is the place stuck in a time-warp?

[-Serenity-]

Sounds like you had once in a lifetime experience Baashi. Good!

 

Now upfront with the pics, will ya?

[Captain Xalane]

Baashi,All the same though,it was worth it bro.

[Baashi]

 

^Here you go...

[N.O.R.F]

LOL

 

I started using my plastic. But somehow for some reason unknown to me all six of my credit cards declined!!!!!!!!

I think our boy Dabshid needs to answer that one.

 

I didn’t like Dubai. It’s too noisy, too crowded, and too metropolitan for me. In a way it is a city under construction. There is a gap, I thought, between the ongoing projects which are impressive by any account, and the transportation infrastructure. The city doesn’t have a car pool lane or for that mass transit lane. Once you get into the highway particularly the one that connects Sharjah to Dubai, you are at the mercy of the pace of the traffic. I haven’t seen any bypass lane that can take some of the traffic congestion off the main one.

Dubai is a metropolis with too many projects all going on at the same time (there are more mega projects about to start) and the transport problem is something they are finally going to sort out (so we are told). They will charge to use Shiekh Zayed road (dubai to Sharjah road)from July which i'm actually glad. But once you find a route to and from work its fine.

 

Since we were kinda short for cash we didn’t do many of the things that we had planned to do. We wanted to go to Sohar, Oman. I put that in the backburner. But I managed to go to Abu Dubai. The contrast between the two cities could not have been more pronounced at least to me. Abu Dubai is cleaner, less traffic, and overall much calmer.

Abu Dhabi is noicer and more developed, they went through there boom phase in the eighties. Sorry you didnt drive down to Oman. The Hatta mountains are a great sight on the way down.

 

The upside of this trip was I got much needed encouragement from the business nomads in Dubai. I met old friends who made it big (by nomad standards). I like what I saw and find them to be risky takers numero uno. It is amazing how these folks do what they do in a country where there is no safety net whatsoever. They pay the school fee, healthcare, etc with no help from the State. They rely on themselves and that’s a big plus. Overall UAE Somali community are more self-reliant bunch than the folks in my neck of the wood.

True!

 

One more thing. The first thing my wife and I noticed is the Athan. The masjids are everywhere literally every block or so it seems.

Ahhh, the athaan sounding from one mosque to the other is a blessed moment five times a day.

 

So whats up? Are you leaning towards moving here? Taking a vacation here is really not an eye opener unless you visited and stayed with people. Lets get it straight i dont you will be living in Diera if you did find yourself in the UAE.

 

ps you should have called me man i could have shown you around other parts of Dubai. I was actually donw at the gold souk last week when a cousin was in town.

[Som@li]

It depends what kinda card you were using, And I dont really know why card like VISA or Mastercard wouldnt work. But inquiry your bank. and remember to make use of the grace period

 

North,How is it goin for you bro, I am guessing u fully settled now. I am now in Sharjah, and will go back to Abu Dhabi in 2 Hrs, (We are working tomorrow :mad: ) But will be in Dubai for trainig from 10th of dec. will be happy to meet Dubai Nomads.