Dubai: Here We Come
June 28th 2008 00:48
See Dubai and Die
Dubai (دبي
is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. It is rather like an independent city-state and is the most modern and progressive emirate in the UAE.A relatively new tourist destination, Dubai has gained in popularity in recent years. It is essentially a desert city with superb infrastructure, liberal policies (by regional standards), and excellent tourist amenities. Just 5 hrs from Europe and 3 hrs from most parts of the Middle East, the Near East, and the sub-continent of India, Dubai makes a great short break for shopping, partying, sunbathing, fine dining, sporting events, and even a few sinful pleasures. It is a city of superlatives: for the fastest, biggest, tallest, largest and highest, Dubai is the destination.
The weekly day off is on Friday. Note that, since September 2006, a harmonised weekend of Friday and Saturday has been adopted for the public sector and schools. Government departments, multi-national companies, and most schools and universities are now off on Friday and Saturday (after years of a mixed bag of Friday/Saturday and Thursday/Friday weekends). Some local companies still work a half day on Thursday with a full-day on Saturday.
Dubai's Climate
The city of Dubai is situated on a coastal strip bordered by desert and gets very hot. It is dry on the hottest days and humid during the cooler days in the summer. Cooler, more pleasant weather lasts from the end of September to beginning of May (although note that pleasant is relative, which daily temperatures from October to January and March to May still being in the lower 20s Celsius/70s Farenheit), but be prepared for cold night temperatures. In winter the temperature at night is usually from 10-16 Celsius (50-60 Farenheit). In May, June, July, August and September, the sun is intense and temperatures can touch 45 degrees Celsius in the city and even higher in the desert! The heat coupled with humidity of 60-70 near the coast effectively precludes most activity outdoors for the daylight hours during summer.
December to April generally produces the highest precipitation, which at 10 cm (5 in) still isn't much. Some years yield no more than a few minutes of shower in Dubai. November 2006 brought record rains up to 50 cm of rain with temperatures going down to record lows.
Continue to part 2 on Dubai
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