Sent on Dec. 8, 2002 from Dubai.

US       $ = about 4 Dirhams
1 Dirham   = 26 cents USA.  
Omani Rial = 10 Dubai Dirhams

Friends, I am typing all this in about an hour at an
Internet cafe.  I am typing as fast as the thoughts come to
my mind, so you edit the text.  Tom and I are on our
2-month East Asia tour; I (alone) will continue for another
month to So. Africa.  The deal is with Malaysian Airlines. 
You can check their page if you are interested.  The basic
price was for $799 for 30 days of multi destination flights
from their hub at Kuala Lumpur.  I paid extra to extend the
trip to 90 days, and paid extra to add India and S. Africa.
 The total price came to $2,200. As the flight from USA to
Cape Town, So. Africa alone is normally $1,400+, the price
I paid  for all these a dozen or so destinations is really
a bargain.  Of course, we have to find the hotels and
arrange our tours at each destination.  So here goes the
1st report.

1) UAE deserves many superlatives.  Briefly, it came into
being in 1971, after oil was discovered in the area.  SEVEN
emirates decided to establish a united nation. Of these the
most known are the ones in the cities of Abu Dhabi and
Dubai, plus 5 others.  Abu Dhabi is the richest of them and
serves as the capitol, whereas Dubai is the commercial
center.  Sheik Zayed is the current president of the UAE,
while each emirate has also its own ruler.  Tom and I
visited all 7 by car, driving some 1300 km, also to Liwa
Oasis, 250km inland from Abu Dhabi, to find there, after
passing gorgeous dual-tone (beige and crimson) sand dunes,
a huge man-made oasis and a 5-star hotel.  Americans do not
a visa to enter UAE or Oman.

I would rate Dubai as one of the most beautiful large
cities I have seen.  It does not have the rare natural
beauty of Istanbul or Hong Kong; yet it is beautiful in its
own right, surrounded by the Arabian Gulf on the East, and
a wonderful wide creek in its middle.  The "creek" is a
large waterway framed along its shores by some of the most
spectacular large architecture--office and public
buildings--I have seen in any city.  There is NO city in
USA that can compare to it, except Las Vegas along (Las
Vegas Boulevard.  Nothing else in LV can match the rest of
Dubai. 

We have seen photos of what Dubai was like prior to 1971. 
What this city has achieved in these short 31 years is
truly amazing.  It has borrowed the best and most
functional settings from the USA, Japan, and Europe, and
blended these to its own decorative Arab heritage.  No boxy
buildings and dead spaces here.  The beautiful individual
parts are arranged to create a city prettier than the sum
its parts.  Add to these beautiful parks, tastefully placed
colorful Christmas and neon lights on buildings,
some arranged like a huge crown over already very
attractive buildings, you really have something uniquely
beautiful here.  Then picture the reflection of these on
the water, along with busy dhows of various sizes, the
larger ones being loaded with goods for trade to
traditional destinations, like India, Pakistan, Iran, etc.,
the smaller ones carrying people across to the other shore.
 To get a feel of the vibrancy of the city walk the shores
of the creek one night, go to the Naser Square on another. 
As for Burj Al Arab, one of world's most exclusive hotels
in the shape of a sail, it is some distance from the city
center.  Its architecture is captivating.  Overall, Dubai
lack nothing on other major metropolitan cities of the
world, except one characteristic.  This is obviously a
Muslim city.  In public, men outnumber native women by
almost 90 percent to 10 percent.  All local women are
accompanied by a man from their family.  But there are
signs of change even in this aspect in that the city is
dotted by ladies of the night who are usually from the
Far-East.

As to the rest of UAE, the superlatives continue.  How
about 120km 6 lanes of highway that is lit its entire
length by 10-meter metal poles at 50-meter intervals, each
decorated by 6 lighting fixtures on top? Imagine this
between all cities.  Imagine an asphalt road that looks as
if it is first manufactured and then laid as road, without
any blemish on its surface for 120 km?  Then imagine the 3
rows of plants along both sides of this road--often thru
sand dunes--that are connected by a water hose for each
plant for say 100 km?  Imagine forestation plans all along
the desert that has converted sand dunes to trees, it
seems. Imagine a complex artwork of a wrought-iron fence,
each 8-foot panel perhaps $1000 in USA, for 10 or more miles
on one side, on all 4 sides . . . Yes, the West has
probably achieved all this for the UAE for unbelievable
sums, but someone in UAE must have decided on the plan, on
the architecture, on the city design.  All I can say is UAE
leaders must have had natural talent as artists, for the
result is nothing less than an exquisite art work.

2) As for OMAN, it is also a sultanate like Brunei.
The reigning sultan is from the Kaboos dynasty.  The
country has been independent since the early 1600s. The bus
ride from Dubai to Musket is about 5 hours.  You must get
an exit stamp from UAE at the border post of Hatta, before
you get an entry stamp into Oman 10km later.  Both are free
to US citizens.

The drive from Dubai reaches Muscat in 4.5 hours.
Muscat is the antithesis of Dubai.  Nothing
cosmopolitan or buzzing here.  Yet, the city--buildings all
white--has a story-book beauty to it.  It is surrounded by
Gulf of Oman on one side, then framed by huge sharp
rocky hills that are liberally dotted by old forts.  The
exclusive Al Bustan hotel there is one of the most
beautiful hotels I have seen anywhere.  The city is made of
3 parts: the industrial Ruwi that is inland, Mutrah with
its 3-4 mile circular water-front strip, and the Old Town
Muscat that has some of the most exquisite architecture in
the city.  Further south is the Al Bustan hotel also placed
between the sea and rocks.

Given a limited opportunity for travel, neither Dubai nor
Oman can be considered as primary destinations.  However,
Tom and I felt enriched by both UAE and Oman.