From A to B in style

My footsteps echo in the long corridor as I step out of the metro at the Jebel Ali station. With no one around (it’s a weekend), the deserted station seems like something out of a zombie-themed movie and I look over my shoulder more than once to see if I’m being followed by a flesh-eating monster. I walk to the ticketing office and breathe out a sigh of relief; there are people at their posts (and no blood on the floor). Welcomed with smiles, I buy a day pass — the day will be long enough without having to go back and forth between ticketing offices. The plan is to take the spider along the metallic web as it were; to travel around on Dubai’s public transport system for a day. I begin with the Dubai Metro. The intricately laid out system ensures that no part of the city is inaccessible.

My day begins early in Jebel Ali, the port that, for most part, established Dubai as UAE’s economic hub. On the train, the cabins are quite empty — there are only three others. Half asleep and glassy eyed, we stare together as the city begins to take shape. A man sneezes, even as buildings few and far between slowly contribute towards a cityscape that begins to look like a well-designed giant Lego set.

We are moving towards Ibn Battuta, the mall which encapsulates the world. From China to Tanzania, this mall can take you around the world in 60 minutes. People start to pile in. It is then a cacophony — of mobile ringtones and snippets of conversation streaming through in fits and starts in multiple languages: a child wails as busy parents wheel him in on a pram. The train takes no notice and in 60 seconds has shut its doors with a comforting whoosh. The Burj Al Arab, Dubai’s iconic hotel, silhouettes against the morning sun. We move on, past glitzy malls, Dubai Internet City and the world’s tallest building — the Burj Khalifa. I get off the metro on Khalid Bin Al Waleed Metro Station and move onto the Green Line, heading towards my next destination — Creek Park. The ride is full of giggles… the weekend beckons and people are in for a treat. The Dubai skyline offers a picture-perfect backdrop to Wafi. I get off at the station and take a bus, the C7, which will take me to the creek. A child asks his mother, “Kya wo hi lal colour walla gate mei ja rahe hain?” (Is that the red gate that we are supposed to enter?) and she nods, too tired to say anything else.

The natural water inlet is located in the centre of town and one can almost smell the fish market a few streets away. When Dubai was first formed, it would support itself through revenue generated from fishing and pearl diving. Today the market reels from the stench of the carcasses and hard work. From 4am in the morning, workers (not locals any more — even the labour is imported), put some of the fish into storage, some on trays laden with ice (to keep them fresh). The smell is such that it destroys the defences of your bunched up nose and settles in your nasal canals and on your clothes, bags and skin. A good idea when visiting this place is to go for a bath right after or you risk being avoided by everyone. At the creek, there is a children’s corner with camel and horse rides and a path lined with palm trees, which lead to the water body. A man sits with a fishing pole on the beach enjoying the stationary activity and ships are docked on either side of the port.

On a regular day, the Creek Park offers a cable car ride and you can get a magnificent panoramic view of the city, but today it is too windy and I cannot take it. One can also get a water bus (it looks like a regular bus but can sail on water) or big water taxi on the opposite side.

I go in search of an abra (a little water taxi) and after much staring, running up and down the beach, and trying to flag down any boat I see, I find one. I share the abra with a family and the father lovingly explains to his little ones that the bridge on the left is called the Floating Bridge and that it connects Bur Dubai to Deira. We can see the Festival City side from where you can get a water taxi to ferry you across the water. The sky seems to bleed in an attempt to meet the earth, half red, it disappears into the horizon. In half an hour the ride is over and it’s time to go home. As I hail a cab, it seems like a miracle; from fishing boats and camel rides to futuristic metros and taxis — Dubai has come a long way and still appears to be on the fast track.