A thread about Dubai exclusively. Not the Middle East or Islam.

That's an exageration. Yes, Islam is a suppresive (is that a word? ) religion but not as anti freedom as people think it is. It all depends on which side of Islam you were made to face, or in the case of the muslims, which side of Islam they were brought up on.

Irrational ways, yes. Backwards, well, it depends from country to country. All muslims aren't violent, but yes they are intolerant. Even the "enlightened moderates" actually have extreme views concerning other religions. Most muslims are arrogant and believe Islam is the trve way of life, and this is probably the only thing common between the different sects of Islam.

Since the OP has finally intervened, I will continue this with you in a PM conversation if you wish, UnserHeiligeTod.

Fine.

I stopped there 3 times last summer. I was stationed on the USS Enterprise. It was extremely hot...indescribably hot, but it was also the most beautiful place I've ever seen, and one of the cleanest as well. Most of the people were friendly, and the architecture was amazing. I also enjoyed the Irish Village there

Judging from all this talk about extreme heat, I doubt I'll visit Dubai, ever. There's enough heat in Australia as it is, so my idea of a holiday does not involve "more heat". Canada - that's where it's at, I imagine. A relatively cool to cold climate, breathtaking scenery, lovely people, intriguing cultures, and need I mention the scenery again? Can't wait to go there, some day. As for Dubai, I suppose I'll have to content myself with admiring photos of the buildings.

What are you talking about? That place is one of the wealthiest per capita nations on earth. As I stated above, I have been to Dubai many times and there are few to none impoverished communites there. That place is made of money. The average cars driven down the streets were full size custom Toyota land cruisers or Mercedes Benz's. It was not uncommon to see a Ferrari parked in the lot of a hotel or golf course just parked there in a non valet fashion.
The only sizeable group of people there who weren't well off were Pakistani guest workers in the service industry or construction labor. Dubai is a place of the haves and have nots and the haves from there were mostly citizens. There was little to no working class citizens.

Being a local citizen (and the only local female metalhead), I would say Dubai is pretty fuckin' awesome when it comes to buildings and architecture (Even though most of them are owned by westerners and foreigners, and NOT by Arabs).
Its also pretty open to western culture, despite other countries in the middle east. I mean, the fact that Iron Maiden played here alone makes it pretty awesome!!

Well, this is interesting. A thread about the city where I've lived for the past 10 years =p

To be honest, I dislike Dubai with a passion. It's a superficial, materialistic, hypocritical city with the same kind of people. It's just a bubble waiting to burst.

Dubai would be cool to see, but I must agree with MescalineSunrise, it is superficial and materialistic.

Terminal 3 looks pretty cool though:

http://www.explorerpublishing.com/featu ... erminal-3/

Sure its incredibly hot out there, but pretty much everywhere is air conditioned, some restaurants even incorporate air conditions in the outdoor settings. As for outdoor activities, practicing them anytime other than November - February would be close to impossible

Dubai/UAE is incredibly hot. We play basketball at school outdoors and we can hardly stand after 15-20 minutes. And it's almost November!!

The heat index when I was there last summer was 135 Farenheit. It was ungodly. I had never felt anything over about 115 before, and it's a BIG difference. Despite that, it was an awesome place to visit. Ski Dubai was great. I didn't actually ski, but seeing as I've hardly seen any snow in my lifetime, it was cool to look at, and in the middle east none the less