By Bob Van Leer

(DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, Tuesday, April 4, 2000) - We spent a good part of today in a four wheel drive vehicle charging up and down the sand dunes, some nearly vertical.

   Betty and I signed up for a tour called "Safari in the Desert" and left on it as soon as our cruise ship docked at Dubai's Port Rashid, named after a former emir. We were delayed in docking this morning because of pea soup fog which quickly dissipated when the desert sun hit it.

   The past two days we were at sea after leaving Goa, India. At Dubai we have traveled 3838 nautical miles since boarding the ship, Legend of the Seas, at Singapore. We will be on the ship until it reaches Athens, but technically today is the end of one cruise and tomorrow starts another, so we have to do our paperwork over again but we can continue in the same cabin.

   Dubai is one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. Each emirate has it's own ruling family. There are no political parties. There is a weak federal government headed by Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the vice president is Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. There is a National Assembly but the members are appointed by the emirate rulers and it is a consultive body only.

   Abu Dhabi is the capital and the leading oil producer of the seven. Dubai is second in oil but the ruling family is attempting with considerable success to make Dubai another Singapore, a transshipment port with a free trade zone, upstaging Abu Dhabi. The port is the largest in the region, as is the airport. The airport is roughly half way from Europe to southeast Asia and appears to be a major stopping point.

   Dubai tourism is increasing and the country is becoming a finance center, taking this distinction from Bahrain. The tallest buildings in the Persian Gulf are in Dubai. Thanks to oil, this is not a third world country. This is a modern city with most of the infrastructure, state of the art, just built or under construction.

   Water is scarce here and much is produced from sea water as part of a power plant. Landscape plantings along the roads are irrigated with sewer outfall water, our guide said. Abu Kerim, manager of a Dubai tour company, told us hat the population of the emirates is 2.6 million. Of these, 2 million are foreigners, many from Pakistan and India.
The 600,000 nationals live the good life. Housing is free, as are schooling, health care and water. Pensions are provided and there is no income tax for nationals.

   Kerim said pearling was the mainstay of Dubai for years until cultured pearls were introduced. He said the discovery of oil in 1951 was the most important event ever for Dubai. Dubai now boasts a seven-star hotel, Bourj al Arab, the first in the world. I didn't know the ratings went over five stars.

   The country is governed by "sharia" law for Muslims. This is religious law. But we are told that religious freedom is allowed in the country and there are other churches.

   On the safari tour, our caravan of four wheel drive vehicles left the road and the drivers let air out of our tires to about 15 pounds pressure. Then we hit the sand dunes. The ride was similar to the dune buggy rides at Florence, except there is a lot more sand here.

   Our drivers were good, going up and down dunes about as near vertical as sand gets. There is no shade in the desert and the temperature was 104 degrees. The ride was a lot of fun. In the far distance we would see some forbidding-looking mountains.

   On the way back we stopped at a camel farm which bred racing camels. Racing camels is a popular sport here. Our driver said all kinds of sports are popular here and there are several stadiums in the city.

   Most signs are in Arabic and English which makes it easy to get around. Dubai is only 7-8 hours away from London by plane and is popular spot with the English.