Prolly won’t have time to blog tomorrow, because I’m going to Dubai for a conference/training session with some highly skilled people.
I need to be at Jumeirah by 9 which, for most people, would mean leaving here by 7 at the earliest, because everyone except me drives at about 150 kms per hour.
I drive at the more sedate pace of around 120, partly because accidents do happen, and partly because our car beeps once it hits 120 (I’ve been told by other people that you just turn the radio up and you don’t even notice the beeping sound…erm…could not think of anything more hideous than driving at 150 km with a radio turned up to drown out the beeping…especially because the BBC world service in English doesn’t start until 9, and the classic radio cuts out about halfway between here and Dubai and the rest of the radio stations are just noise).
Now, if I drive myself all the way to the venue, it will mean negotiating the World Trade Centre roundabout. It all sounds very simple in the instructions I’ve been given. In my favour, I do have a good sense of direction, but working against that, I feel the fear in the traffic, and lose my nerve. Also, it’s very easy to miss a turn or make a wrong turn in Dubai, and then there’s nothing for it but to sit back and enjoy the ride to Sharjah.
So I think I will do what I always do, which is to stop the car at Ibn Battuta Mall or perhaps Dubai Mall, then catch a cab the rest of the way. The cab from Ibn Battuta Mall will cost a fair bit, but getting back onto Sheik Zayed Road out of Dubai Mall and pointing yourself in the direction of Abu Dhabi is extraordinarily difficult on account of the roadworks diversions. And it will be dark by the time I come home. I suspect Ibn Battuta Mall.
Do you know what I’m missing right now? I’m missing my house which is fifty steps to the tram if you turn left when you step out the gate, and one hundred steps to the bus if you turn right.
I would weight up the cost of the cab against the possible cost in (money, time and/or other less measurable things) of getting lost. Or even just of an unplanned trip to Sharjah, when you were meant to be somewhere else.
I’m feeling game and have promised the girls a trip to Dubai Mall on Thursday. Never driven there MYSELF but I should be right – though I hate the way when you exit DM you end up on that back road with all the road works. Not looking forward to that part.
I highly recommend stopping at Ibn Battuta…it is extraordinarily easy. You could even catch the metro from Ibn battuta to Dubai Mall.
You don’t need to end up on truck road I don’t think…we managed to find our way onto Sheikh Zayed road last time, but it’s a bit round and about because of whatever it is they’re doing to the road…it is pretty well signposted, but you need nerves of steel. Or catch a cab from Ibn Battuta to Dubai Mall. I think it would cost about 20dh each way. Anyhoo, good luck!
Sounds like driving in central Australia, except with more traffic…I always used to think that 150 kmh was just a little too fast.