The China Mail - Dubai dwellers take desert camping to skyscraper city

USD -
AED 3.67301
AFN 71.021929
ALL 86.757891
AMD 388.845938
ANG 1.80229
AOA 916.000148
ARS 1165.000022
AUD 1.559315
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.70406
BAM 1.718274
BBD 2.002838
BDT 121.45998
BGN 1.72222
BHD 0.376957
BIF 2973.111879
BMD 1
BND 1.309923
BOB 6.907155
BRL 5.619799
BSD 0.999627
BTN 85.145488
BWP 13.647565
BYN 3.271381
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008021
CAD 1.382775
CDF 2877.999765
CHF 0.824198
CLF 0.024644
CLP 945.690142
CNY 7.269496
CNH 7.2656
COP 4197
CRC 505.357119
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 96.873243
CZK 21.90485
DJF 178.012449
DKK 6.56135
DOP 58.908545
DZD 132.288977
EGP 50.801298
ERN 15
ETB 133.81045
EUR 0.87892
FJD 2.256403
FKP 0.746656
GBP 0.74686
GEL 2.745039
GGP 0.746656
GHS 14.294876
GIP 0.746656
GMD 71.492633
GNF 8658.065706
GTQ 7.698728
GYD 209.76244
HKD 7.75695
HNL 25.941268
HRK 6.620396
HTG 130.799
HUF 355.319478
IDR 16646.9
ILS 3.62904
IMP 0.746656
INR 85.090398
IQD 1309.571398
IRR 42100.000211
ISK 128.410025
JEP 0.746656
JMD 158.35182
JOD 0.7092
JPY 142.663004
KES 129.349896
KGS 87.450261
KHR 4001.774662
KMF 432.250121
KPW 900.101764
KRW 1422.724972
KWD 0.30632
KYD 0.833044
KZT 511.344318
LAK 21622.072771
LBP 89567.707899
LKR 299.446072
LRD 199.931473
LSL 18.549157
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 5.468994
MAD 9.272737
MDL 17.203829
MGA 4511.41031
MKD 54.061297
MMK 2099.785163
MNT 3572.381038
MOP 7.98763
MRU 39.575655
MUR 45.229907
MVR 15.400483
MWK 1733.40069
MXN 19.553103
MYR 4.310956
MZN 64.01011
NAD 18.549157
NGN 1601.519845
NIO 36.785022
NOK 10.359235
NPR 136.237321
NZD 1.68312
OMR 0.384995
PAB 0.999613
PEN 3.664973
PGK 4.141482
PHP 55.858498
PKR 280.826287
PLN 3.75155
PYG 8005.376746
QAR 3.644223
RON 4.374502
RSD 102.966435
RUB 82.000422
RWF 1428.979332
SAR 3.751033
SBD 8.361298
SCR 14.651979
SDG 600.501985
SEK 9.643735
SGD 1.305825
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.75021
SLL 20969.483762
SOS 571.328164
SRD 36.849418
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.746876
SYP 13001.961096
SZL 18.542907
THB 33.321501
TJS 10.555936
TMT 3.51
TND 2.990231
TOP 2.342102
TRY 38.501202
TTD 6.782431
TWD 31.975997
TZS 2685.000535
UAH 41.530014
UGX 3663.550745
UYU 42.090559
UZS 12943.724275
VES 86.54811
VND 26005
VUV 121.306988
WST 2.770092
XAF 576.298184
XAG 0.030422
XAU 0.000302
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.71673
XOF 576.29312
XPF 104.776254
YER 245.050187
ZAR 18.54398
ZMK 9001.200989
ZMW 27.965227
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    -0.4500

    63

    -0.71%

  • CMSC

    -0.0800

    22.24

    -0.36%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1300

    10.12

    -1.28%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.58

    +0.1%

  • RIO

    0.0100

    60.88

    +0.02%

  • BTI

    0.4700

    42.86

    +1.1%

  • GSK

    0.9100

    38.97

    +2.34%

  • AZN

    1.7800

    71.71

    +2.48%

  • BP

    -1.0600

    28.07

    -3.78%

  • NGG

    0.1900

    73.04

    +0.26%

  • SCS

    0.1500

    10.01

    +1.5%

  • RELX

    0.4300

    53.79

    +0.8%

  • BCC

    -0.8300

    94.5

    -0.88%

  • JRI

    0.1300

    12.93

    +1.01%

  • BCE

    0.1100

    21.92

    +0.5%

  • CMSD

    -0.1300

    22.35

    -0.58%

Dubai dwellers take desert camping to skyscraper city
Dubai dwellers take desert camping to skyscraper city / Photo: © AFP

Dubai dwellers take desert camping to skyscraper city

On a patch of city land beside the sea, urban Emiratis sit beneath the shimmering skyscrapers of wealthy Dubai, revamping a camping tradition rooted in the desert.

Text size:

Dozens of camper trailers are lined up, with simple facilities set up in the open air against a backdrop featuring the world's tallest building, the needle-like Burj Khalifa -- a symbol of the ostentatious lifestyles and consumerism associated with the city.

Khaled al-Kaissi, 38, is among the minority of the population -- around 10 percent -- who are native Emiratis.

In the United Arab Emirates, foreign labour largely from Asia is cheaply available, including for household help, to the benefit of many locals.

But "sometimes you need simple things", like preparing your own cup of tea, he said, voicing a desire for "simplicity and humility".

On the sandy ground, some visitors at the makeshift urban camping site have set up rugs and cushions to create a "majlis", a type of communal living room traditional in the Gulf.

Others sit in regular camping chairs.

Like many countries on the Arabian Peninsula, the United Arab Emirates was largely undeveloped before the discovery of oil in the late 1950s.

Less rich in hydrocarbons than other UAE emirates, Dubai became a regional leader in economic diversification.

It turned itself into an ultra-modern metropolis, a regional business and financial centre, and a popular destination with grandiose attractions.

Despite the rapid transformation of their way of life and the influx of expatriates, Emiratis remain attached to their camping culture -- when temperatures drop enough for them to comfortably avoid air-conditioned shopping centres, that is.

It is a tradition tied to their Bedouin ancestors.

"The idea comes from our great-great-grandparents because they used to live in the desert... and they passed down this tradition to us," said Wissam Hamad Skandarani, 33, a Palestinian-American with an Emirati mother.

Under the stars, he was getting ready to watch a football match on television.

Skandarani is in the habit of spending weekends camping in the desert, but since he found this spot a month ago he's been coming every evening. Here, he meets his friends after work in Dubai's financial district just a few minutes away.

"You have the city, and the beach in front of you. And you have the view," he said. "You're in heaven."

- 'Surreal' -

Ahmed Rashed al-Ali came from the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to camp with his friends.

Since buying his camper three years ago, Ali has taken it to cities across the UAE and also elsewhere in the Gulf.

"We used to put up the tent in one spot but the mobile home has modernised camping. You move around, one day in the mountains, one day at the beach, another in the desert," he said.

Ali and others know full well that their camping spot likely won't be spared from Dubai's frenetic construction for long.

Authorities ignore them as long as the improvised camping sites are clean and well organised, said Mohammed Chammas, 46, a factory owner.

"But we are waiting for the time they come and tell us that something is going to be built and they ask us to move on," he said.

In the meantime, visitors travelling with a camper van pass along via the internet the secret of this striking view of the Burj Khalifa -- which tourists staying in city hotels would likely pay a lot for.

Sophie Ullrich, a 34-year-old German, has criss-crossed the deserts of the Gulf with her husband in their 4x4 converted into a camper van.

They, like the Emiratis, also found themselves at the unofficial campground in Dubai.

"Being here was special," she said. "We were sitting there in front of the car... looking at the skyline, having our Toyota in the background, and it felt so surreal."

B.Clarke--ThChM