Dubai, UAE

I saw something truly beautiful yesterday in the Dubai Gold Souq. There were women who were wearing almost full body concealing burqas, except that their faces were uncovered. But they wore some kind of metalic ornament that was somehow anchored to the forehead, extended in a thin strip over the nose and culminated in a mask covering only the mouth. So you're allowed to see their face but they're not allowed to talk. It's the best of both worlds! The up-side to Dubai is that it's the most pedestrian friendly city in the region, even if it leaves a lot to be desired. The down-side is that it has to be the world's rudest city. Keep in mind that I'm used to staying in hotel rooms where water squirts everywhere from the pipes which have been repaired with masking tape and eating in restaurants which have no menu because even if they did nobody would be able to read it, so I don't expect much in the way of customer service. But I am astonished by the complete lack of respect shown to the consumer here. I don't know where the rumor that the French are rude came from, and I don't where the rumor of Dubai's "Seven Star Service" came from either. The school of thought is that they're doing YOU a favor by allowing you to spend your money with them. Of course you'll come across the random nice person, mostly foreign workers who are fresh off the boat and haven't figured out that shitty service is the norm here and that they're working waaaaaaaaaaay too hard. But anybody who has been working here for a few months has completed Assholism 101 with flying colors. As I predicted, the global financial crisis has made traveling easier. It seems to have really hit Dubai hard, with a ripple effect of the downturn of the Russian economy. A huge percentage of tourist money in Dubai comes from the Russian middle and upper classes, who are now back to the way they were in the early 90s. Hotels are charging way less than they could have earlier. In Beirut I checked into a hotel (after taking a stand against paying for toilet paper), and the amount I paid for the room was significantly less than the price quoted on the board at the front desk. The last hotel I stayed at in Dubai also had a board at the front desk listing prices, which were identical to the prices listed for his hotel in my guidebook, which was published in September 2008. This is rare, since normally you show up at a hotel and the rates have gone up slightly. The big surprise came when they told me it actually would only cost 2/3 that price. Despite these bargains, Dubai still isn't for budget travelers and even 2/3 the regular rate is bankrupting me. Although Dubai is sucking every last dirham out of me, it is amazing what is available at what prices. I found a taquería here, where I intend to eat dinner tonight.