UAE/Dubai facts

The United Arab Emirates 

The United Arab Emirates is made up of seven formerly independent Emirates: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Quwain, Ras al Khaimah and Fujairah. Dubai is the second largest, after Abu Dhabi, both geographically and also in terms of the expatriate population.

THE WEATHER

The UAE has a tropical and arid climate and for about 8 months of the year. You will enjoy day after day of glorious sunshine and unbroken blue skies. You can plan a barbecue, camp in the desert or on the beach, meet in the parks, or at the beach club, all safe in the knowledge that it'll not be rained off.

Temperatures are at their lowest Dec/Jan and then steadily climb. April is still ok but by May it's getting hot and you spend less time outdoors. June is hot and hideously humid, July and August are hotter again and even more humid. Humidity levels can get unbearable reaching up to around 80-90% mid summer.

In September the temperature does start to slowly drop, but it's still very hot. October, we're back to enjoying the beach, avoiding the middle of the day, and November is perfect.

Throughout the year, temperatures range from a low of about 10 degrees Celsius on winter nights, to a high of 48 degrees Celsius in the midday summer heat. Rainfall is infrequent and happens mainly in the winter.

CLOTHING

Year-round, all you will need is summer clothing here, but you will probably want to have the occasional wrap or light weight jacket when going into air-conditioned restaurants and for cooler winter evenings. After a few months in this region you become acclimatized to the warmer weather and you will forget how it feels to be in a real winter.

It is normal to wear shorts, summer frocks around parts of Dubai (e.g. Jumeirah). However, if you're shopping in more central Dubai or anywhere in Abu Dhabi, or if you’re going anywhere where nationals congregate, or where there are a lot of men (such as Bur Dubai) you would probably feel more comfortable if you cover up a little bit; a longer skirt and nothing sleeveless. Nobody will say anything to you but you feel a lot of eyes on you and you will soon feel uncomfortable by their gazes.

National Dress

On the whole the National population wears their traditional dress in public. For men this is the dish dash (a) or khandura - a white full length shirt, which is worn with a white or red checked headdress, known as gutra. In public, the local women wear the black abaya - a long, loose black robe that covers their normal clothes - plus a headscarf called the sheyla. This traditional dress totally covers them up and this is what is considered appropriate within the constraints of the Muslim culture.

Security in Dubai

In terms of security and personal safety, Dubai is a relatively safe compared with other large cities in the world. Recently however, I have heard of a few rather scary stories, like the heist in shopping centres and the occasional car being stolen, but it is not something that is publicised. Dubai prides itself on a fairly clean slate when it come to crime, however with the ever increasing population in this region there is definitely hints of the Western world creeping in. 

Driving in Dubai

Seat belts are meant to be worn but there is very little enforcement of this law so every now and then you see a little child hanging out the window playing with the wind as their parent does neck breaking speeds on the main highway through the city. This is quite disturbing but you soon realize this part driving in the UAE. People drive relatively fast, but there is peace of mind in the fact that drink driving is virtually non existent as there are fairly harsh penalties if you are caught. Most expats won’t risk being thrown into to jail or worse deportation for being caught. Taxis are cheap and this is a very good way to get around initially.

UAE LOCAL CURRENCY

The local currency in Dubai is the dirham (AED or Dhs), which is linked to the dollar. (AED 3.67 = US$ 1). In recent times there has been a lot of turbulence with the dollar. It has gone up and back down and is currently at a rate of around 6 against the pound sterling.

It takes a bit of time getting used to the notes, even though they have both the Arabic and English denomination on the.

The coins are even more difficult as they are only written in Arabic. You soon learn what is what and people here are generally very honest and never take more than they need.