Dubai UAE 迪拜酋长国杜拜 1/2016 (6)

23-24/1/2016. For the past nine days, I was stuck back in time, more than 3,000 years ago. I witnessed antique coffins of dignitaries from time immemorial, ancient tombs hidden deep in the desert ground, wall inscriptions few today understand, temples of gods we no longer worship. I had hardly woken from my stupor in Egypt when a bright light was turned on, the bright lights of Dubai. This was where the moths gathered, where wealth was flaunted, where opulence was humility. Decadence was a badge of honor. So over the top, so boastful, that it has reportedly the world’s only seven-star hotel, the iconic sail-like Burj Al Arab Hotel. I did not want to go in because I felt unworthy.

I wandered into a hyper mall that accommodated a skating rink and a snowfield. Now, who says you can’t sell skis to the Emiratis? An enormous aquarium teeming with creatures big and small in the center of the mall occupied a few lengths of the shop windows. Dubai boasts the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, towering above the desert sand. They built an island, called the Palm Jumeirah, shaped like a palm tree in the sea. I took the monorail that runs through it; indeed, a handiwork of man, stunning and desirable, but I could only window shop with envy. The rail also took me to Atlantis, another posh hotel, but less sinful than the Atlantis of The Bahamas because it does not have a casino (see my post on The Bahamas).

As the sun set, I strolled around the bay area. The skyscrapers lit up like Christmas trees, the noise becoming boisterous as the bars and restaurants started to cheer up. The night began. Luxurious yachts of the rich and famous parked in the bay, perhaps also the infamous and the filthy rich. This was not a land of milk and honey. This was, after all, desert and sand, but it was a land of oil and money; where money is no object, where money talks.

I did not venture beyond the city. I just wanted to chill in the hot desert city. Two days in this glitzy world was all I needed. A bit of indulgence is good, but not too much. I wanted to be pampered but not spoilt. A bit of guilty pleasure, courtesy of capitalism, is okay by me.

过去的九天滞留在三千多年前；死人，朽棺木，深藏坟墓，古老象文，摧残的庙宇，遗忘的神灵，那么不可思议的古老世界。时光急进，转眼回到现代，到了迪拜，马上转眼适应刺眼的灯光。这里一切都那么夸张；这里有世界最高楼，还有据报道世界唯一的7星级酒店。这里没苍天大树，没茂密雨林, 归根就是个贫瘠的沙漠，但这里富得流油，钱能创造奇迹。他们在海里造了个岛，状似棕榈，就是闻名的珠美拉棕榈岛；真是一个大胆的工程，钱确可移动大地。一个大商场里除了一个溜冰场，还有一个大型滑雪场；炎热沙漠冰天雪地，挑战自然，不愧是瞠目结舌的壮举。商场中摆一个大鱼缸，占了几个大门店，大鲨小鱼如在海洋自游自在，这样卖海鲜有点过头了。太阳下山后我漫步港湾，高楼大厦开始挂上灯火，好像圣诞降临，餐厅咖啡吧也开始喧闹，水上挤满停靠的豪艇；资本主义在这里开荒润土；白天挖到的金子，晚上拿出来炫耀；这里炫富就是名片。我在这里只能呆两天，太多享受我怕会忘本。