Poof its already day 4 and am yet to explore any part of the city except the road from office to Hotel to Restaurant. But even in that this city presents a stark picture. So similar and yet so different than any other I have been to till date.
From Infrastructure perspective it can compete with the best of the world, but then its a "Business Only" City, with limited to no forms of entertainment to the outside world. Oh yes I do get a few channels on TV in hotel, but nothing else. Guess what locals would end up doing is calling friends and relatives, that as a form of entertainment. But then traveling may be an issue. Hardly see any public transport expect taxis. May be I am wrong.
This is one city where gas/petrol or Diesel is cheaper and Carbonated drinks costlier. That is evident from the number of energy guzzling SUVs evident on the road. If we remove taxis from the count, the number of SUVs on road will outnumber cars. And some of the most masculine of all. A couple of mins walk from hotel to Office and we see more number of Hummers, GMC, and those of Ford, Mitsubishi etc parked in office parking than cars. Some can be mistaken for mini trucks both from their size and noise. Guess when fuel is dirt cheap, who cares about mileage. Another factor of increase of cars, that our cab driver told in evening was the monthly installment schemes launched a few months back. With no interest rates to worry as per Islamic traditions its too easy to buy on EMIs.
Among the site of cars, another myth that was thrown out was women sitting in front seats of the car. Well, yes they are still not allowed to drive, but guess now they are allowed to atleast sit in the other front seat. Saw a few cases like this. Saw an Indian couple also driving down, Husband had come to drop her wife to office (not that she could not drive, but in here, she could not). Anyways, a few things other things noticed, every one including foreigners are to wear Abaya (Hijab). Well a local would not even remove it while eating. Well don't try to imagine how they eat, and off course i cannot photograph that but that's the time foreigners will remove it from there face. The only once you see with heads not covered inside malls would be expatriates not locals.
Well lunch time today was the Persian fare of Tabula (a mix of Coriander and bit of other leafy vegetables with Tomoto and Vinegar) and Hommos (a paste made from chickpeas and few other items) with Persian bread. Dinner was planned a few Kms away this time in Sulemania Talateen (33) in an Indian Restaurant. Good Food, back in hotel and time to sleep.
From Infrastructure perspective it can compete with the best of the world, but then its a "Business Only" City, with limited to no forms of entertainment to the outside world. Oh yes I do get a few channels on TV in hotel, but nothing else. Guess what locals would end up doing is calling friends and relatives, that as a form of entertainment. But then traveling may be an issue. Hardly see any public transport expect taxis. May be I am wrong.
This is one city where gas/petrol or Diesel is cheaper and Carbonated drinks costlier. That is evident from the number of energy guzzling SUVs evident on the road. If we remove taxis from the count, the number of SUVs on road will outnumber cars. And some of the most masculine of all. A couple of mins walk from hotel to Office and we see more number of Hummers, GMC, and those of Ford, Mitsubishi etc parked in office parking than cars. Some can be mistaken for mini trucks both from their size and noise. Guess when fuel is dirt cheap, who cares about mileage. Another factor of increase of cars, that our cab driver told in evening was the monthly installment schemes launched a few months back. With no interest rates to worry as per Islamic traditions its too easy to buy on EMIs.
Among the site of cars, another myth that was thrown out was women sitting in front seats of the car. Well, yes they are still not allowed to drive, but guess now they are allowed to atleast sit in the other front seat. Saw a few cases like this. Saw an Indian couple also driving down, Husband had come to drop her wife to office (not that she could not drive, but in here, she could not). Anyways, a few things other things noticed, every one including foreigners are to wear Abaya (Hijab). Well a local would not even remove it while eating. Well don't try to imagine how they eat, and off course i cannot photograph that but that's the time foreigners will remove it from there face. The only once you see with heads not covered inside malls would be expatriates not locals.
Well lunch time today was the Persian fare of Tabula (a mix of Coriander and bit of other leafy vegetables with Tomoto and Vinegar) and Hommos (a paste made from chickpeas and few other items) with Persian bread. Dinner was planned a few Kms away this time in Sulemania Talateen (33) in an Indian Restaurant. Good Food, back in hotel and time to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment