EL APORTE TEOLÓGICO CON RESPECTO A LA UNIDAD

O N E O F T H E B E S T W E B S I T E S to help you get a handle on restaurants, bars, nightclubs and concerts comes courtesy of listings guide Time Out (timeoutdubai.com). Usefully, it also has an events sales section on the site, where you can purchase tickets for everything from rock concerts to go-karting days online. Dubai Explorer has a similarly useful site (liveworkexplore.com/dubai) that is slightly more geared towards residents (although helpful for practical things such as den-tists and hospitals). The National newspaper, although based in Abu Dhabi, is probably the best source of local (and international) news here. Hard copies of the paper can be picked up from most outlets, and an online version is available at thenational.ae. A locally-printed international edition of U.K. newspaper The Times is also available.

For a more sensationalist slant, it is also worth grabbing a copy of the popular free sheet 7Days, or if you want to mug up before arriving, you can visit 7days.ae. For the first-time visitor the Dubai Government Department of Tourism Web site (dubaitourism.ae) is very useful, with up-to-date information on visas, laws and regulations and interactive maps. The official government Web site, uaeinteract.com, sponsored by the National Media Council, also has up-to-date news from all over the U.A.E. For probably the most useful information on U.A.E. law as it pertains to visitors, your embassy is the best place to start. For Brits, the British Embassy has a list of dos and don’ts available at ukinuae.fco.

gov.uk. Americans can obtain information from dubai.usconsulate.gov, and Australians should take a look at uae.embassy.gov.au. Canadians should visit tinyurl.com/3xy6uw9. The Dubai government has also promised that an iPhone application will be available from 2011 onwards with comprehensive coverage of local laws that affect tourists – check on elaws.gov.ae. In addition, two local television stations, Dubai One and City7, will almost certainly be playing in your hotel room.

E N T R Y R E Q U I R E M E N T S

F O R M O S T T R AV E L L E R S, all you will need to travel to the U.A.E. is a passport valid for at least six months from the date of arrival. Citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the following countries do not require prearranged visas: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America and the Vatican. Do check with the official tourism Web site (dubaitourism.ae) for updated advice on visitor visas for the U.A.E., as rules can change with little warning. You will be allowed to stay in the country for 30 days, non-renewable – it is not worth overstaying your welcome as fines or a jail term may be incurred. You can enter and exit through any part of the U.A.E. If you are not a citizen of the countries listed above, you are required to have a sponsor for your visit. This will be arranged by the hotel or travel agent, so enquire when booking. Non-U.K. nationals who book flights through Emirates Airlines can also obtain their visas online at the same time. A 30-day visa will cost AED 100 (£17.30 or US $27.25), not including service fees. Passengers can continually track the status of these applications, and they should be delivered via e-mail within four international working days. As always, these rules are subject to change, so it is worth checking with the U.A.E. embassy or visiting government.ae.

W H O M T O G O W I T H

T H I S I S A C O M P L E X Q U E S T I O N, which you should give some real thought to before you book your ticket. Technically, under the sharia law by which the U.A.E. abides, it is illegal to share a room with a person of the opposite sex to whom you are not married. In practice, hotels turn a blind eye – in fact, our straw poll proved that most will tell you it’s completely fine and will only ask for one passport on arrival (even if they do ask for both, Arab women in the U.A.E. keep their surnames when they marry, so there would be no reason for them to suspect). This is entirely at your own risk though, and should you for any reason have a run-in with the police during your stay, there may be consequences. Homosexuality is not illegal per se in Dubai, but homo-sexual acts are (although conversely it is much more acceptable to hold the hand of a person of the same sex as a sign of friendship than it is with someone of the opposite sex). It is, however, not illegal to share a hotel room with a person of the same sex, so again this is a judgement call that individual visitors must make for themselves.

Gay, straight, married or cohabiting, you will need to keep a very tight rein on public displays of affection while in the emirate. However innocuous you believe them to be, they are a total no-no. We really

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mean it. So that’s no lewd behaviour and no kissing, even if you are in the back of a taxi and think you are safe from prying eyes. Such behav-iour could easily lead to at least a night in a police cell, or much, much worse. Even a peck on the lips is pushing it if you are in a public area.

So lovebirds – especially if unmarried – might want to hold off on a visit to Dubai until they’ve got a little bit bored with each other.

W H A T T O P A C K

D U B A I H A S A S O P E N A N D W E L C O M I N G a culture as you will find in the Middle East, so the only time women will be expected to cover their heads as non-Muslims will be if they are visiting a mosque. As soon as you step off the aeroplane at Dubai International Airport, you will undoubtedly see men in the traditional long-sleeved, ankle-length kandura or dishdasha with a red-and-white ghutra or the black iqal band headdress, with women wearing sheyla headcoverings and elegant black abaya. You will not, at any point, be required to wear these – and it is extremely infrequently that you will ever see a non-Arab in traditional garb. If you do fancy a photo opportunity, most desert safari companies have a stock for men and women at the camp they will take you to after your dune bashing. Otherwise, leave it to the locals or you may cause offence.

When packing for everyday wear, do bear in mind that you are in a Muslim country. Bikinis are perfectly acceptable for the beach – although topless sunbathing most definitely is not, under any circumstances – but, unless you are in a hotel complex, do cover up the second you get off the sand. Shorts are completely acceptable for women and men; sleeveless tops will not cause offence. Cropped tops for women are not a great idea for daywear, and excessive cleavage will get you stared at, especially in the malls, where you may even get stopped by the authorities and told to cover up. Of course, the sun’s strength also means that covering up is a good idea if you don’t want to be burned to a crisp anyway. However, on an evening out, pretty much anything goes – just make sure that you don’t end up wandering around outside the club or bar in very skimpy clothing, especially if you have been drinking heavily or are in Old Dubai (that is, the area around Dubai Creek), as you may cause offence. Venture outside of Dubai and rules are stricter – if you travel to Sharjah, you will need to cover your shoulders and legs, and it is best to dress more modestly in the nation’s capital, Abu Dhabi, too. During Ramadan, you will also be expected to show more sensitivity – if in doubt, carry a light scarf so you can cover up at a moment’s notice should you need to.

Dubai is such a new city that, even in the flashiest restaurants and bars, you won’t be asked to don a tie or a jacket before entering. If you want to visit the chicest nightspots, though, you will have to impress the man with the magic clipboard, who usually awards entry to the high-est heels, shorthigh-est skirt and larghigh-est cleavage on display. Dressing up in

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your best bling and loudest labels here is, quite simply, de rigueur of an evening. As everyone hails taxis to bar-hop as a matter of course, high heels are very much the order of the day. Men should be warned that most upmarket bars and nightclubs will refuse entry if you are wear-ing open-toed shoes or flip-flops, even if they do come from Gucci. In general, as Dubai is not really a walking city, there’s really no need to go big on the sensible shoes. One pair of sneakers should suffice – over and above that, sandals and open-toed shoes will be your best friends.

The weather varies from warm to very hot, so it is extremely unlikely that you will need the sort of coat that would help you cope with a European winter. In the cooler months here (December–

February) it is wise to take a light jacket, a cardigan or a wrap. Even in the summer months you will find them useful, as air conditioning can be quite fierce.

Although there are no reliable official figures, anybody here will tell you that the street crime rate is almost nonexistent. So the zip-up handbags and concealed money belts that the unversed might think useful in the Middle East are actually completely pointless. It’s not worth testing the theory, but you could pretty much leave your wallet in the middle of the street and come back three hours later to find it still in the same spot.

D R U G S A N D M E D I C A T I O N

A S M A N Y V I S I T O R S W I L L B E AWA R E due to international press coverage, there is an absolutely zero-tolerance policy for narcotics in Dubai. You must also be extremely careful about travelling into the U.A.E. with any sort of prescribed or over-the-counter medica-tion. If in doubt about your specific prescription, please speak to the U.A.E. embassy in your country before travelling, and carry your prescription with you when travelling. Restricted medicines include many commonly prescribed outside of the country, including Prozac, Ritalin, Roaccutane, Zyban and Valium. Unfortunately, even some medication that is available over the counter in many Western countries is banned, including some common cold and flu medicines such as Actifed and Tixylix. Take a look at the government Web site, dubai.ae, for a comprehensive list of restricted substances. Contraven-ing these rules could mean four years in prison and/or deportation.

It goes without saying that smuggling narcotics through customs is illegal and stupid – there have been several widely-reported cases of harsh jail terms for even microscopic amounts found on passengers or in their luggage. Poppy seeds are also banned, so refrain from that bagel on departure from your home country just in case you’re a messy eater. In 2009 1,483 people were arrested in drug-related cases.

Other things you should avoid carrying in your case are any sex aids and pornography. There is also a ban on goods of Israeli origin or bearing Israeli trademarks or logos.

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