Thursday, 16 December, 2004 10:29
Global Stringers: David
Banks | |
|
 | | Global
Stringers - David Banks |
| | Name:
David Banks
Location:
Dubai, UAE
Connection:
I'm
from Portsmouth
Distance from here:
3459 miles |
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| Date:
Thursday, December 16, 2004 | One
quirky phenomenon here is the way roads or landmarks seem to take on informal
English names if they are unnamed or if the Arabic ones are too long-winded. I
live near Bank Street (real name Khalid Bin Whalid Road), which contains a lot
of banks. It becomes Computer Street as soon as you see the computer shops!
Someone
who knows this phenomenon well is Briton John Gregory, a fabled mountaineer and
runner who has spent 30 years working in the northern emirate of Ras Al Khaimah,
a 90-minute drive up the coast from Dubai. He has named mountain passes and peaks
on his many climbing trips - and the names have stuck. For example, he tells me
"Jungle Book Pass", was so named because of the volume of bananas he and friends
ate on their first trip there.
John鈥檚 contribution to books and magazines
has made Ras Al Khaimah well known among climbers, mountain bikers and runners.
He has done so much for the area鈥檚 reputation as a weekend getaway that he has
even been given his own tongue-in-cheek alternative name by the emirate鈥檚 ruling
family - 鈥淟ord Gregory of Ras Al Khaimah鈥!
Cheers, David |
| Date:
Friday, November 26, 2004 | The
city of Dubai has been good to me so far, I've enjoyed the experience since arriving
in July 2003 from Portsmouth. Even this far down the line, I still feel like there's
a lot I am yet to see and do. Sports, nightlife and the predominance of the English
language make it a home from home for the western expatriate.
Few places
have such a diverse population as Dubai, which is one of the seven emirates of
the United Arab Emirates. There are people from India, Pakistan, the Philippines,
Iran and Lebanon - and the local UAE national population makes up just under a
quarter of the country's four million people. Brits number about 100,000. Dubai
is also famed for huge buildings, beautiful weather, its exploitation of Asian
labour, sandy beaches and being the second most dangerous place in the world to
drive after Saudi Arabia. Cheers
David |
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