I spent four days in Dubai last March en route to Kabul (talk about a world of difference between the two cities, but I digress...)

I was very happy to have visited it, but to tell you the truth, found it to be a little depressing. While I did enjoy crossing the creek in the small boats and wandering around the souks, I found it odd that most tourists simply stayed put in their resorts around Jumeirah and made little effort to seek out the 'real' Dubai. In fact, at Madinat Jumeirah you can stay at a brand new resort whose centerpiece is a shopping mall replica of a typical Deira-style Dubai souk, which would be analogous to a hotel on the Las Vegas Strip sporting a 'Downtown Las Vegas' theme. I guess tourists who stay there do not wish the 'inconvenience' of confronting Dubai -- so why did they visit in the first place?

Don't get me wrong ; if you're in that part of the world, by all means check it out. It's growing at such a quick pace that upon following visits, you might not even recognize it!

Keep in mind, however, that apart from the very cheap taxis, everything is pretty expensive. I was with a group of eight graduate students and finding an affordable but non-dirtbag hotel was challenging. We ended up at the Four Points by Sheraton in Bur Dubai which was adequate but whose lobby morphed nightly into a parade of prostitutes, which I guess is a feature of the city. Traffic is a major problem with the transportation infrastructure not keeping up with building construction. Change money in the souks downtown for some great rates.