Rain?.....in the desert?

The most frequent visitor I’ve had in Dubai is my mate Fintan, though the last couple of times he’s been here he stayed in a hotel. His reason for choosing a hotel will not be published here; use your imagination, answers on a postcard please…. His first visit was just a few weeks after our Jaki’s and coincided with the first rain I’d seen in Dubai, Eid (the end of Ramadan) and the sad death of Sheikh Zayed, ruler of the UAE. The whole country was in mourning and whilst that meant a few extra days holiday for the average expat, it also meant all partying was banned. The usual Eid celebrations were cancelled, and after the quiet of Ramadan we were all ready for a boogie, for most that would have to wait another 60 days. Back to the rain, I’d lived in Malaysia for a while so was used to daily torrential downpours and the wonderful light shows that accompany them. And I must admit to missing rain… WHAT? Yeah, I missed and still do miss rain – not the grey drizzle we get in Blighty, but the drenching of real tropical rains and their thunder and lighting. So when we were sat on the roof terrace at Wafi, having dinner and the wind hit, then a flash of lightening, I must admit I was a little excited. Fintan on the other hand was not, he was on his way back from Kuala Lumpur and it’s daily drenching, so was looking forward to the dry desert!

When the rain arrived we made a hasty retreat inside – it’s fun to watch from the dry. And man did it rain; it was just like a tropical downpour, thunder crashing, streaks of lightening across the sky, rain bouncing off the ground; just like….well…. erm….KL. This however, is where the similarity ends; KL is geared for these downpours, Dubai is not! They have no gutters, never mind storm drains, and construction here is less than watertight! The party at the restaurant next door had to be evacuated when the rain began pouring through the ceiling! Anyway, even though it was still raining we needed to go home, so we had to brave the storm. Outside the car park was flooded, and I’m not exaggerating when I say we had to wade through a foot of water to the car, a picture tells a thousand words……


Dubai’s infamous roads are dangerous at the best of times, but when it rains; suicide! Most of our Arab cousins are Looney tune drivers, and they have no concept of aquaplaning and the damage it can cause. The normally bone dry roads turn into ice rinks when wet, but that wont slow habibi down, oh no. The road home was littered with cars, taxis, busses and trucks that had crashed, flooded their engine, spun out etc… Even the ‘professional’ drivers took no heed of the dangerous conditions; it was some introduction to rain in the dessert!