This morning we took the ferry to Kadikoy and then a taxi to the airport, then to fly off to Dubai. Dubai is further than I would have thought – though of course closer to Lahore and just across the water from Karachi yet a different world.
The last time I came to Dubai was nearly 20 years ago, when the buildings on the Marina – the sail, the wave – were new and the spike of the Burj Khalifa was only starting to pierce the hazy desert sky. That time I stayed out in the desert in a resort which is now on the edge of the city and will undoubtedly be engulfed in another year or two.
The flight arrived in the low-cost terminal, a rather small, plain and un-Dubai-like place, but soon we were zooming along to Dubai Hills, which has no hills whatsoever but is a newish and somewhat upmarket residential area. We arrived at a beautiful penthouse flat with a view over the spreading city (meaning roads and construction sites), safely screened from it all with thorough air conditioning. Two maids were waiting and made us some dinner from a meal kit. Then my nephews arrived from a West End performance of Matilda. And here we are, for a long weekend.