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Dubai Diaries - 1

Guide & Ride

I have always fancied a journey on the road, that too in a vehicle that is private to our family, because since childhood I am used to road trips. In retrospect, I remember my father and grandfather always choosing roadways to the other means of transportation, even though distances to be travelled were long. There were various reasons behind this, may be because we can have a complete control over the journey, we can stop at desired locations in the middle of the journey which wouldn't be possible otherwise and so on. Though we didn't own a vehicle, we used to hire one that suited the length of our family.
A fast forward to the recent times, my husband and I were travelling to Dubai from Gayathi, a town in the emirate of Abu Dhabi by our car. Though we knew that it takes three and a half hours to reach our destination, we were apprehensive about reaching on time because we were new to the route and roads here. My husband being new to driving was under additional pressure, so we looked towards using technology. Thanks to google, for accurately sensing the topographies of the land and serving us with google map. Then, the next moment I was having a phone in my hands, which I wouldn't have held if not for the sake of google map, as I like to keep myself free. He entrusted me with the duty of guiding him through the journey and taking to the destination. Thus started our ride and my journey as a guide.
Initially I was very enthusiastic but as we progressed, I was getting sick of the damn thing. Apparently it seems very easy to see in the map and give directions. In fact we need not break our heads to check the directions, for google takes that responsibility, but still it isn't that easy as it seems.The worst thing happens when we are unable to follow what google is telling. Before telling about this chaos, I have to tell about the roads and routes in UAE.
First thing is the roads in UAE are 4 lane roads. Each road diverges into a number of exits, so if we take a wrong exit or diversion, we would be making our way to a different place. There is an inconvenience with 4 lane roads as to what I have observed, suppose if we want to take the rightmost exit, then we have to keep ourselves to the right quite before reaching the point of exit, otherwise we cannot reach our required path. This is because the vehicles would be coming with a speed of 120 km/hr, then if we want to cross the lanes there is a possibility of getting struck by someone. If unfortunately we happened to take a wrong exit, then we cannot turn back or rather rectify our mistake then and there. Again we must travel a lot and join back into the road where we missed our way. That costs our patience, energy and time, resulting in the manifestation of tension. Next, here we cannot stop wherever we need in the middle of the road. Though there are dedicated areas(at the sides of the road) for stopping, until we reach those places, we have to keep going. Also, there are petrol pump stations called as "ADNOC( Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) OASIS", at regular intervals. These are not just fuel filling stations but also refreshment centers for those travelling long distances. We happened to stop at one such station and had our lunch. Well, coming back to the roads, one cannot find any vehicle stopping by on the highways unlike in India or  for that matter even within the cities, other than in the parking lots. Above all these, there are cameras to monitor the vehicles and if anyone found violating the traffic rules, they would be heavily fined. The fines are not collected then and there, but a bill will be sent to your mail by the concerned authorities. Thus all this makes a road trip in UAE tough for an inexperienced driver.
Generally when I get ready for a road trip, I hope to enjoy the luxury of playing good music loudly, getting lost in staring at the nature with a blank mind and being peaceful. However, this journey was quite contrary to my anticipation. Yet, I enjoyed it to the fullest because when you are in the company of your dearest ones, there is always a constant happiness that succumbs you. I got much happier when we were able to reach our destination within the stipulated time and when my husband attributed all that credit to me. Hence it was a joyous ride and me a happy guide 😃.




© Written by Manaswini Pasumarthi

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