Americans Traveling to United Arab Emirates (Specifically, Dubai, Oman, etc.)?
Posted by: admin in Oman QuestionsQuestion by B Z: Americans Traveling to United Arab Emirates (Specifically, Dubai, Oman, etc.)?
I am an American citizen, interested in visiting some areas in the United Arab Emirates (specifically, Dubai and Oman). I was wondering what experiences people have had visiting these areas; are Americans welcomed, or frowned upon? Is it insulting to the cultures to wear typical American clothing, or is tourism such a big part of the economy that Americans are welcome? Is it safe to, say, ride around in a taxi alone (as an American male or female), being that I solely speak English? Thank you!
Best answer:
Answer by K T
There are a lot of Americans residing in the UAE and they don’t have any problems. In the major cities you will have a hard time finding someone who DOESN’T speak English – everybody speaks it. In rural areas there might be a problem, but even there you usually have people that speak English, but it can’t hurt to memorize some major phrases in Arabic – especially the numbers and the typical tourist questions. You can wear what ever you like, if you are a female however you shouldn’t wear too revealing clothes. I haven’t wittnesed the authorities stop anyone because of the way they dress but unless you want to be stared at by some men you shouldn’t show too much cleavage, leg stomach. But then on the other hand, surprisingly, I haven’t seen women (a few) dress so slutty than here- so anything is really possible. That goes for Dubai at least. If you go to rural areas you should dress down more just out of respect to the people. Oman is very pretty, too- -but it is not a part of the UAE, it’s an own country
Tourism is a huge part in the UAE. It is totally safe and compared to Europe or the States, very cheap to ride around in a taxi. Just make sure to use one of the official and legal taxis. They now all have meters and therefore there will be no hassle concerning the fare.
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November 2nd, 2011 at 2:14 pm
Hi, I live in Abu Dhabi (capital of UAE).
If you are interested in visiting Oman (which, incidentally borders the UAE but is not a part of it) or Dubai in the UAE, then you won’t have a problem. The UAE is a very diverse country, and you will see many people wearing both typical western clothing, and traditional arab clothing, abaya for women, etc. Some muslim women even wear normal western clothing with the hijab (head scarf)
The only issue with dress, and this is directed at women, is to avoid wearing tight and revealing clothing as it may attract unwanted attention
But Dubai is quite liberal, but still it’s respectful, you know?
Tourism is a huge part of Dubai, my god, there are so many tourists there it’s crazy. Especially in Mall of the Emirates (biggest mall of all of the UAE) Nightlife is really good too. Oh, and alcohol by the way is really controlled, they sell at night clubs and hotels. And if you want to buy pork there are usually special areas in the grocery stores for non-muslims only.
So, that being said tourism is a huge thing in the UAE, you have probably heard of the many projects going on in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi: Burj Al Arab, underwater hotel, Le Louvre and the Guggenheim on Saadiyat Island.. and amazing hotel in Abu Dhabi Emirates Palace … so much to see… Global Village in Dubai… gold souks
I can’t tell you much about Oman, I’ve only been to Muscat (capital city) so yeah. Beautiful place though.
And yes it is safe to ride in a taxi by yourself.. mostly everyone in the UAE speaks English, some taxi drivers aren’t very good at English but it is easy enough to get the point across.. and there are private taxis for hire..
Some useful arabic phrases for taxi :
stop- kuf
right- yamiyn
left- yassar
straight ahead- siydaa
roundabout- duwwaar
(The UAE has both traffic lights and roundabouts)
and as for arabic words of places
hotel- funduq
restaurant- mata’am
desert- al sahraa
sea or beach- il bahar
airport- mataar
It’s always good to pick up a few Arabic phrases, and people will appreciate the effort:
Hello- marhaba
Hello (in relpy)- marhabtayn
Greeting (peace be upon you)- Salaam alaykum
Greeting (in reply)- Wa alaykum is salaam
Thank you- shukran
Please- min fadlak (male), min fadliki (female)
Sorry- aasif (for male), aasifa (for female)
Yes- na’am
No- la
My name is… – Ismiy…
Oh, and to say you’re from America just say
Aana Min Ameriki
As for ordering in restaurants and things like that, don’t worry, English is universally understood pretty much everywhere you go. Except for probably the more rural parts of town, home to mainly the Arabic families and such. But road signs and things like that are in both Arabic and English.
Hope that helped!