Friday, August 11, 2006

Inter-Emirates Bus Station

I had to go to the Northern Emirates, so, as a confirmed pedestrian, I went to the Deira inter-Emirates bus station. The busses used to face south as they waited for passengers, so I was surprised to see that now they face north. This is a consequence of the Metro construction. Also, the Ajman busses are parked under the signs for Sharjah, and the Sharjah busses are parked under the signs for Ajman.

What this means in practice is that, upon getting into the wrong bus, the driver asks, ‘Where you going?’ and, when the passenger says where, the driver says, ‘No, that bus,’ and points at the correct vehicle.

It only costs about €1.20 for the bus to Sharjah, and about £1 for the bus to Ajman, which is much cheaper than trying to find a regular taxi (and more comfortable than trying to find an illegal, cheap taxi).

After my visit, my host offered to bring me back to Dubai, and I gratefully accepted.

This was at about 5:00 p.m.

‘Five minutes and I’ll take you home,’ he said. At 6:00 p.m., I said, ‘I think I’ll take a taxi,’ but, when I asked, the taxi demanded £10, which is outrageous, so I went back up to my friend's flat. My friend said, ‘Just five minutes and I’ll take you home.’ At 7:00 p.m., I asked another taxi, who agreed to take me for €9, which is almost reasonable, and it was getting late, so I agreed on the fare and took the taxi back to Dubai.

My friend said he finally made it to Dubai at 11:00 p.m.