Driving

I've just realised my blog must seem like a constant gripe. Don't get me wrong, I'm having an absolute blast. I just seem to typify the "Grumpy Old Man" who enjoys a good moan. Which brings me to todays blog post:

I've had my licence for just over two weeks now and I've been an incredibly restrained driver up till this morning. Today I used my hooter for the first time, whereas the rest of the population use it about as often as they use the brake pedal!

The traffic was impossible this morning, it took me two hours ten minutes to drive the 20km to work. If it wasn't 40 degrees and 80% humidity outside I could probably have walked it quicker. I'd travelled about 50m in half an hour and this huge black 4x4 with totally blacked out windows forced his way aggressively in front of me from a side street, but because his vehicle is such a behemoth, couldn't turn within a single lane, so was trapped in my path at about a 45 degree angle for about 5 minutes. I lined him up in my sights and let rip on the hooter. While it made absolutely no difference to the traffic situation, it made me feel better. Have I just become one of THEM?

The bus driver who takes the other staff to work from the same hotel left 40 minutes after me and arrived at work 15 minutes before me. He drives like Michael Schumaker and getts a regular hooting at. Perhaps it's me that needs to change.

The main street in Sharjah has been blocked off and dug up and will be closed for 2 years. I have a SatNav which insists on directing me back to this main street that you cannot travel on or cross. It's hopeless. Why don't SatNav's allow you to program in streets to avoid? The roads / diversions change here on a daily basis with diversions and new construction changing continuously. SatNav mapping can at best give you a rough idea of the direction you should be heading.

Becoming a local

I finally got my Sharjah drivers licence the other day. I had to pass a blood test and an eye test but fortunately for me not the drivers test (UK licenses are a straight swap), which apparently can take several attempts, multiple lessons and several months.

I was concerned about driving on the right hand side for the first time, but it's been a breeze. Í've probably racked up 500 km in the first weekend and can't imagine what I was worried about. I can now drive almost like a local, although I still haven't picked up some of the local habits such as changing lanes randomly to gain a miniscule advantage, while talking on my mobile phone and hooting randomly at anything and everything.

The one error that I have been making is trying to leave a two second space between me and the car in front. When the local drivers see such an extrordinary sight they just can't help but change lanes to fill the gap, forcing me to slow down and leave another gap, etc. etc. I could end up going in reverse if I'm not careful.

I was invited out to my first Dubai Friday Brunch last Friday. What a brilliant concept! You go to a swish hotel, pay up front and eat and drink as much as you like from 12:30 till 4pm. I had the privelage of being invited join a party of 42 at one of the top Dubai hotels, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel. The food, drink and company was absolutely superb! I look forward to the end of Ramadan when such cultural activities can resume.

Driving

I was going to write a bit about the state of driving in the UAE - even before I've received my license (hopefully this week) or even driven, then I read "Luke's Dubai Adventure's" extract from the blogoshere post on Dubai driving and thought I couldn't describe it better than that. Please read this, it describes things amost perfectly http://lukedubai.wordpress.com/2008/08/16/rules-for-driving-in-dubai/ (no exaggeration.. honest)

Getting about

There is no door to door postal service in the UAE, all sent to post office box numbers. When you see the street names you begin to understand why.

In Sharjah, with street names like "Sheik Khalid Bin Khalid Al Qassimi Street" and "Abdullah Salem Al Sabeth Street" and "Sheik Rashid Bin Saqr Al Qassim Street" you can imagine it's not easy addressing letters or giving directions. Most streets are suffixed with numbers as well although the writing on the signs is so small trying to fit the names on, it's virtually impossible to read, especially when driving past at 50 km/h.

I suspect this may be the cause a few of the frequent accidents. while craning your neck to read the street name you've just driven past.. oops sorry mate, I didn't see you.

Dubai seem to have given up on street names completely, particularly for suburban streets, they are simply numbered 33rd St, 33B St, 69C St etc. Odd streets run in one direction, even streets at 90 degrees to the odds.

Before arriving in the UAE I'd seen that cars are sold as either American Specs or Gulf Specs. I assumed that Gulf Specs meant diamond studded gear knob and gold plated dashboard. In reality I think it means a bigger air con, and radiator and an industrial strength hooter. I've never heard so much hooting, often for what seems like no apparent reason.