I have compared a range of things that I noticed during my travel through these 3 very different countries. India was alive and fast paced, Sri Lanka green and beautiful, whilst Dubai boasts a whole range of things to do. I have no favourite and in truth, they cannot be truly compared with each other as they are each so different.
Dress
In India women still mostly dress traditionally, in either Kurta or Sari. These come in a vast array of beautiful colours and designs. I saw the occasional man in the male Kurta, but mostly the men have adopted a very Western style of dressing.
In Sri Lanka women dress in a much more western style. I did pass a school group where all the female teachers were in matching sari but this is less common. The men are split between wearing Western clothing and the traditional Sri Lankan outfit - a sarong tied around the waist with a t-shirt or shirt.
Dubai was incredibly international in way of dress. It ranged from girls in dresses to women in full Abaya and men in jeans to men in full Arabic dress.
Roads/Driving
In India the roads are an experience all to themselves. On numerous occasions I have been crossing the road and thought 'this is how I'm going to die' as the auto rickshaws and cars sped towards me. The concept of lanes seem to be long gone and no one really indicates. People beep to overtake, undertake, because the light has gone green, to turn the corner and sometimes when there is nothing in front of them. It was noisy, busy, polluted (your auto rickshaw with open sides being merely inches from the neighbouring car's exhaust pipe), but an education and an experience not to miss.
In Sri Lanka the roads seem to be much quieter and the beeping of a horn much more appropriate and restrained. Mostly it is used for going round blind bends. The busy roads are nothing compared to India and crossing feels a lot safer. In Colombo the traffic lights tell you how long you have to wait (in red) and how long you had to go (in green) for the cars and sometimes for people too. There were zebra crossings occasionally, but they didn't do much for crossing the road.
Dubai had nice big roads and didn't have so much traffic. There were traffic lights and pedestrian crossings that you could actually safely cross at.
Poverty
In India the poverty was clear, with street children and people begging apparent, especially outside one of the local cinemas. The begging was mostly done by lone or groups of children and it wasn't specifically localised to certain areas. There were slum houses by the side of the road and you could see slums whilst driving or from the trains. These slums could range from a few hand constructed shelters by the side of the road, to sprawling areas with lots of shelters built close to each other, with high populations.
In Sri Lanka there hasn't really been any obvious begging. Poverty is more apparent in the state of people's homes which can be very basic and small. You often find whole families, with 6 or 7 people, living in very small homes that resemble garden sheds. They lack proper bathrooms and drainage and often sleep on the floor together in the same little area.
In Dubai there were no beggars out on the street, neither did you see homeless people in doorways. It all looks very clean and safe wherever you go.
Tuk Tuks
In India all Tuk Tuks have a meter in, but the drivers really don't like using them and much prefer a pre-arranged fare. You can also use Uber or Ola if you want to book a taxi and these are generally the better priced, nicer taxis.
In Sri Lanka there is a lot more focus on using the meter in the tuk tuk, in fact many of them advertise themselves as meter taxis. Just be careful that they don't go the long way, or have accepted your fare but don't actually know how to get there. It may be a good time to have google maps on your phone to make sure.
Dubai: You get a taxi with full AC. The airport taxis that take you out of the airport cost you twice as much as regular taxis. It cost me 87AED to get to my hotel and only 37AED to get back to the airport in a taxi. The taxis are metered though and pretty nice.
Metro:
In Delhi you buy a metro card and top it up either by 100 or 200 rupees depending on where you top up your ticket. The cost of travel was really quite cheap and the metro is a great way to get around Delhi. The first coach of every train in for women only, which is something I think is brilliant. As a female I mostly travelled in this coach and is was generally not as crowded as the rest of the train. To get into the metro you have to have your bags scanned before you are allowed to the ticket barrier - security is a big thing in India.
In Dubai you buy a ticket for 2AED and top it up with the number of journeys you wish to make. The cost varies if you cross zones, but is 4AED one way in one zone. There is also a coach for women and children and a gold class section for those who want to pay extra. The trains are driverless and very efficient. The metro is closed until 13:00 on Fridays.
Shopping:
In India you can choose between the markets and the malls. Malls require you to have your bags scanned on your way in, whereas markets are much more open. Malls have high end shops and the markets are the place to go to buy all you colourful clothing and souvenirs. You will have to barter though, but market products are often pretty cheap.
Sri Lanka had markets, malls and high end shops on the street. It has lots of places you can buy clothes and souvenirs, mostly at fixed prices, but there are opportunities to barter. Sri Lanka has lots of tea plantations, so there are lots of opportunities to buy all kinds of tea (chocolate tea anyone?).
In Dubai you can either shop in malls with high end shops and famous brands or in the Souks. Most places are fixed prices and gold is sold by weight, but I found there was some scope for negotiation in the Souks and gold shops. It was a pretty good place to buy anything you wanted, from spice to clothes to gold.
No comments:
Post a Comment