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Upon departing Orly (Paris) in our
747-Combi, we crossed the Alps again, slid down the boot of Italy, overflew the
Mediterranean Sea, made landfall at Alexandria, then cut across the Sinai
Peninsula, Gulf of Aqaba and northern Saudi Arabia, proceeding on to Dubai. After six hours and twelve minutes in the air,
we touched down at Dubai, in the Arabian Desert on the southeast coast of the
Persian Gulf. Of all the seven emirates,
of the United Arab Emirates, Dubai was the most populous city, for centuries being
a trading hub specializing in the “re-export“ business.
Dubai International Airport sat 2.9 miles
east of the city and contained two modern, parallel runways, fully ILS equipped,
with the longest runway being 13,000 feet in length. However what I did find primitive at this
airport, was its lack of jetways – requiring all crews and passengers to be
bussed to their aircraft – an inconvenient time waster.
A narrow lagoon snakes its way through the
heart of the city, from the Persian Gulf.
We were billeted at a five-star Sheraton on a bank of that lagoon, known
as the “Dubai Creek.“
Stepping outside the hotel’s front
entrance, and crossing the road, I‘d enter a long, concrete wharf area which
the Sheraton faced. Moored along this
wharf were all types of Arab dhows; some with one or two masts and lateen sails,
while others were motorized. Judging by
the crated stacks of air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, TVs, VCRs,
stereos, etc., these dhows were running a thriving smuggling (er...I mean
“re-exporting“) business.
After the Dubai Creek was dredged in 1963,
allowing any boat safe harbor, the gold (smuggling) re-exporting business took
off. With India being Dubai‘s chief
customer.
Less than one-percent of the
world’s gold is mined in India. The rest
comes from somewhere else. Even so,
India can’t get enough. It’s the largest
consumer of gold in the world, buying nearly a third of production in recent
years. Certain estimates claim that ten-percent of all gold is held in India.
After India’s foreign reserves were
decimated by its war with China, the government instituted the Gold Control Act
of 1962, which forbade private ownership of gold bullion and forced all bullion
to be turned into jewelry.
While the average Indian loves gold, the country’s bureaucrats do not. The numbers tell the story. The Indian government owns 360 metric tons of gold, while private gold holdings are estimated to be 15,000 metric tons.
Obviously
the Indians are bat-shit crazy for gold, dear reader. “Re-exporting,” Dubai happily feeds that insanity.
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