I went to Dubai often when I lived in Saudi Arabia because it was a nice break from being in Saudi Arabia... but I'd never want to live there. At least not permanently. Maybe for a couple years. Pretty hollow, soulless place.
There are tons of places where you can ski indoors these days. UAE might be one of the only places in the desert, but certainly not one of the only in the world.
According to skiresort.info, there are at least 106 indoor ski areas with real snow. The German Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skihalle) has an uncomlete list of 151 skiing halls. I only ever went skiing indoors. Saying this is one of the only seems at least a gross overstatement and more like a falsehood.
Glad to see a lot of other comments about this. I can think of at least half a dozen places just in the UK, and the Netherlands has loads. There's even one here in Madrid.
One of the only places you can do this in doors, what?? I thought it was a very common thing, or maybe you mean in the UAE? Now I am confused..
Edit ah I see I am not the only one..
In the Netherlands alone we have atleast half a dozen big indoor skicentres with real snow (Snowworld being the major name, and I believe the one in Landgraaf is the biggest in the world)
Maybe even more, ANWB, which is the national authority on travel and tourism (makes the roadsigns aswell, among other things) lists a total of 75+ places where you can ski*, most of which I assume atleast partly to be indoors, since we aren't known for our fabulous weather. A quarter actually has "indoor" in their name (and those aren't the aforementioned big ones, so that allready takes you over 30). There is a good chance they are not with real snow, but the question in the question does not mention that. they are all listed as places to ski or learn how to. *Link skicentres) Either way, Dubai isn''t the only place you can ski indoors by a loooong way.
Many Dutch people also visit our indoor ski center in Bottrop, which by the way has the world's largest indoor slope. (Rare opportunity to brag about my hometown)
Not a camel racing expert, but I think they used children due to their lower weight. I assume they now use robots due to safety concerns (camels can go quite fast, so falling off can probably cause quite some injuries). Watching a race is actually pretty fun, I stumbled upon it while clicking through the channels in the UAE. You might wanna check it out :)
Lashes were never used as a punishment. The country never practiced it, even though its mentioned. The civil court follows the standard method all over the world if caught under the influence. Alcohol law differs from state to state in the UAE.
Edit ah I see I am not the only one..
In the Netherlands alone we have atleast half a dozen big indoor skicentres with real snow (Snowworld being the major name, and I believe the one in Landgraaf is the biggest in the world)