DUBAI

Dubai International is the busiest airport in the Middle East and home base of the pride and joy airline of the UAE, the aptly named Emirates, arguably one of the world's three or four best airlines. Almost 100 carriers call port here, and 16 million passengers pass through DXB's corridors every year, a total expected to double by 2010.

But if you ask me, DXB is clean, accommodating and terribly overrated. The multistory Sheikh Rashid Terminal is a cross between an upscale shopping mall and the lobby of a luxury hotel, with shops selling everything from gold bullion to luxury cars. It's a Trumpy, Vegas brand of opulence that's more or less in tune with the gold-and-glass glitz that personifies this wealthy emirate.

That said, after 48 hours here I'll tentatively conclude that while Dubai might be rich and showy, gluttonous it is not. In two days around the city, where oil comes cheaper than spit, I don't think I saw more than a handful of SUVs.

If anything strikes me pleasantly about the airport, it's the quick, nonsense-free security screening. No pointless I.D. checks, no fetishizing of pointy objects, no annoying shoe removals -- just two fast trips through the X-ray scanners and a 30-second scrutiny at passport control.

Following my two days of sightseeing, and an experience with dehydration and heat exhaustion I'll save for another time, it's another Malaysia Airlines 777 to Kuala Lumpur -- up over the beautiful mountains of Oman, across the Arabian Sea and the Indian cities of Mumbai (Bombay) and Chennai (Madras), then traversing the Bay of Bengal toward the Malay Peninsula.

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

KUL, one in a string of newly opened Asian mega-airports, was completed in the summer of 1998. At 25,000 acres total it's one of the largest international airports in the world, and it features the world's tallest control tower.

All very well. But the more I see of these showpiece airports, the more they look the same and the more I'm convinced the evolution of airport design will not be complete until the Beverly Hills shopping mall and airline terminal become virtually indistinguishable. Judging from KUL and DXB, that day is coming soon. Thanks anyway, but I do not need diamond jewelry, a designer bag or a $350 pen from Mont Blanc.

KUL's star is the "Ekspres" train that runs directly from the terminal to downtown's KL Sentral. Patrons of Malaysia, Cathay Pacific or Royal Brunei airlines can check luggage and receive seat assignments at the in-city train platform. For this reason, the International Air Transport Association has assigned the city's railway station its own three-letter code -- XKL!

Kuala Lumpur joins Singapore and Windhoek, Namibia, as possibly the cleanest cities I've ever seen. The Ekspres from KUL to KL Sentral covers about 50 kilometers, and in that distance I do not spy a single item of litter, not a can or discarded plastic bag -- not along the trackside gullies; not under the bridges; not anywhere. But it's a different kind of clean than antiseptic Singapore. Imagine Bangkok with lots of tropical foliage and most of the pollution sucked away. The Petronas Towers, formerly the world's tallest buildings (until supplanted by yet another of Shanghai's hastily erected cookie cutters) are an extraordinary sight, especially at night, and far more impressive than I expected. What you don't see in photographs is that they're covered in a brilliant chrome façade. There's something unexpectedly earthy and harmonious about polished silver, and it suits the city well.

KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA

Kota Kinabalu's international airport has an almost Latin feel and could easily be San Juan instead of, well, Borneo. The resorts, golf courses and high-rise hotels viewed during the final approach attest to the town's popularity as a holiday resort. You heard that right. KK might be Borneo, but it's a large town, and there are nonstops to Seoul, Hong Kong and Taipei, among other major cities. The main hall features a shop selling Adidas, a KFC, and the usual gantlet of glass cases brimming with watches, bracelets, carvings and expensive chocolate.

Borneo, if you need a primer, is the world's third-largest island, divided among Malaysia, Indonesia, and the tiny sultanate of Brunei.

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