Exploring Dubai (done right)

So I'm completing this a good week after my return from UAE -- the end of the trip was busy, busy, and life has been 10x crazier since returning to Baltimore and my research.

After a drive-by tour (at 2am after 20 hr of travel) from Dubai to Abu Dhabi the night I got into the country (I remember nothing), and some glances New Year's Eve and Day, I finally got my official tour of Dubai on my second-to-last day in the UAE.

I should start by mentioning that the weather, while great for an East Coaster, brought nothing but complaints from the residents. 65 degrees instead of 75, and edging on rainy. Still beautiful, but could be more so. Anyway, I'll include a mix of my photos and some from my bf's mother's previous visit.

The drive in: I truly believe that the skyline will be gorgeous in about 3 years, but right now it's pretty overridden by construction.
Dubai Internet City: No photos here, but you can find information here and here. 800-some companies, and were I to move here, my best hope for finding a suitable job, probably.

Burj Dubai: mentioned in previous post. With my bf's mother's connections we got an exclusive tour through the sales office to see what the mini-city will offer in the future. To the right you can see current progress in its construction -- about 100 of planned ~160 floors built. It was interesting to learn about how it had been designed specifically to direct wind to support rather than threaten it, etc. It's more than a tower though -- there's an entire gorgeous though overwhelming mini-city that is slowly being constructed immediately around it.

Emirates Towers: (link) We continued our tour, heading to the Emirates Towers. Two triangular towers, one a hotel and the other and office building, and both amongst the world's tallest. Between the towers was an exclusive shopping mall -- it's annual huge 20-60% off sale dampened a bit by the $1000 price tags on a cute pair of shoes, etc -- and a huge lobby where we had coffee, both western-style and traditional Arab style.


Bur Dubai: The central area of the city. A lot of neat old shops and traditional style buildings, the Dubai museum, and what's referred to in a dramatic understatement as "the Creek".


Jumeira: Jumeira is the jaw-dropping area of Dubai that everyone hears about: the unbelievable resorts, the (completed set of) Palm Islands, and of course the Burj Al-Arab.

We started our tour having a late lunch at Madinat Jumeira resort, followed by a ride on the resort water boats (abras) which carry you to your destination (again, only meant for guests). We then walked through the "souk" or market -- I expected something traditional, but here of course everything was very upscale and beautiful. A lot of wares from India and Pakistan.

From Madinat Jumeira, we had a lovely view of the Burj Al-Arab, the world's first seven-star hotel, where we had some expensive coffee and dessert.

Views from inside Burj Al-Arab

Royal Mirage: more beautiful buildings filled with more beautiful people. :-)

Palm Islands: Three sets will be built, but so far only one set of islands has been completed: The Palm Jumeira (building construction still in progress). We saw them at night, and construction pictures aren't so pretty to show, but here's a sight from the sky... (real and envisioned)


All right folks, that's enough for now... I'll try to post my closing thoughts sometime before I leave the country again. ;-)