The world’s tallest building!
Burj Khalifa
Dubai is ridiculous. It’s like Vegas with huge malls instead of casinos. Our layover to and from Australia was in Dubai so we figured - what the hell - why not stay for a day. Dubai is divided by a river which for some inexplicable reason they call “The Creek.” On one side is the Dubai everyone thinks of - ginormous malls, 5 star hotels, the only 7 star hotel in the world, the tallest building in the world, islands in the shape of the world. Everything is under construction or For Rent or For Sale. Some parts of the cities are completely "Wired" and "Tax Free".
The only 7 Star Hotel in the world
On the other side is the Dubai no one thinks of - the poor side with streets full of unemployed males and ridiculous traffic that moves in every direction - streets that could be mistaken for any Middle Eastern city. Have you seen Body of Lies (that was a test cause no one saw that movie ) - well there you go, it looks like that.
All along "The Creek" are ships docked with crate upon crate of products Made in China. In fact, many of the stores are "wholesale only". Some of the products you encounter are completely baffling because it makes you wonder who buys all this crap? It's like all the cheap crap they usually sell along the Jersey Shore but in wholesale quantities: pink flamingo balloons, imitations of imitation Crocs, tea-pots, scissors, toys, leather goods, fake or real Vertu phones (does anyone really own one of those pieces of crap?), iPod cases, drill bits, fake fingernails, and all types of electronics. If you can think of it, you can buy it - wholesale.
Oh yeah! Gold, gold, gold, and more gold.
Shop window in Gold Souk
Trying to save money on a hotel, we stayed on the poor side (which I liked better) which reminded me of Morocco or some parts of Egypt. If you’ve never been to an Islamic country, it does take some time to get used to because they are often filthy, a little run-down, everyone stares at tourists, the souk vendors are very aggressive, and there are almost no women to be seen. But my experience has been that these cities are pretty safe. They will cut your hands off if you steal. hah!
My girlfriend and I did one of those hop-on/hop-off bus tours because everything everything is really spread out. The tour bus offered a free audio tour and it basically sounded like that guy that you know who is the biggest one-upper on the planet. Oh yeah well... My _______ was the biggest, strongest, fastest, most expensive, ______ on the planet!
One memorable nugget that I can recall is that they imported 28 bottle neck dolphins for the aquarium in the Atlantis hotel. The picture below is not from the hotel but from Dubai Mall which also includes an indoor skating ring, a set of waterfalls, a food court the size of Atlantic City, a 22 screen cineplex, and of course they offer scuba diving lessons in the aquarium. Redonk!
10 Million Liters of Water
If you are the type of person that wants to be helicoptered to and from your hotel so that you can drop a fist-full of Ben Franklins on martinis then be picked up by your chauffeur in a Rolls Royce Phantom for dinner where The Centurion Card is the only form of payment and then head out to buy: a Hugo Boss Purple Label Suit, some Louis V luggage, and 5 pairs of Gucci shades - then Dubai is the place for you!
Dubai is basically fun for people whose names are something like Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jagger, Trump, Sheik Mohammed Something, Russian Oil Baron Dimitri Something, Japanese Yacuza boss something, Fortune 500 CEO someone, or Internet Millionaire person.
Sadly I am not one of those people.