Dubai

We are off overseas for 3 weeks visiting Istanbul, Cyprus and Thailand.  When I asked our travel agent if he could book such a trip he said "easy, just go with Emirates".  So here we are overnight in Dubai because of the way our connection worked out.

Dubai is a very modern city, although some older parts remain, built in the edge of the Persian Gulf.  Part of the United Arab Emirates, it is the capital of the Dubai Emirate and the home of Emirates airline.

Having watched Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol on the plane (a surprisingly good movie) we knew where to go - to see the tallest building in the world - the Burj Khalifa.  In the movie Tom Cruise spends some time clambering around on the outside of this building (as you do), avoiding near death and so forth.  Remarkably convincing and not recommended viewing if you really do have a fear of heights.

Montage D1: One Night in Dubai.

We stayed at the Park Regis Hotel, very conveniently located near the new metro line.  I regularly stay at the Park Regis in Singapore because it has a good location and is more of a holiday hotel than a business hotel - it even has a pool with a waterfall and a swim up bar.

The Park Regis in Dubai is equally nice with an open-air pool on the roof - but no waterfall!

We got back on the metro and headed off to see the Burj Khalifa.  It is situated next door to a huge shopping mall (The Dubai Mall) , so we were able to get a free bus from the metro to the mall.  We then walked the full length of the mall to get to the far side where there is an artificial lake, with the Burj Khalifa on one side and another tall building on the other.  Fountains in the lake perform a dancing water display to music every hour.  There is also a fake Souk containing small shops and restaurants, so we were able to grab dinner as well.

In the montage D1, the Burj is the tall, pointy building like a pyramid.  The other building (known simply as "The Address") is the one that looks more like a New York skyscraper and is lit up.