UAE Day 4

All For The Burj

As planned, we wasted little time departing from Fujairah. We all agreed we were glad to have seen a totally different side of the UAE but it all felt a bit off, especially with all the Russians. Even driving out there was little life on the streets and odd monuments and statues here and there.

Unlike Morocco where we had fairly long drives every day, our drive times in the UAE have averaged two hours on perfectly maintained highways. Yesterday we traveled in three different emirates, today we traveled through the last four on our way to Dubai, the last night of our UAE trip – a fast one for sure!

Our first glimpse of Dubai city (both the emirates and and the city carry the same name) caused audible gasps of incredulity when the skyline emerged from the very smoggy air. The Burj Khalifa, even from miles and miles away awed upon initial sight! In actuality, the best way to fully grasp just how incredibly tall it is, is from far away so you can see just how much it dwarfs the other skyscrapers.

Driving in Dubai is certainly a bit chaotic and while the roads are in excellent shape, the traffic patterns are pretty strange but Billy did a great job. I drove the whole time in Morocco because of all the twisty roads but since UAE was pretty much straight shots Billy has been the driver.

As we got closer the full scale of the Burj’s size became quite apparent.

Our hotel tonight is the JW Marriott Marquis, the second tallest hotel in the world at 72 stories (It lost its number one ranking a few years ago after another hotel was built in Dubai and its spire topped the JW by three feet).

We grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out for the Burj. I had originally thought we would go up to the top of it but I decided not to buy tickets ahead of time. I think it was a good idea because the smog/sand/haze was so bad I don’t think we would have seen much through it.

Dubai feels oceans away from the conservative world we have been passing through; there is a feeling of mass tourism here with venues built and created strictly to entertain. The mind blowing fact is Dubai did not even have electricity in 1960 and buildings didn’t start replacing Bedouin tents until the 1970s! Now there are over 100 shopping malls and 650 hotels – all in the same amount of time I have walked this earth. Just absolutely incredible!

We walked around the base of the Burj Khalifa, taking it in from the different perspectives, chasing down the right angle as the sun illuminated it.

The one thing Jenny wanted to do in Dubai was see the Burj (check) and have a delicious meal. I had gone back and forth about where to eat, a place with a view of the Burj or the restaurant up high in the Burj with a view of the city but in the end I chose a view of the Burj and I chose a place that we could also see the fountain show, an added bonus. I had made reservations months before and asked for a table outside with a view. The table we got had to have been the best in the house!

We sat a few minutes before six and caught the first fountain show. It goes every thirty minutes so by the time we left, we had seen six of them. The added, added bonus was I had no idea that the Burj Khalifa is also the world’s biggest LCD screen so we got an additional light show.

Funny thing is part way through dinner Jenny said that as nice as the trip has been to the UAE (posh hotels, fancy meals and all), it is all a bit of a let down after Morocco. She said she felt the same way on our trip to Cambodia following Myanmar. Billy and I agreed with her on this front. We knew going into it the UAE was not going to be our cup of tea but what we didn’t know was just how much we were going to love Morocco.

And just for fun… I love my silly girl…