Dubai

Only a short 3-hour flight from Amman, we arrived in Dubai for a two-day layover on our way to Southeast Asia.

Our hotel, the Arabian Courtyard (a nice and affordable place by the way) was located in Dubai's old city right next to the Dubai Museum.

This ship outside the museum is a dhow, a traditional sailing vessel used along the coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

One might easily forget with all the western influences, but Dubai is one of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Islam is the official religion here, too.

One of the mosques in Dubai's old city...

Sunset over the Dubai Creek.

Ok, so much for the historic part of Dubai. But what the city is really famous for is, of course, its insane growth and the city's modern part. And for building's such as the famous Burj Al Arab, self-proclaimed the "world's only seven-Star hotel":

It was nice to watch at night from the beach ... although even at 10pm, it was still ridiculously hot.

Next day: time for a visit at the Dubai Mall, the world's largest (of course...) shopping mall.

Just studying the floor plans can take hours.. :-)

Just in case you're not really into shopping, there are a few other entertainment options..

How about ice skating? (yes, ice skating. In the desert!)

Of maybe a visit at the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo? (Yes. An aquarium. In the desert!)

By the way, notice that glass panel? It's - yes!! - the world's largest acrylic panel! Size 32 m x 8 m, weighs about 250000 kg. Another world record! Go Dubai! :-)

Ok, granted - this is a lot of fun...

But just in case you're still bored at the Dubai Mall, there's an even better highlight waiting for you at the nearby Mall of the Emirates:

Ski Dubai - an indoor ski resort!

(yes. A ski resort. In the desert!)

(And no, we actually didn't go skiing... it just can't beat the Feldberg.)

And then it was finally time for the mother of all highlights:

  THE!
  TALLEST!
  BUILDING!
  IN!
  THE!
  WORLD!!!

 Completed in 2009, Burj Khalifa is 830m (2,723 ft) high ...








...and although the observatory is only about halfway to the top, the view from up there is pretty darn amazing.

And watching the famous Dubai Fountain is nice too ... both from the top and from below. 

Last day before moving on:

No, we didn't take that picture ourselves -
it's from the NASA website... :-)

You've probably seen or heard of the Palm Jumeirah? A bunch of artificial islands right off the coast.

How crazy is that .. we had take a look.

Well, this is the view from the top floor of the Atlantis resort at the "top" of the palm...

(a pretty sleazy joint, only five stars...)

... and from the (artificial) beach, with Dubai's skyline in the background.












Did we already mention that it was HOT? Very very hot! Even the water felt like it was boiling.

So, our advise: Come and see Dubai for a day or two if you have a chance - but don't ever spend your summer vacation here, unless you want to stay in air conditioned buildings most of the time.

Time to move on - next up: Thailand!