For centuries, Dubai was a sleepy land where nomadic tribes roamed the desert dunes. Date farming, camel breeding, and pearl diving drove the economy. Oil was discovered in the 1960s, and exports started in the 70’s. Now the city has a GDP of over $100 billion a year. I have mixed feelings about this place – part of me is impressed with the opulence, and the other part is exhausted by the financial showmanship and is ready to drop out of the rat race.
It isn’t the law for women to cover up, but very common. 90% of the population of Dubai is expats. They are the servants and workers. Those elites born here are well looked after by the government.
Dubai holds over 350 Guinness World Records, like the world’s deepest swimming pool, largest indoor ski slope, longest zip line, and fastest police car – a Bugatti Veyron. Every year, the city makes new records of the world’s most whatever thing. This building boasts the world’s longest cantilever! (Which hosts the longest suspended infinity pool…)
This is one of the world’s most complex structures. The Museum of the Future is covered with windows that form Arabic poetry from Dubai’s ruler. The museum also contains the world’s first fully functional 3D-printed office building.
This is a pleasant spring day. It can rise to over 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer.
There are some insanely cool buildings here. This is one of my favorites!
Of course, this is the most famous building, the tallest in the world, the Burj Kalifa. (The nearby Dubai Mall is the largest mall in the world.)
I took a rather expensive elevator ride to the 148th floor, from which I could see the entire city of Dubai from the world’s highest observation deck.
Beyond the off-ramp encircling the ruler, you can see how tall the Burj is compared to the other buildings.
The current ruler of Dubai is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. He’s into polo.
One of the royal palaces.
Dubai has the largest desalination plant in the world. It provides ample fresh water to areas like this. It would be a lot of sand otherwise! Ambitiously, Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy aims to have 75% of the city’s energy needs met by clean energy by 2050. Lots of solar fields are being built in the desert!
Before air conditioning, there were Arab wind catchers. You can see in the upper right this traditional element used to harness the wind to create cross ventilation and passive cooling inside and below.
The Dubai Frame offers views of the old town on one side and the new city on the other. My hop-on on hop-off tourist bus is in the lower left. The views out are epic, and naturally, it is the world’s largest frame.
Camel milk is rare in America, at least where I live. Apparently, it’s packed with nutrients and has less lactose with more antioxidants than cow’s milk. Supposedly, it’s good for skin and has loads of other health benefits. They say camels are more efficient than cows at producing milk and meat by consuming less feed and water, making them more sustainable, especially in a desert like this place.
My children told me that Dubai Chocolate is all the rage on TikTok, so I had to stuff a few bars down my throat. Not cheap, but oh what pistachio goodness!
People watching at the airport. I’m a captive audience.
I’m not a big fan of photos from a plane, but this was the only way I could capture the Jumeirah Burj Al Arab (the world’s only 7-star hotel) and the Palm Jumeirah (the world’s largest man-made island). For 20k you can get a room for the night, including a private butler and a helicopter ride from the airport. Maybe next time…
