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Published: October 18th 2013
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Dubai Mall
...and world's tallest building The city where there is no end to new building projects, world records and manmade greatness. We only spent a couple of nights here to get a taste of the city which is emerging more and more as a tourist destination – more for the families and the package tourist than anything else, which is not usually our cup-a-tea. But as we were flying past we thought why not stop off for a sample, our curiosity had caught the better of us.
Unfortunately Sarah, who was laid up in bed sick, missed most of the sampling of Dubai due to a chest infection. She couldn’t even enjoy the benefits of staying at a luxury resort with various pools, spas, restaurants, a gym, golf course, tennis courts and even a private beach with water sports! But I could. I even ventured away from the comforts of the resort to visit the palm island, one of Dubai’s greatest ground-breaking achievements in manmade structures. The sheer size of the island and the building of hotels, apartments and houses on it is really quiet staggering to behold. All I could think of, whilst taking in the development, was how many trucks of sand, rock
and cement they brought in to construct it. A lot. Enough to carry 100 million cubic metres. Enough to build a 2 metre tall wall that could circle the world 3 times.
I’m a little shy to admit it, but during Sarah’s bedridden day I visited one of Dubai’s many water parks, situated on the palm, which is part of the Atlantis Hotel. By myself. The last time I visited a water park I’m sure I was less than 10 and on the Gold Coast with the family, the quintessential Australian family holiday. But as I am here now admitting this shameful act, I will tell you that I actually had a lot of fun. One quick story; for some reason when you ascend the 2 waterslide towers there is little information to explain which slide in fact you might be entering as the stairs up are enclosed so you can’t see out to the slides, and there are no signboards. So for this reason, whilst a bit apprehensive (and not afraid to admit it), I found myself at the top of the tower about to enter, unintentionally, the fastest and most terrifying ride in the whole park in
which you find yourself airborne, due to immense speed, during the descent. It was like being thrown in the deep end of the pool without being able to swim, or like losing your stomach on a rollercoaster when it dips. A bit scary. Plus I had just eaten breakfast. But I made it unscathed, and now wet, and very much awake, I was ready to hit the rest of the rides.
With limited time in Dubai, just 2 nights, we had to prioritise the most interesting touristic sights. Sarah managed to resurrect herself from bed to join me at another of Dubai’s impressive sites, the Dubai Mall, which is the largest in the world. It is also home to, or neighbouring, the world’s tallest building at 830m. A little bit staggering. There is a fountain and light show every 30 minutes in the evening which is worth a look, and a photo or 2. The shopping is as you would expect, they have everything from your affordable brands to the most expensive stores that employ door security. There is also an enormous aquarium right in the middle taking up 3 levels of the mall! So you can be walking
along doing your shopping alongside sharks, giant rays and scuba divers. The food there is pretty good too...
So that was Dubai for us in 2 days. Worth coming back for another look sometime...perhaps once they’ve completed ‘the world’ islands (Tassie included), and broken a few more records for manmade something or others.
Cheers
Ben and Sarah
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Nice photo
Good angles