Travels

Burj khalifa

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 10:24:51 +0400

Overlooking the Dubai Fountain in downtown Dubai, the Burj Khalifa is currently the tallest manmade structure in the world. It took just over 5 and a half years to complete, and was officially opened on January 4th, 2010, in a spectacular display of fireworks. The entire building project cost about 1.5 billion dollars, out of about 20 billion for the entire downtown development. In March ‘09, office spaces in the Burj Khalifa were selling for around $4,000 per square foot. The total height of the Burj Khalifa comes to 2,717 feet to the top of the spire; it boasts 160 floors and the longest single shaft elevator in the world, that reaches speeds up to 18 m/s.

My mom and I arrived with our tickets at the ground floor of the Dubai Mall at a few minutes till six, excited about going up into the “world’s tallest building.” After leaving our bags with the people behind the desk, we got in line with about 100 other people in a large lobby. Our camera bags were x-rayed as we walked through a metal detector and onto a pad in front of a large, hanging, bright green cloth. After having our picture taken (hurriedly and without thought to composition, I might add) in front of the screen, we continued on. A short ride later, through a dark hallway on a conveyor belt, we emerged into what I assume is the basement of the Burj Khalifa. More time went by as we walked through more hallways with videos and slide shows of pictures documenting the construction of the tower. These were interesting, but unfortunately they weren’t positioned where they would have been useful as a diversion in the worst of the crowded bottle-neck areas. Where one had to stand and wait the longest, there was absolutely nothing to look at.

We stood in line more than 2 hours to get to the elevators. Once there, we were crammed in like sardines. We waited as the elevator whizzed up to the 142nd floor at 25 miles per hour. Uncomfortable, I popped my ears multiple times as it went up. That would certainly be one drawback to living or working so high up!

All the people on the crowded elevator were funneled out onto the open-air observation deck. To my surprise I found that it actually would have been possible, if not easy, to fall out! After an hour or so of looking at the city lights and taking pictures, we stood in line to get back on the elevator.

Back on the ground, we wound our way to the exit, where a woman aggressively thrust a picture into my hands, trying to get me to buy it. The picture was of the two of us standing in front of the night-lit city; I couldn't figure out when they had taken it, until I remembered the bright green cloth we stood in front of at the entrance. How cheesy! A picture of us superimposed onto a pre-made background.

After a long night of mostly waiting in line, I can't say I was too impressed with the experience. But at least I can say I did it.

Dubai Metro

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:55:28 +0400

Lots of traffic here in Dubai has led to a state-of-the-art metro system that is slowly being rolled out all across Dubai. Just a short taxi ride (or in cooler weather, a short walk) from home is the entrance to a hallway full of conveyor-belt floors, that leads you into a large cigar-shaped gold blob of a metro station. Inside the metro station are help desks and a small machine you use to add money to your prepaid “nol card”. After topping up your card, you plop your wallet with the card in it against a small pad on an electronic gate. The gate tells you how much money you have left on the card; it then lets you into the central part of the metro station where you ride an escalator up to the train platform to wait. No more than a few minutes pass before the next train arrives. As you sit down on the train and take out a book to read, the doors close and you begin to whizz along the tracks towards the next station.

The Dubai metro has a curious pricing system. The entire emirate of Dubai is chopped into zones. Travel to and from different zones costs varying amounts. For a short trip in one zone, the cost is about 80 cents. For a longer trip passing through multiple zones you only pay about $1.20. The maximum you can pay in one day is about $4.00. Whether making multiple short trips to the store or traveling through downtown Dubai past the stunning architecture, riding on the metro is an easy and enjoyable experience.

Construction

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 17:30:17 +0400

With all the construction here in Dubai, new buildings are always being started. A few weeks ago a building started right behind where I live. Here the top of the underground parking deck is just being finished. Not including the time it took to dig the massive hole in which these buildings sit, this was about one month’s work.

Weather

Tue, 6 Jul 2010 21:35:48 +0400

The weather here in Dubai is about like you’d expect -- hot. However actually experiencing it is completely different from reading about it. The average daytime temperature over the past few weeks has been right around 38°C (about 100°F). The relative humidity has been around 34%, but has peaked at around 27% and 62%.

Dubai gets very little rainfall, however over the past few decades the rainfall has been increasing very slightly. Dubai gets about 150 mm (5.91 in) per year. The lack of rain in combination with the strong winds in Dubai causes massive amounts of dust to waft through the air and settle not only on, but in everything. On a daily basis I can keep track of the amount of dust in the air by how well I can see (or more realistically can’t see) the Burj Khalifa, which is about 9 miles away from our apartment building.

These pictures of the Burj Khalifa were taken on a relatively clear day (left), and during a particularly windy and dusty day a few weeks ago (right).

The dubai fountain

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 16:39:19 +0400

Outside the Dubai Mall is ‘The Fountain.‘ Set on a 30-acre man-made lake in downtown Dubai, it was designed by WET Design, the designers of the fountain in the Bellagio Hotel lake in Las Vegas.
It’s no surprise Dubai’s fountain has taken the title of the ‘world’s largest fountain of its kind.’ At almost 1000 feet long, its computer-controlled jets can blast 22,000 gallons of water over 500 feet into the air. 6,600 white and colored underwater lights put out over 1.5 million lumens, illuminating the water brightly enough to be seen from space. The fountain has over 900 pre- programmed “shows” set to music and light. The total cost of the fountain alone was over $218 million.

Unfortunately neither the sheer power nor the grace of the thing can be completely felt from a video. The video also doesn’t do service to the thundering booms created by the larger jets.