Yet the city spans 60 kilometers along the Persian Gulf, much of that distance served by a single linear metro line. Just to give context, Heathrow to Greenwich is ~35km; the diameter of the 20 arrondissements of Paris is ~10km; the length of Manhattan island is 22km. Almost all of the high-rises are on a single corridor centered by Sheikh Zayed Road, otherwise the city is anchored by mega commercial centers(shopping malls, hotels, business centers, entertainment, condos, etc.), unlike any other city or metropolitan area we have been to.
We went to the old parts of Dubai; Deira and Bur Dubai. We were by some new centers; Dubai Mall, Dubai Marina, and Madinat Jumeirah. The place is NOT AT ALL built for pedestrians. The few energetic young visitors we saw on bike-shares were having a frustrating time too. Every inch of the place served commercial purposes. We didn't cross any city parks. The one public beach we came across was roped off. Around those developments, all the beaches are private. Palm Jumeirah looks really cool on the map, and cannot be viewed without further investment, i.e. monorail or the viewing deck.
I still find it incredible that a place that was a village; now, because of oil, had an injection of money, built themselves some tourist attractions, so now they no longer have oil but thrive at attracting tourist money. Cannot that not be a development model for many places in the world?! Since we are oblivious to the allure of Dubai, we cannot begin to glean their secrets.
Sun-Ling sat at the window on our flight from KL to Dubai and marveled at the desert landscape below.
After settling in to our hotel, we headed out to ride the metro to Dubai Mall to checkout the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, and to catch the music and light show at the Dubai Fountains. It's a two-for-one as the fountains are located below the skyscraper. We arrived at 6:00pm hoping to see the 6:30 show, but it was pushed back to 7:30 due to Ramadan. So we waited, and were not disappointed. FYI: the Burj Khalifa is 828 metres (2,716.5 feet) tall, with more than 160 stories!
The 7:30pm show was excellent so we stayed for the 8:00pm show from the back side of the lake. There's a different show every 30 minutes.
Dubai Creek spilts the older parts of the city in two. One can take a ferry across. So we did - see the short video below.
The east side of The Creek is called Deira. It's famous for its Gold Souk, one of the largest gold markets in the world.
There is also the so-called Iranian spice market nearby.
On the western side of The Creek, called Bur Dubai, our first stop was Lassi Shop pure veg resto run by a woman from Bhutan. Gobi Manchurian!
We were captivated by "wind towers", they bring cool air down into buildings, in the Historic Al Fahidi neighborhood, now a shopping district.
The Diwan Mosque, the Grand Mosque and the Iranian Mosque.
The Dubai Metro is mostly above ground with huge "exit/entrance bridges" that often span 8 to 16 lanes of traffic. The pic below is from the entrance to the World trade Center Station, just a few blocks from our hotel.
On our 2nd full day we rode the Metro West to Dubai Marina and headed east towards the famous landmark, The Sail, aka Burj Al Arab Hotel, in search of a public beach.
After no luck finding free/public beach access near the Dubai Marina, we rode the new tram toward Sufouh Beach - "temporarily closed". However, we could see The Sail in the distance (far right). Yippy!
To make a long story short: We decided to take the bus back to our hotel. And The Sail was right across the street from the bus stop. Woohoo!
Our hotel The Muse is the green building directly behind the minaret. There are great views from the pool terrace.
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