Part 12 – Dubai: the Burj Khalifa

Date: 4/14/2017

From my point of view, unless you have business there, the main reason to go to Dubai is to see the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper. There’s no question that the wealth and unbelievable development in Dubai is impressive … even breathtaking. And it is enlightening to see how well-managed oil wealth can be put to use to create a vibrant economy and open society, things not always available in the Arab world. As for me, it was all about the Burj.

The ratio of expatriates to native population is amazingly high, on the order of 90% according to Wikipedia. So you see a lot of Indians, Pakistanis and other Asians in the service jobs (hotels, taxis, shops) — the Emiratis are usually in pure white robes and headgear … also possibly driving a Ferrari or Lamborghini.

Photo 4041, there’s something about a Lamborghini

The Burj Dubai, at 2,717′ (828m, 163 floors), is nearly 700′ taller (that would be about 70 stories TALLER) than the next tallest building in the world, the #2 Shanghai Tower, where we visited 10 days before.

Photo 4027, base of the Burj Khalifa

Photo 4026, mid-level to top of the Burj Khalifa, tallest building in the world

When making my online reservations to visit the Burj Khalifa observation deck the following day, I discovered to my considerable frustration that reservations were sold out! What?? You mean to tell me that I just came halfway around the world to visit the tallest building in the world and they are sold out?? But wait, that was for the $55 “standard” visit, which only goes up to the 124th and 125th floors … the building has 163 floors! There is another ticket you can buy, the “Sky” ticket, that takes you up to the 148th floor … for $137 a pop. The $137 tickets were not sold out of course. The heck of it is that no matter what tour you take, you’re not going to get anywhere near the true top of the building. The top of the Burj tapers down like point of a needle, so the 163rd floor has got to be about the size of a broom closet! Okay, they had me … this IS the tallest building on the planet, and I probably won’t be back any time soon … it’s this or nothing, so I bit the bullet and went for the ridiculously expensive 148th floor ticket.

The next day, I departed from our hotel about a half hour before my reserved time. Even though the Burj Khalifa was only about 5 blocks from our hotel as the crow flies, I decided to catch a taxi to the Burj, and it’s a good thing because: 1) the temperature was in the mid-90’s outside and I did not want to arrive for the tour dripping in sweat, 2) even though the Burj looked close it was not easy to find your way to the entrance because there are some confusing ring roads around the Burj with limited ways to get through, and 3) once dropped off by the taxi I found myself in the middle of the HUGE Dubai Mall (touted as largest in the world) with corridors going every which way. If I had been walking all the way from our hotel, I would never would have found my way to the starting point of the Burj tour in time for my scheduled entry time. Even after the taxi ride, it took about 15 minutes of walking to find the tour entrance. And when I finally found the ticket office, they did not have a record of the confirmation number from my online order! Great! But the clerk took my credit card and checked it some other way and finally came back with a ticket. Whew!

So I barely made it on time to my assigned visit time, and was ushered into a lounge area with some dates and snacks instead of having to wait in long lines with the masses. In a few minutes we were led off through a maze of corridors, ramps and escalators winding around all over the place like security ramps in an airport. And the tour also involved a TSA-type of x-ray check of bags and belongings, plus a “wand-check” but no pat-down like you get at the airports.

The elevator first took us to a sky lobby on the 125th floor, where we transferred to another elevator that took us up to the 148th level where there was a quite nice uncrowded lounge area, with nobody rushing us to get done with seeing the views to make room for the next group. I took an “overview lap” all the way around the deck taking photos with my trusty pocket companion Canon G7x. Then I pulled out my DSLR for some higher-resolution photography, only to discover that I had left the camera card for the DSLR back at the hotel!!  Damn!  Fortunately my little G7x also has very good optics – so I cranked up the resolution all the way up to get the best possible photos then commenced blazing away.

Photo 3956, looking SW down the Gulf coast; buildings of downtown Dubai

I must have spent close to an hour on the 148th floor getting photos from every possible angle I could think of, plus made a trip out to the outdoor terrace, where it was too hot to stay for very long. In fact the views were dramatic, in a desert sort of way. The distant views look like a hot dusty desert, but the view of the city with its concentration of skyscrapers, freeways, and the artificial islands in the Gulf in the distance was impressive. What amazed me was how small the dozens of 50-story buildings looked below us. Those were big buildings, and they were WAY down there.

Photo 3942, Burj Khalifa view down to Dubai Mall, other high-rises, artificial lake

After a while I decided I’d had enough and went down to the 125th floor.  It was a whole different scene there: the crowds there were were so large in that it was a challenge to get around to see the views on all sides.  But there were some good angles on getting people shots on the outside terrace below on 124, and profiles of people at the windows.

Photo 3976, looking down from Level 125 to the 124th floor terrace

Photo 3980, Burj Khalifa observation deck silhouettes on the125th floor

Another 45 minutes and I had seen all I needed to see, and decided to go back down. But there were so many people on the 124th and 125th levels that there were long lines just to get back down to ground level to get out of the building!  Fortunately it turned out that one of the perks of my outrageously expensive “Sky” ticket was that they had a special short line to go back down.

Back at the ground level, I found an exit from the mall and went outside to take a walk around the Burj for some exterior shots. And once out in the warm air, and seeing where our hotel was, I decided to just walk back as a shuttle would not be coming for another 45 minutes.  So after a few shots, I headed out.

Photo 4023, walking the promenade next to the the artificial lake.JPG

On my walk back to the hotel, 15 minutes turned into 30 minutes, then into 45 and the maze of roads was a labyrinth … nothing went through to the outer ring roads! I had to keep going farther and farther around the ring road to find a way through, which I finally did. By that time, the temperature outside was over 100 degrees, and I started feeling the thirst set in … not a good situation. When I finally got out to an outer ring road, I could see the our hotel farther west and walked that way.  But again, there no roads that went out to the next ring, and I ended up having to go WAY past it in the opposite direction. Finally I got through, using some back streets with no sidewalks. And by that time I was getting seriously thirsty.  This town was clearly not built with pedestrians in mind!  I finally made it back to our hotel and to our heavenly air-conditioned room, wheeI headed straight for the bottled water anda shower.  This climate is definitely not a one that Seattleites will naturally gravitate to!