A View Of The Dubai Skyline
January 28, 2011 by Anil P.
Filed under Contests, Guest Post, Pictures and Video
Dave Brett, the winner of my Live The Backpacker Life Contest, chose Dubai as the destination for his free one week backpacking trip. Recently returned, he was kind enough to check in with this photo and his impressions of one of the world’s fastest growing cities.
Dubai is a city moving to the future and it’s great to see the contrast between the old sulk of Bur Dubai to the modern development of Jumeirah. Dubai’s a wonderful city to explore and indulge in mega shopping facilities and its eye for luxury. With many direct connections to Europe and bundles of cheap hotels, they turn Dubai into a long weekend for a taste of this Arab city. To make it an extra special trip, invest in a desert safari topped off with a sunset dinner to escape the city, and bash around the dunes in a 4×4 – which is a must. See the tallest building in the world, ski in the middle of the desert, shop in the biggest mall on Earth and visit the only 7-star hotel anywhere. In Dubai any thing is possible.
Thank you again Dave for sharing, your post spurred a change to my Gulf travels! You can hear and see more from Dubai on Dave’s travel blog, a city I’ll be in 2 weeks from now.
Those of you who missed this contest will have another shot to win some cash this March in my annual favorite; with a Macbook Air coming up later this summer. The best way not to miss another foXnoMad contest is to sign up for my bimonthly newsletter; that group usually has the advantage of finding out first.
[photo courtesy of Dave Brett]
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Love the photo! It has a bit of a 70′s style glow to it.
Totally could be snapshot out of a cop-drama sitcom from then.
Plan on going up the Burj Al Arab? I look forward to this trip of yours Anil!
I think I’m going to try but now I see below there’s a dress code…could be a problem!
this blog will help then, fingers crossed you get in! 7 star Burj Al Arab for Backpackers: http://traveldave.co.uk/?p=165 http://fb.me/uBRnXrcu
Thanks for the link Dave, I’ll check it out
Very cool, I didn’t get a chance to go into the Burj al Arab when I was in Dubai, I wasn’t dressed according to code.
Oh crap, I might run into that same problem; I’m guessing no jeans, anything else?
Smart jeans are ok but they will give you the dress code once you have had your booking confirmed, i just had a shirt and smart shoes
Lots of good advice (and links) Dave, thanks! My shoes might get me caught up, I’ll have to spruce them up a bit…will let you know how it goes
I love the contrast between the history and the modern mega buildings. I can suggest the rustic but excellent museum which gives some sense of the rapid development in Dubai.
Hi Mark, which museum is it?
Dubai certainly is one of the fastest growing places. It is amazing to see the buildings change there!
Aaron
It’s like the city is racing with nearby Doha; the rate of development is truly astonishing.
I doubt Doha will ever catch up to Dubai (ok maybe it will with the world cup and all). I recently went to Doha and it’s basically a desert in comparison. I’ve lived in Dubai on and off for a few years and you’d be amazed at how fast the landscape has changed. I’ve heard they’re thinking of destroying old buildings to build new ones! It’s crazy. Four years ago, Deira was the city center and now it’s Bur Dubai :O Soon, it’ll be Jebel Ali (which was seriously a desert 6 years ago)
I would agree with that – right now, in terms of development (at least visually), Dubai is light years ahead. Though the World Cup might do wonders…