Dubai - the infamous Burj al Arab

I spent my last full day in Dubai checking out its architectural landmarks. I began the morning visiting the Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world. It is 160 floors high, all of which is finished, and construction is just completing on the spires above. At the base of the tower will be the world's largest shopping mall, Dubai Mall. I suspect West Edmonton Mall is going to wait for it to finish and then add another wing or something to claim back the title though.

That afternoon, I went inside the Burj al Arab and must say I have very mixed feelings about it. First of all, the entire inside is hollow, so there really isn't that sense of grandeur. The cool thing is that the seafood restaurant is actually underwater, and you arrive by a little submarine. All in all though, I think the hotel is overpriced and overrated, the food was good, but not THAT good! I admit that little details such as each room being a two-floor suite having its own butler, and the constant colour-changing doors are pretty cool, but I'm really not quite convinced that its really 7-stars! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photos within the restaurants, because apparently celebrities come and go too often and didn't want to be photographed. I don't think I recognized anyone though. On the way out, I saw someone who looked like Juan Carlos Ferrero though with his tennis gear!

After supper, we left the hotel and I made my way to the Gold Souk, the largest gold market in the Arab world. It was quite eye-opening to see the fine craftsmanship and the noticeable differences in style between here and Turkey. With the gold prices relatively low, maybe I should have considered buying a golden mask or something...