Burj Khalifa

20151025_170044Burj Khalifa is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world. We are talking here about 830m, and this is a lot. And of course, first time in Dubai, I had to visit that building. The good thing is, it is visible from far, from every direction. Hence it’s hard to miss, so I thought. So I decided to walk from my hotel to the tower. Didn’t look that far away, and actually is wasn’t, if there had been a straight way towards it. So first thing I learned, Dubai is not made for pedestrians. There are sidewalks, but as soon a you are leaving the attractions, you are alone there, and there never is a direct way. Very few people walk. And I think I know why, it’s really hot in Dubai. So I tried to walk slowly, but you start sweating immediately nonetheless. Well, I did. You can feel the dessert around Dubai and you can feel the humidity from the sea as well. Sweaty combination.

20151025_114408Independent from this, I managed to get lost in a construction side. And there are many of them, huge construction sites with armies of construction workers, creating more and more skyscrapers. This is actually very impressive, especially since I am sweating already when walking slowly and they are carrying heavy stuff around. But a few chats with construction workers later and a big jump through fresh concrete , I managed to get back into civilization, the Dubai Mall.

20151025_165335And, surprise, the Dubai Mall is of course the world’s largest shopping mall. What else? This is the largest collection of shops and restaurants I’ve ever seen. You can get lost in there easily. But if you don’t like shopping, then this is your hell. And deep down in the basement, there is the entry into Burj Khalifa, at least for the tourists. And this is what the place looks like, tons of souvenirs. There are two tours available and one of them goes up to the observation deck at the 148th floor. This is the world’s highest outdoor observation deck, in 555m height. There are still 275m till the top of the building, but don’t underestimate  that height. This is already really impressive, more than half a kilometer above Dubai. Up there they serve drinks and sweets and you have 30 minutes to enjoy the view. And what a view. You even can see the “World islands”, a group of artificial islands, looking from above like a world map.  Several islands form the continents.

Dubai looks very small from up there, you can see the coastline and the surrounding dessert, you can see the older districts of Dubai and the newer ones. This is really impressive and the height teaches you respect. Leaning against the glass window is a challenge. All in all a breath-taking experience.