(Gah, sorry, I'm having a lot of issues with pictures....)
Boo, no pictures. This makes it tougher to consolidate things. I also don't know when I'll have internet access next, so I'll have to leave you all with a bit of a taste, a whetting of the palate if you will, at just how ridiculous this place is...
-> The Burj Khalifa (tallest building) is 160 floors. During construction, 1 floor was built every 4 days, and if countries compete, they can just add more floors. It is 828 m high. They used enough steel to extend 1/4 of the way around the world. It all weighed approximately 100 000 elephants. Interestingly, it collects 15 gallons of water from condensation per year on its steel pannels.
-> Some of the highest minerets are found in Dubai
-> Dubai collects 20 million Durhams (5.5 million USD) in speeding tickets (mostly from Ferraris) a MONTH
-> That's why very few of them pay taxes
-> The QE2 was recently purchased by Dubai... they have to get rid of the casino inside before it can be used, since gambling is illegal
-> When peopel go to jail, they are transported there in a Mercedes and get fine dined in the food of their choice (culture)
-> In most countries, the fanciest hotels are 5-star. In Dubai, you can stay at a 7-star hotel. A tea costs $109 USD
-> There are 2 annual shopping festivals in Dubai
-> Apparently, the 8th wonder of the world is in Dubai. It's man-made land (yes, that's right, they took land from the gulf and built more land overtop of the gulf). It is called the Palm Jumera and is visible from outer space. It has its own Monorail (I think, I may have seen it extend into the rest of the city?!)
-> The highlight of the Palm Jumera is the Atlantis hotel that is home to 28 bottle-nosed dolphins (shipped specially), a river rafting ride, 17 waterslides, and a maze of secret tunnle passageways to the 'Atlantis ruins'
-> Not enough waterfront already? No, we should extend the coastline by 800 KILOMETERS and build more buildings so that it can be twice the size of Hong Kong upon completion.
--> And oh yeah, apparreenttllyyy everything going on in Dubai (and I've only given you a tiny fraction) is only 10% of the ideas in his highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's head.
OK, must shower & finish packing & leave in 5 hours!! I will miss you (yes, you, oh lovely computer screen which somehow connects me with the rest of the world) and will have doubled, tripled, quadrupled! the stories to recount & pictures to post upon my return!
Loves! Loves! Loves!
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