Dubai Highlights & Hotspots

I think Dubai has a Napoleon Complex. They want to have the world's biggest and best of just about everything. Tallest building, tallest hotel, only 7 start hotel, soon they will have a London Eye type of Ferris wheel, bigger of course.

9 Interesting facts about Burj Al Arab – world’s tallest, most luxurious hotel

• It is world’s tallest and first hotel to surpass 1000 ft (305 m) in height.
• It took three years to reclaim the land from the sea, and less than three years to construct the building itself.
• It is world’s tallest structure with a membrane façade and world’s tallest hotel (not including buildings with mixed use)
• The total cost to construct the hotel was $650 million.
• Burj al Arab is one of the most expensive hotels in the world to stay in. The cost of staying in a suite begins at $1,000 per night and increases to over $15,000 per night; the Royal Suite is the most expensive, at $28,000 per night.
• The building contains over 70,000 cubic meters of concrete and 9,000 tons of steel.
• Despite its size, the Burj al-Arab holds only 28 double-storey floors which accommodate 202 bedroom suites.
• The smallest suite of the hotel Burj al Arab occupies an area of 169 square meters (1,819 square feet), the largest covers 780 square meters (8,396 square feet).
• The hotel rests on an artificial island constructed 280 meters offshore. To secure a foundation, the builders drove 230 40-meter long concrete piles into the sand. The foundation is held in place not by bedrock, but by the friction of the sand and silt along the length of the piles.
• Burj al Arab has a 24 meter (79 feet ) wide helipad which is 210 meters above the ground.

The government is in charge of building the mosques in Dubai. They also hire all the imams. If an imam preaches any radical jihad stuff, they are deported. That's what we should do everywhere. 

Dubai built 375 mosques in five years.

Almost 400 mosques were built in Dubai between 2008 and 2012.

As of the middle of last year, there were 1,418 mosques in the emirate, up from 1,043 in 2008.

There are few mosque designs. They a small, plain looking buildings. The reason for so many mosques: the government doesn't want you to walk more than 500 meters to a mosque.

Aside from all the mosques, there are constant reminders that you are in a Muslim country. Check out rule number 2 on the so-called Courtesy Policy. Holding hands can get you arrested. 

Dubai is a very hot place. It can get to over 110 degrees in the summer. To encourage the use of public transit, the government provides air-conditioned bus stops. 

 Here's a local flower that we see everywhere. not sure what it is, but is pretty.

If you need to use the facilities, make sure you pick the right door. Here's a helpful guide.