Photos

The Barj Al Arab hotel built on an artificial island off Jumeirah Beach, Dubai, is a visual spectacle. Its design was inspired by the billowing sails of Arabian dhows. The circular platform near the top of the Barj is a helipad. The protruding room is a cocktail bar and restaurant (good views of Palm island, of which more later). Another restaurant is 60 feet under the water and surrounded by aquariums with sharks and rays amongst coral.

The opulence of the hotel interior is as ostentatious as the exterior, yet the hotel claims to offer ONLY seven star luxury. Well what do you want ? The World ? OK, more on that later..

It soars to 321 metres and dominates the coastline currently.. Until the Palm Island complexes and 'The World' are completed. The 'Palms' will be 2 palm tree shaped islands that add 100's of Kms to Dubai's shoreline. The World will consist of 250 islands positioned to form the shape of the world map and will be located 4km off the coast. Construction should finish in 2005. Prices start at around $7M, if interested. Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait have equally ambitious projects in the pipeline or just starting.

ALSO, work is starting on the worlds tallest skyscraper and biggest shopping mall. And Dubailand, it will cover 145 million sq feet. It will include a gigantic indoor ski dome, global centre for movie production, gigantic water park, world's biggest shopping mall (again), 3 full size stadia for rugby, track and field, cricket, several 18 hole golf courses, Petting zoo, museums, F1 track, virtual games world, women's world (wedding resorts! spas! shopping! beauty care! home economics!! dedicated Wedding world). And still lots more!

AND they are expanding Dubai airport to handle 60M passengers a year (UAE pop = 2.5M, including 1.8M foreign workers)

If you end up there, remember Dubai is on the edge of the Empty Quarter, a desert wilderness about 400 miles x 900 miles in size. No one will hear you scream there.