A Quick Guide to Dubai.

I like Dubai, I really really do. But I think I wouldn't be saying that if we didn't take a wrong turn at the floating bridge over Dubai Creek and end up in Deira.

If we hadn't seen Deira, I'd be now telling you that Dubai looks exactly like Guangzhou only with clear blue skies and no one growing mango trees on their roof.  But since we did go to Deira, I can now tell you that only one side of Dubai Creek looks like Guangzhou only with clear blue ... etc etc, while the other side of Dubai Creek - Deira - looks exactly like Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tartooine.

The Guangzhou comparison is very apt, btw, since both cities have endless miles of amazing 8 and 10 lane roads, while all the buildings in both are a strange mix those weird but not entirely unattractive Chinese mash-ups of every architectural style known to mankind, built in various shades of pink and yellow granite ...

 

This not uncharming building

looks exactly like it's from 

the Bribery District

of Guangzhou.

But this one is in Dubai.

 And this one too!

...  with lots of those soul-less mirrored buildings thrown into for good measure.  Let me show you what I mean:

OK, this is just a taste. I'll post in a lot more photos of the Dubai skyline as I find them.

And don't you just love that they're having so much fun with their architecture. I mean, yeah, Guangzhou is having the same sort of fun with their architectural experimentation, but Dubai is definitely acing by coming up with a lot of unique buildings.

A taste?

Well, they're doing a lot of these buildings which bend and twist:

 One of Dubai's wonderful 

"twisty" buildings.

And the very famous ...

 Burj El Arab?

... which I believe Tom Cruise climbs in the latest "Mission Impossible".

And who can ever forget the mighty and magnificent ...

 Burj Khalifa

... the tallest building in the world.  And I believe Tom Cruise does something with this one too:



(I will be posting a great many architectural shots, but you'll have to wait until they're processed.)

However, since we did take that wrong turn across the floating bridge over Dubai Creek I can also tell you that Dubai has an entirely different side to it - a place called Deira - where they left Old Dubai intact and simply restored, renovated and rebuilt in their original Arabic style, and it looks almost exactly like, well, a different sort of space-age city, this one being Tartooine.  Let me show you:

How vile is this! It's not letting me download any more photos. I'll have to try again tomorrow. Abject apologies, and do come back because ... well, I intend to end this by showing you my absolutely favourite part of Dubai.