After our night in the desert, we thought we'd spend Saturday morning checking out Palm Island and the Atlantis resort. If you're not familiar with it, the short story is that Dubai needs more land and to get it, they reclaim ocean space. For example, ALL of "New Dubai" was sea five years ago - now it is a sea of hypermodern skyscrapers and highways. But Palm Island is known worldwide for its design - it is a series of man-made islands in the shape of a palm tree, with the huge Atlantis resort at the end and a giant crescent breakwater beach around the outside. Details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Islands
So that was the plan. AHA! The Travel Gods were already pissed at us, so it didn't happen. The taxi dropped us at the Jumeirah Beach Resort walk - a whole strip of shops and restuarants laid out along the road. (not the beach, alas, most of the beach here is privately owned by hotels and fiercely guarded from snoopers) So we were sort of in the right spot, but compliments of my super crappy guidebook (do NOT buy the Rough Guide to Dubai) we thought you could walk a little ways, hit the mall and pick up the monorail out to Atlantis Resort. Yea.... not so much.
So we went off in the direction of the Palm, which we'd seen exits for in the cab on the way here. Walked AWAY from the lovely shops, other tourists, restaurants, bathrooms and general civilization. We walked at least a half mile, on a sidewalk that became a dirt path along construction zones with a giant road on one side and a big wall behind which were resorts we couldn't see or get into on the other. There was another bedraggled looking family of tourists behind us who were also obviously lost. To say it sucked is a major understatement.
We finally ended up in front of the Dubai Media Center, a fortress of a building with no obvious entrance and no public facilities and flagged down a cab. The only good part is that we got some good shots of the New Dubai skyline and the amazing skyscrapers they have here - many still under construction and many more being built at a lightning pace. If you are an architect, screw the US, come live here. But it meant we didn't see the Palm, or Atlantis, or even know where the heck we were and I was completely despondent as we had to fly to Sri Lanka that night.
The rather obvious signs we may be having problems with our chosen route.....
So that was the plan. AHA! The Travel Gods were already pissed at us, so it didn't happen. The taxi dropped us at the Jumeirah Beach Resort walk - a whole strip of shops and restuarants laid out along the road. (not the beach, alas, most of the beach here is privately owned by hotels and fiercely guarded from snoopers) So we were sort of in the right spot, but compliments of my super crappy guidebook (do NOT buy the Rough Guide to Dubai) we thought you could walk a little ways, hit the mall and pick up the monorail out to Atlantis Resort. Yea.... not so much.
So we went off in the direction of the Palm, which we'd seen exits for in the cab on the way here. Walked AWAY from the lovely shops, other tourists, restaurants, bathrooms and general civilization. We walked at least a half mile, on a sidewalk that became a dirt path along construction zones with a giant road on one side and a big wall behind which were resorts we couldn't see or get into on the other. There was another bedraggled looking family of tourists behind us who were also obviously lost. To say it sucked is a major understatement.
We finally ended up in front of the Dubai Media Center, a fortress of a building with no obvious entrance and no public facilities and flagged down a cab. The only good part is that we got some good shots of the New Dubai skyline and the amazing skyscrapers they have here - many still under construction and many more being built at a lightning pace. If you are an architect, screw the US, come live here. But it meant we didn't see the Palm, or Atlantis, or even know where the heck we were and I was completely despondent as we had to fly to Sri Lanka that night.
View from the cab of New Dubai.....
Civilization - people, families, food - why oh why did we leave...
Marsh on Jumeirah Beach Resort Walk. Again, why did we go the other way? Stupid touristas.....
Nice building photo opps, true. The buildings here are amazing, and this is just ONE area of huge skycrapers, there are about three others....
The rather obvious signs we may be having problems with our chosen route.....
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