Pics from Dubai
Emirates Mall - "fishtank" at the entrance to the underground aquarium
Stainless Steel diver - against a waterfall backdrop - difficult to get the water motion
The actual waterfall - yes, it's in the middle of a frikkin mall
Ice rink in the middle of the mall - about the size of a footbal field
Burj al Khalifa (pronounced "Boorj al ghaleefa") - highest building in the world
The Abra's on The Creek - tourist water taxis
View up The Creek
The base of the Boorj al Ghaleefa
Some other building - there are some fantastic constructions in the UAE
The Brindle Bass in the aquarium tank - I lost count of the number of protected species in that tank...bastards
More boats on The Creek
A lane in one of the Souq's (markets)
Back on The Creek
Back on The Creek
Another lane in another Souq
More highrise buildings - some of them were spectacular
Back on The Creek
Gold buddha in the Gold Souq
More gold figurines
Pics from Abu Dhabi
Head office to one of the airlines
Spices for sale in the New Souq
Handcarved elephants from India
One of the lanes inside the New Souq - everything was done out in latticed woodwork - would have got rich off that contract
Entrance to a park in the city centre
View from my hotel room - every prayer time the muzzin would chant the usual "Allah u Akhbar" in about 20,000 different tones
View from the Corniche waterfront looking toward the city centre
The Corniche waterfront walkway
The centre court of the New Souq...awesome
This is some kind of calendar - can't remember the exact info about it, but it was fuckin' expensive otherwise I would have bought it
Another lane in the New Souq - the pace is three storeys high
Another mosque, with night lights
Sunset on the Corniche
Sunset on the Corniche
Fisherman on the Corniche - they catch tiddlers there
The walkway - it is 10km long and tiled the whole way
Gardens and delivery entrance archway at the Emirates Palace Hotel - the only SEVEN star hotel in the world
First images of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - taken on a brilliantly clear day, but also when the place was closed to non-Muslims - more later
The main entrance to the mosque
The pool on the hotel roof - and it was heated to 32degC
View of the city from the hotel roof
Inside the Emirates Palace Hotel - breathtaking
An archway just outside the Palace Hotel
The outside, main entrance, of the Palace Hotel - Ferraris and sports cars lined up outside the door
Etihad airways new head office buildings, still under construction
Another frontal view of the Palace Hotel - fountains off
The Japanese Tea Hut - a gift from the emperor of Japan to the late Sheikh Zayed
View of the gulf beyond the Palace Hotel windows
The windows mentioned above
The main dome in the Palace Hotel
The Palace Hotel - everything has a golden hue about it
Designs of future buildings - can't remember who is going to occupy them, but it is multinational companies
The night view tapestry, showing the hotel at night - about 10m high and 25m wide
The daytime view tapestry - same size
The window between the tapestries - the night time one is on the wall behind the staircase
Rows and rows of ancient artifacts, all for sale - some dating back to 300BC - I wanted one piece, but it was something like R16,000...
More inside the hotel
Model dhow, from the building model below, another future project for the city
Another future project - one of them, can't remember which one, is going to be a Guggenheim Museum
View of the Palace hotel through the palisade fencing that surrounds the place
Etihad towers through an archway
A tapestry inside a closed shop - through the window - it was a fantastic piece, also a couple of hundred years old
View of the city through one of the hotel's windows
Looking down to the "basement" of the Palace Hotel
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque - the pic is out of place from the rest
Inside of the Marina Mall - these guys don't do small malls
The walkway leading up to the Marina Mall
Close-ip of the delivery entrance archway to the Palace Hotel - as Wreckless puts it, it's like an Arc de Triomphe - and there were four of them that I counted
The archway again
The Grand Mosque - the pics will say most of the words
Each of the domes was uniquely patterned
I lost count of the number of columns in the place
The main prayer hall - there were three of these chandeliers - each one is about 10m high and 6m across at its widest
Another view of a chandelier
This chandelier was a "small" one, located at the entrance hall to the main prayer room - everyone had to remove their shoes before even venturing into the entrance hall
Same chandelier as previous - further away
View of the main dome from the large courtyard
The names of all six of the daily prayer times - these would alternate with the actual prayer times, which vary according to the season
Back in the courtyard - the sky was a dull colour due to the fine sand in the air
A smaller prayer room for the women and children
The scrollwork on the walls was just fantastic in detail
No more words - the pictures say their own thing...
8 comments:
I'd hate to be the one to clean the white building...great pics wish I could've been there! 11 sleeps to go! xoxo
The "white building" is the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, third largest in the world. It's made of 9 different types of marble and was completed after the Sheikh died (as was predicted by a fortune teller)...he never got to see his "white building" finished...
Leaves me speechless. Are all of these accessable to the common (poor) person?. There must be "the other side of town" ?.
Thanks for the tour.
Palm Springs, Ca.
@Anonymous, welcome...yes, they are all accessible to everyone, but there are also "security guards" in place at most of the popular places. They will tend to keep out the ex-pats (mostly Pakistanis and Sri Lankans) who are there to provide the hard labour in building and maintaining all these wonderful buildings. Although the grand buildings aren't necessarily marked on tourist maps as "attractions", they are just that and are part of the tourist route through the cities.
Some of the buildings featured in the photos are: The Dubai Mall (with the underground aquarium) and the waterfall, the Burj Khalifa (highest in the world), the Creek (with all the boats), the Souq's (markets), various parks around the cities (the people are very children-focussed while the kids are in their infancy), the mosques are mostly out of bounds to non-Moslems, but there are some exceptions, the Abu Dhabi Corniche waterfront is great to walk or cycle along, the Emirates Palace Hotel (only 7-star hotel in the world) is just mind-boggling in its grandeur and its gardens and high arched entrances are immaculate, and the Grand Mosque is just "wow" (the central chandeliers must be 10m high and are jewelled).
If you can get out there, it is worth the visit, but beware, it will be an expensive holiday...
Wow...beautiful pics! Thanks for sharing!
I think I need to put a short description next to the photos...will do so later if I get a chance...
So, As I was looking at these photos, I had DMDad on a live chat. This is how the conversqtion went:-
M=Me
D= DMDad
M-Is that a fishtank?
D-yup
M-fuckcanwegofishthere?
M-and the diver?
M-hanging on a wall i suppose
D-with three ragged tooth sharks, a brindle bass, and fuck knows how many other protected species in it
M-well, at least there they are safe?
D-the diver was hanging on the waterfall pictured below
M-wow
D-it was too difficult to get the water movement
M-nice fishing boats
D-lol
D-those are water taxis
M-or are they tourist boats
M-aha
D-"Abba's" as they are known
M-they dont have eskom there do they?
M-some serious lughts in those buildings
M-big carp!!!!!!!!
M-very damn big
D-if they did, they would have serious power cuts....they abuse electricity big time
D-brindle bass, knob
M-family
M-lots of wooden boats
M-dont they know about steel or fibreglass?
M-like the woodwork arches
M-the foto of the multiple buildings looks like a drawing
D-they use a lot opf wood in construction and boats
M-Hey, did u get me one of those gold fat dudes?
D-that was going past the ibm office. missed it though
D-lol
M-whays the flyingsaucer on it's side?
D-head office for Etihad airways
M-nice target for a "dart".
D-looks like a big Oreo biscuit
M-yup
M-and the mosque roof looks like a dollop of cream
D-they all do
D-even the big one at the end of the photos
M-wha brown shelves?
M-fancy woodwork
M-with a roof over
D-that was the inside of the new Souq (market) in abu dhabi....all wood inside
M-just before the 'green" mosque
D-yup
M-wow, thats damn stunning
D-it was amazing.
M-I like the rais at the waterside
M-and the fancy walkwaypaving
M-they do neat work
M-makes it very attractive
D-that's along the abu dhabi waterfront
D-over 10km long
M-olympic pool?
D-pool on the hotel roof
M-ok
M-u mentioned that
M-and the colums?
D-fuck knows
M-lo;l
M-i could go visit there just for these sights
D-yup...you would enjoy it
M-Indoor sauna?
D-especially abu dhabi...much nicer than dubai
M-open front with viewing seats?
D-which one is that?
M-looks like a wendy hut
M-with some chairs parked in front
D-ah that...it's an original japanese tea hut given to the sheikh by the emperor of japan as a gift
M-ok
D-it's located inside the 7-star hotel
M-so u sit in front of it and....?
D-drink fuckin' tea....
D-watch the whole tea ceremony
M-nice roof - domed - all glass?
M-lol
M-drink tea
M-right
D-not ll glass...mostly mosaic
M-ok
D-even that dome is inside the hotel
M-2 pics down
M-looks like a model of a futuristic car?
D-those were models of buildings that are going to be built in the near future
M-just before the "beach hotel" model
D-cant remember who they were for
M-fuark!
M-they are soooo losing it
D-lol
M-nice murals too
D-maybe i should put a small description next to each photo.....
D-amazing murals....they were carpets!!!!
M-nah, i will clean uop this chat
M-and post it as a comment
M-then they can rfer to it
D-lol
M-lol
M-those model builders charge a forune too
D-i'm sure they did
M-arc de triomf x 2
M-?
M-u got some stunning pics
D-thanks...i thought they were the best of the photos
D-the grand mosque was mind-blowing
D-that arc de triomphe was an entrance to the 7-star hotel grounds
M-Looks fantastic
Salagatle!
LOL...
Thanks bro...I think I'll still put in some comments though...
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