Egypt 2011

We had an full exciting and very special day in Dubai. First we had a city tour of Dubai, and what a city.We visited the Al Fahidi Fort and the Dubai Museum. Dubai Museum (Arabic: متحف دبي‎) is the main museum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is located in the Al Fahidi Fort (Arabic: حصن الفهيدي‎), built in 1787 and is the oldest existing building in Dubai. The museum was opened by the ruler of Dubai in 1971, with the aim of presenting the traditional way of life in the Emirate of Dubai. It includes local antiquities as well as artifacts from African and Asian countries that traded with Dubai. It also includes several dioramas showing life in the emirate before the advent of oil, in addition to artefacts from recent discoveries as old as 3000 B.C. In 1969 Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued a letter to Sheikh Badr Mohammad Al Sabah, head of the office of state in Kuwait, asking for a museum expert to be sent to Dubai to help establish the museum. Work on renovating the fort commenced in 1970, and opened as the Dubai Museum on 12 May 1971 by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, then ruler of Dubai. Additional galleries were built and opened in 1995. Al Fahidi Fort was built in several phases. The oldest tower was built around 1787 and believed to be the oldest building in Dubai that still exists today. The fort was used to guard the landward approaches to the town from the raids of neighbouring tribes. It has also served, at various times throughout history as the ruler's palace, a garrison, and a prison. The Fort Al Fahidi Fort is square-shaped with towers occupying three of its corners. It was built of coral rock and mortar in several phases. Just off the southern wall lie the remains of the city walls. Next to them stands a tall dhow (traditional boat) in the middle of a large courtyard that covers the underground galleries. Two cannons guard the main gate to the fort on the eastern wall, adorned by flags of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates. Internal halls line three of the fort walls. One hall is at the main gate and houses the ticket office, while the others contain a collection of old weapons and arms from different historical periods along with a model of the city in 1820 AD. Traditional musical instruments are also displayed next to a video of folkloric music. The halls surround a central courtyard. Here you'll find a bronze canon with cannon balls, a well, and various types of boats. In the corner stands a traditional summer house called Arish. The Arish is made entirely from weaved palm fronds. It comprises seating and sleeping areas as well as a kitchen, filled with household furnishings and objects used by the locals in past times. The Arish features the distinct wind tower design, used for air conditioning in the pre-electricity days. We then took a water taxi over The Creek and visited the spice souks but unfortunately ran out of time to visit the gold souks and put them on the list to visit the next day. We had some free time at the Dubai Mall and were lucky enough to see the famous fountain operating until we had to be at the Burj Khaifa to ride the 124 floors to the At the Top observation deck with 360 degree views over the city. The Dubai Fountain (Dubai Mall) The entrancing performance of light, music and water that has changed the face of Dubai forever. Set on the 30-acre Burj Khalifa Lake, the fountain shoots water jets as high as 500 ft (150 metres), equivalent to that of a 50-storey building. The fountain is 900 ft (275 metres) long and has five circles of varying sizes and two central arcs. It has been designed by California-based WET, the creators of the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas. The Dubai Fountain performs daily, with the performance repertoire including Sama Dubai; Baba Yetu, an award-winning song in Swahili; the Arab world’s top-selling dance number Shik Shak Shok; and the signature piece of world-renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, Con te partiro (Time to Say Goodbye). Over 6,600 WET Superlights – the most advanced incandescent large fountain lights available today – and 25 colour projectors create a visual spectrum of over 1,000 abstract attractions. The beam of light shining upward from the fountain can be seen from over 20 miles away, and will be visible from space making it the brightest spot in the Middle East, and quite possibly in the entire world. Burj Khalifa (Arabic: برج خليفة‎, "Khalifa tower"), known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010, and is part of the new 2 km2 (490-acre) development called Downtown Dubai at the 'First Interchange' along Sheikh Zayed Road, near Dubai's main business district. The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrillof Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer. The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea. In March 2009, Mohamed Ali Alabbar, chairman of the project's developer, Emaar Properties, said office space pricing at Burj Khalifa reached US$4,000 per sq ft (over US$43,000 per m²) and the Armani Residences, also in Burj Khalifa, sold for US$3,500 per sq ft (over US$37,500 per m²). He estimated the total cost for the project to be about US$1.5 billion. The project's completion coincided with the global financial crisis of 2007–2012, and with vast overbuilding in the country; this led to high vacancies and foreclosures. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multibillion dollar bailouts from its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honour the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his crucial support. Because of the slumping demand in Dubai's property market, the rents in the Burj Khalifa plummeted 40% some ten months after its opening. Out of 900 apartments in the tower, 825 were still empty at that time. By October 2012, Emaar reported that around 80% of the apartments were occupied. ]Records • Tallest existing structure: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously KVLY-TV mast – 628.8 m/2,063 ft) • Tallest structure ever built: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously Warsaw radio mast – 646.38 m/2,121 ft) • Tallest freestanding structure: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously CN Tower – 553.3 m/1,815 ft) • Tallest skyscraper (to top of spire): 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously Taipei 101 – 509.2 m/1,671 ft) • Tallest skyscraper to top of antenna: 829.8 m (2,722 ft) (previously the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower – 527 m/1,729 ft) • Building with most floors: 163 (previously Willis (formerly Sears) Tower – 108)[20] • Building with world's highest occupied floor • World's highest elevator installation (situated inside a rod at the very top of the building)[22] • World's longest travel distance elevators .Highest vertical concrete pumping (for a building): 606 m (1,988 ft) First world's tallest structure to include residential spaceWorld's second highest outdoor observation deck: 124th floor at 452 m (1,483 ft) When it first opened, the observation deck was the highest outdoor observation deck in the World, but it has since been surpassed by Cloud Top 488 on top of Canton Tower. • World's highest installation of an aluminium and glass façade: 512 m (1,680 ft) World's highest nightclub: 144th floor World's highest restaurant (Atmosphere): 122nd floor at 442 m (1,450 ft) (previously 360, at a height of 350 m/1,148 ft in CN Tower) • World's highest New Year display of fireworks. World's second highest swimming pool: 76th floor (world's highest swimming pool is located on 118th floor of Ritz-Carlton Hotel International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong. Observation deck An outdoor observation deck, named At the Top, opened on 5 January 2010 on the 124th floor. It is the third highest observation deck in the world and the second highest outdoor observation deck in the world, at 452 m (1,483 ft). The observation deck also features the Behold Telescope, an augmented reality device developed by gsmprjct of Montréal, which allows visitors to view the surrounding landscape in real-time, and to view previously saved images such as those taken at different times of day or under different weather conditions. To manage the daily rush of sightseers, visitors are able to purchase tickets in advance for a specific date and time and at a 75% discount over tickets purchased on the spot. On 8 February 2010, the observation deck was closed to the public after power supply problems caused an elevator to become stuck between floors, trapping a group of tourists for 45 minutes. Despite rumours of the observation deck reopening for St. Valentine's Day(14 February), it remained closed until 4 April 2010. We finished our tour in the early afternoon and then around 4 o'clock the evening adventure began. We were picked up from our hotel in a four wheel drive and driven about an hour from Dubai to our meeting point on the edge of the Arabian Desert. Our driver let air our of the tires and we then proceeded to 'dune bash' to the delight of everyone in the vehicle. We stopped at times to run up dunes and then slide down. We were lucky enough to see two Arabian Oryx grazing on the extremely sparse vegetation available. The Oryz is a medium sized antelope with a distinct shoulder hump , long straight horns and a tuffed tail and is native to the desert and steppe areas of the Arabian pernisula. It was extinct in the wild by the early 1970s but was saved in zoos and reintroduced into the wild in 1980. A highlight was stopping to watch the sun set over the desert. We were greeted with a welcome drink on arrival at the camp and all the activities explained. We had a number of activities from which to chose including: camel riding, sand dune sliding, having a henna tattoo and buying sand art. After a wonderful barbecue we were entertained b,y a belly dancer and a whirling dervish. The most unforgettable part of the evening was when all the lights were turned out and we listened in silence to the sounds of the desert. What a magical and unforgettable evening and what a full day in Dubai.