Top Seven Beautiful Dubai Spots That Defy Their Desert Setting
Below complete Dubai travel guide from atlasobscura.com about Top Seven Beautiful Dubai Spots That Defy Their Desert Setting.
Who cares about sandstorms? (Photo: brett jordan/Flickr)
It’s no secret that there is so much money floating around the city of Dubai that it essentially exists in the future.
Yet many of the wondrous sights found in
the rapidly expanding city just really shouldn’t exist in a desert. In
an arid climate where temperatures routinely rise well above 100 degrees
Fahrenheit, the abundance of luxury, water-dependent spots like ski
slopes, massive flower gardens, and lush green golf courses seem like a
directed F.U. to the harshness of the surrounding environment. And with a
world expo set to take place
in the city in 2020, things are just getting weirder. Here are seven
places that somehow really exist in Dubai.
1. Ski Dubai
Located inside the Mall of the
Emirates, this year-round ski slope gets fresh snow each night in direct
defiance of the scorching temperatures on the other side of the walls.
The fully functional ski center offers a fake mountain to ski down, as
well as other ice-based attractions like an ice bar and a penguin
encounter. Knock it off, Dubai.
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Want to plant the world’s largest natural
flower garden? Why not do it in the middle of the desert? The aptly
named Dubai Miracle Garden is a sprawling technicolor wonderland of
fresh, growing flowers. It contains over 45 million flowers set into
elaborate displays that form words, patterns, and images using a rainbow
of natural color. The caretakers say they use wastewater to irrigate
the garden and keep it growing. But whatever they are doing, it’s safe
to say that no desert on Earth has ever seen this many lush flowers.
3. Jumeirah Islands
For some, living in an ultra-wealthy city
of the future isn’t quite exclusive enough. The Jumeirah Islands
developments were created so that people could live on their own little
man-made land on the water. The neighborhood consists of 50 small
islands set in an artificial lake that was also purpose built for the
development. Each island contains just 16 separate villas, making them
little communities within their own communities. It’s not quite
having your own island, but it’s close.
4. Palm Islands, The World, and The Universe
Speaking of islands that probably
shouldn’t exist, some of the most iconic features of modern Dubai are
the ever-growing artificial island that have been built into the
coastline. Not content to just create more land (disrupting
the local marine environment), the eccentric goofballs that planned
these new land features made them into fun shapes like a palm tree and a
map of the world.
A second, larger palm tree island is
currently underway, and a second artificial archipelago, titled The
Universe, is set to be created beneath the already finished, The World.
It’s official: they are playing God over there.
5. Emirates Golf Club
A golf course in the middle of a barren
desert isn’t absolutely unheard of, but it is pretty odd to see one that
is covered in almost blindingly green grass. The Emirates Golf Club
actually consists of two different courses that incorporate the natural
environment, but each includes fairways of such a lush green that they
would likely get a California resident arrested if their lawn looked as
good. Of course the surrounding resorts offer all manner of modern
luxury, but having grass that green in the desert is maybe the most
decadent part of the whole affair.
6. Meydan One Swimming Pool
Meydan One is a planned development
expected to be completed in 2020. When it is finished, it is set to
break multiple world records including the one for the world’s tallest
residential tower. But maybe the most remarkable parts of the whole
affair are the planned canal and lagoon structures, which will have room
for around 100 yachts, and a 90-acre swimming pool. Inland from the
coast. In a part of the world where water isn’t exactly easy to come by.
Why not? While these features are not yet complete, a portion of the
massive swimming lagoon has been finished.
7. Burj al Arab Tennis Court / Helipad
In 2005, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi
played a tennis match on a truly terrifying court. The grass, court
lines, and net had been installed specially atop the helipad of the
world’s third largest hotel, the Burj al Arab. Shaped like a UFO and
lacking any sort of guard rail, the helipad is suspended over 700 feet
in the air. This is all well and good until you remember that Dubai is
subject to intense sand storms that can last days as high winds buffet
the city in sheets of flying sand. A blinding sandstorm probably isn’t
so great for your game.
The tennis court no longer exists, but the helipad awaits your arrival. You own a private helicopter, right?