Dubai in an Afternoon

Whenever we leave Afghanistan for R&R or redeployment we travel through Dubai. We had an entire afternoon in the city on our way to South Africa, so we took a tour and went skiing. Yes, skiing in the middle of the desert!


Skyline under construction. Just look at all those sky cranes.


This is a hotel mimicking old style buildings. In the background you can see the Burg al Arab.

Burg al Arab - This is the fancy sail shaped hotel with a helicopter landing pad on top. It is the world's only 7 star hotel. It costs about $50 just to get in, and you have to have an appointment. Since we didn't have an appoinment, entry will have to wait until next time.

Billy in front of the world's tallest building. There is also a fountain show similar (okay, basically identical) to the one at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in this pond.

Here we are skiing! It's an indoor ski hill. To the left of us you can see the midway of the chair lift.

This is the bottom of the ski hill. All the lights in the background is the mall! Yes, you could sit in the warm mall and watch people ski and sled.