The Troubled Story of the Burj Khalifa

Everyone is still talking about the financial crisis, especially about how Dubai defaulted on something like $80 billion in debt in November 2009 and my current oil-rich home bailed them out…again, probably because they have already committed so much funding to Dubai. In December 2009 Dubai received an additional $10 billion loan from the emirate of Abu Dhabi. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ae.html).  This all came as an embarrassment to Dubai, which is already struggling with their countless idle cranes and skyscrapers.  They had a brief reprieve last month with the extravagant, albeit 4 month late, grand opening (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW8wo4-esI0) of the now largest building in the world, formerly the Burj Dubai and now called the Burj Khalifa, after Abu Dhabi’s ruler who bailed them out (http://www.burjkhalifa.ae/the-tower/worlds-tallest-towers.aspx).

Well, we went up to Dubai for a nice weekend away from AD and purchased tickets ahead of time to visit the newly opened skyscraper for 100 dhs ($27).  It was fortunate we bought them ahead of time because they were sold out for about a week when we got there, though you could buy a ticket to go up that day for 400 dhs.  Once you enter, you get whisked to the 124th floor in under a minute with awesome elevator music (unfortunately, though it’s called, “At the Top,” it’s only about 2/3 of the way up the tower) to the observation deck.  Once you equalize the pressure in your head and clear out your ears, it’s a helluva view from there, kind of like looking out the window of an airplane, but not moving anywhere.

As a comparison, the building behind my right shoulder is something like 65 stories. Last summer in one of our first visits to Dubai we had gone to a bar there on the 63rd floor….and we thought that was really high.  Now, we’re twice as high and it looks relatively minuscule.

We had a good time enjoying the view. Worth the money, perhaps, definitely a tourist trap though.

It is definitely a good thing we went up when we did, because about a week later, the elevator got stuck on the 120-something floor, trapping 15 people inside for nearly an hour, shutting the tower down indefinitely until they fix it! (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1249848/Terrifying-Burj-Khalifa-lift-ordeal-Dubai-tourists-stuck-1-600ft-worlds-tallest-building.html) Glad we went when we did! Just add it as another embarrassment to Dubai. Insult to Injury.

Another thing I thought might interest some of the folks from home, a brochure illustrating the Dubai Mall’s courtesy policies (the Dubai Mall is connected underground to the Burj Khalifa).

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