Sky High in Dubai

For years i scoffed at the notion that testaments to skyscrapers like the Petronas Towers or Taipei 101 were the tallest buildings in the world. Standing at 553 metres since 1976, the CN Tower in Toronto, Canada has long been the tallest structure. Perhaps it's a matter of semantics. But on January 4th 2010, all that changed as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai opened to the public.

Towering a massive 828 meters above the ground, the B.K. shattered all existing records. This masterpiece of modern engineering put to rest any squabbles of who might be the tallest. With 160+ floors, 49 office floors, 1044 residential apartments, 57 elevators (@ 64 km/hr), 28,261 panes of glass taking 22,000,000 man hours at a cost of over $1,500,000,000, the Burj Khalifa is nothing short of a vertical city. Costs to visit/live in the tower are set to pay for the mortage i guess. Residential properties go for around $3,500/ft2 and commercial space at over $4,000/ft2. As for the public, the only access is via the At The Top observation deck on the dizzying 124th floor. But you'll need to shell out 100 AED ($30) for the privilege of visiting the part indoor part outdoor deck.

For those on a limited visit to Dubai, it is highly advisable to pre-book a tower time via the Burj's website. There are departures every 30 minutes. Sunset times will sell out days, if not weeks, in advance. Once up the tower, there is no limit as to how long you can stay up there. I love the slits in the glass for clear pictures of the surrounding city and desert. Getting to the tower is fairly easy. The lovely new Dubai metro has a stop at the Dubai Mall. Although it is a bit of a walk along an unshaded road to from the metro to the mall itself. The At The Top counter is on the lower ground floor of the mall. One thing of note, although the first departure is 10 am, the shops, cafes and restaurants don't open until around 10 as well. So it can be tough to grab breakfast before heading up. The Burj Dubai is one of those "Been there, done that" sort of things. Some skeptics might dismiss it as trivial. But if in Dubai, i say "Go there, do that!"