Fear of heights. How high is this again!!!!!

When your in Dubai there is only one way to test your fear of heights and that is to go up the Worlds Tallest Building "The Burg Khalifa" (which I think should be called "The (insert a expletive of your choice) how high is that").

I've been passing it by from a distance for the last week or so while on my adventures and thought to myself if thats the biggest in the world no-body must build them very high, but when you get up close and look up those thoughts disappeared very rapidly.

Being a few hour early for my date with destiny I thought it might be a good idea to have a wander around to see if I could get some better shots. I'm putting it down to the fact that is was a hot day and that you have to walk a great distance to be far enough away to get it all is shot for the reason my legs felt like jelly and nothing to do with the fact I was going to be going up it.

 The time had come to bite the bullet. The entrance is in the mall next door and feels a million miles away. You have any bags you have with you put though a scanner like being at the airport, which I thought was very strange at the time, but afterwards you realise you are however going to be up in the the clouds with the planes. You walk through a series of tunnels with lots of displays which all seem to be telling you how high it is (maybe that was just me) before you arrive at the two elevators.

When your turn arrives you get in with your fellow fee paying victims and the doors close. The black mirrowed walls feel very night club like with funky displays telling you what floor you are passing on your way to the 124 floor. Despite moving at more than 10 metres per second the only way you know that you are moving is your ears popping and the odd wiggle.

At you destination you first make your way to the outside obsevation deck. I expect to feel lighthead when I look over the side and am pleasantly suprised when i'm not. Maybe its because it all looks like a model town from this height.

 

I spend just short of a hour wandering round looking down on the world, have a look round the gift shop and pass the gold ATM (yes you can get gold from a cash machine) then make my way down to the ground floor.

For some strange reason the pictures I took later have a more relaxed feel to them too.