Burj Khalifa: Visiting The World’s Tallest Building

There are some tourists who just LOVE getting up early. I sometimes see them on my way to work even in deepest, darkest winter when most people would happily have an extra hour in bed than go out in the biting cold. But no, there they are, the hardened keenos, taking pictures of Nelson’s column in Trafalgar Square at 8am, when it’s only just getting light, or queuing outside the natural history museum at ridiculous o’clock as if the dinosaurs are going to crumble away by afternoon. You even see them at weekends! I know they may still be on a different time zone but you are on holiday – CHILL OUT! Have a lie in.

On the other hand, there’s us. We don’t completely waste the day but our philosophy is, ‘you’re not on holiday if you don’t have a lie in’. For us, 9am is an acceptable time to set the alarm. Sure, with Mrs T in tow this has  been curtailed somewhat and as she gets older I can imagine it will only get worse (she’s currently 5 months old). Still, we’re never usually at breakfast before 9am.

That is until yesterday when, bleary-eyed, we dragged ourselves out of the room for breakfast at 6.45am. One other solitary table was occupied by a middle aged couple, presumably up for their flight – why else? What made us get up at such an hour? Well, we were off to see one of the few ‘cultural’ sights in Duba i- the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

Completed in 2009 it stands at 828m high. The second highest skyscraper in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, comes nowhere near at 601m while London’s latest effort, The Shard, is a mere 309m.

Of the three of us, my husband Paul is the worst for getting up in a morning. So you can imagine his displeasure when I booked an 8.30am slot on the website two days before. Well, he should count himself lucky, there were tickets available as early as 4am, yes, 4AM!! If you ever go, don’t just turn up and buy tickets on the door, it will set you back a jaw dropping £70 per person rather than £19.

For the next two days Paul didn’t stop moaning about the impending early start. I calmly listened to his complaints: “I’m on holiday. Why do we have to get up so early? What a ridiculous time to get up. Can’t you get anything later?”. I just gritted my teeth, knowing from experience it is best not to bite, so I let his comments wash over me like the tide rolling onto the shore.

It eased, for a bit. Then we discovered we’d booked the same day as the Dubai marathon which happened to start and finish outside the Burj. Brilliant. Knowing London roads grind to a standstill on marathon day, Paul was determined to cancel: “What a joke. They should have told us. It should have been put on the website in big capital letters- THE MARATHON IS ON. I bet we won’t get refund. Forty bloody quid down the drain”.

It wasn’t until we formulated a plan that he was happy. We decided to get a taxi to the nearest subway train stop (which had an element of excitement as we’d never been on it before – although I don’t think much of the city’s population have either). It would take us to a stop by the mall attached to the Burj. Perfect. We were told the first one left at 7am.

Of course, when we awoke on the morning not only was it foggy, thereby potentially rendering our trip completely pointless, but we were also told by the taxi driver that the subway doesn’t start running until 1pm as it is Friday – the holy day. Helpful. After a long discussion, my husband getting a tiny bit frustrated, the driver took us around the road closures and it was fine – got there at 7.30am feeling like proper tourist keenos!

Now the experience is called ‘At the top of the Burj Khalifa’. Do not be fooled! Do not think, as my husband did, that you get you go right to the top, above the level of the nearby airport’s flight path and into the tiny spire thing resting in the stratosphere. No. You are allowed a ‘mere’ 452 metres up. Pretty high, admittedly, but it is not even the highest observation deck in the world – that accolade goes to the second tallest building, the Shanghai World Financial Centre which sits at 474m.

Level 124 it was to be then, in the ‘fastest elevator in the world’. It took a mere 30 seconds to get there, faster than most department store lifts with only three floors. Due to its speed, it does make you feel a bit dizzy and causes a few ear popping issues. Thankfully, Mrs T was asleep so no repeat of our flight out here – phew. One middle aged man wasn’t so lucky, he staggered out of the lift like a teenage lad on his first drinking bender, vomit forming at his mouth.

Once at the top the views were stunning, we were above the fog looking down at the clouds, swirling around the other skyscrapers like white candy floss around a stick. All our earlier efforts were rewarded as we gazed down at the city just as the fog started to clear and the sun beat down on the masses of shining buildings adorning the overdeveloped city. Despite not being at the top, the views across the Emirate were still impressive with people going about their business below resembling ants.

The experience gives a 360 degree tour, half inside, half outside. It was busy. Lots of Asians armed with fancy cameras jostling to get pictures. Many hadn’t twigged that if you went inside you got a better view with room to actually move you arms to take a picture. There were also several telescopes where you could see a live view, one on a cloudy day and one at night.

What surprises me about the whole experience is they didn’t give it the ‘big tour’ – especially for the price. Unlike our visit to the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpa a few years back, there was no guide telling us about how it was built and its history and generally bigging it up. A few information boards were displayed at the bottom but by then Mrs T had just about reached her tolerance level. We also turned down a picture of us, taken on the way in of us standing by a green screen showing the view from the Burj (not us actually at the top) which they tried to flog us for £50.

It did feel like we were part of a conveyor belt of people, stuffed into the elevator and up onto the viewing deck. But, it was an experience worth getting up for and once at the top you could spend as much time as you liked (or could tolerate alongside the other tourists).

After descending back down 124 floors we had a mooch around downtown Dubai. The ‘Dubai Mall‘ is amazing. It has pretty much every high street and designer shop you desire and designer kids stores I didn’t even know existed: Ralph Lauren, Diesel, Gucci, Dior etc. Mrs T though went home empty handed.

We then joined a handful of other Brits cheering participants on in the marathon as they neared the last few miles. It was barely 10am and we had got ready, had breakfast, been up the tallest building in the world and watched some of the marathon. “Wow!” We marvelled. All this stuff you can do if you get up earlier. Even Paul was claiming we should no longer waste our days and vowed to get up at 8am forever more.

Despite our enthusiasm, no doubt brought on by overexhaustion, the next day normal activity was resumed and we schlep down to brekkie at 9.30. Well, we are on holiday!

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