Five-and-a-half hours layover in Dubai gets you about two and a half hours of sightseeing at a canter on a low-traffic day (think Saturday). I probably could have squeezed another hour out of it, but one of my guiding principles in life (passed to me by my late grandfather) happens to be “better be an hour early than a minute late” and I ended up leaving too much of a buffer for my return to the airport. As a result, I spent more time inside taxis than outside, and the quality of resulting photography shows.
The upside was that I got a comparatively wide, if certainly expensive, tour of practically the entire city.
Here are a few passable shots of Dubai architecture.
Of the places that I planned to stop by for a close up, elegant Burj Al Arab served a dose of disappointment, as it turned out you are not allowed through its security check-point unless you are a guest. I had to be content with snapping a few shots from outside the gates.
The humongous Dubai Mall ended up as the longest stop on the tour, as it opens up colorful scenery around a lake.
Most importantly, the promenade around the lake provides an opportunity for excellent perspectives on the magnificent Burj Khalifa needle.
A couple of dozen of least bad pictures from my quick tour of Dubai are found in my Flickr photostream.