{"id":1456,"date":"2015-12-18T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-12-18T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.my\/stories\/?p=1456"},"modified":"2022-07-20T21:35:16","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T21:35:16","slug":"the-rise-of-the-burj-khalifa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com.my\/stories\/feature\/the-rise-of-the-burj-khalifa\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Diaries: Witnessing the Rise of the Burj Khalifa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Expedia Explorer Becky Wicks shares her experience growing up as the Burj Khalifa was constructed and took over the Dubai skyline. Read the pages of her Dubai travel diary:<\/em><\/p>\n

\"dubai-divider\"<\/p>\n

How I grew alongside the world\u2019s tallest building<\/h2>\n

When I first found out about Dubai\u2019s impressive plans to construct the world\u2019s tallest building, nothing could have surprised me, really. I\u2019d been living in the hot and dusty desert city for a month by then and my days were a series of walking dreams, whereby every five minutes another five-star bar or restaurant launched to a fanfare of fuss and fireworks, or a glitzy hotel rose from a pile of rubble like a phoenix from the flames.<\/p>\n

\"BurjCredit: CC 2.0 \/\u00a0\u00a0Adam<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Dubai was a city of dreams. Nothing was a mission impossible<\/strong>\u2026<\/strong> until the crash of course.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Back then (2007), I was living in a place I lovingly called \u2018The Iransion\u2019 \u2013 a large mansion-type villa owned by an inventor from Iran. His latest invention was sitting in the driveway, blocking the view of the palm trees and swimming pool. He called it the \u2018Fleethorse\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will take it to the USA!\u201d<\/em> he enthused, stroking it proudly once he\u2019d dragged me outside into the heat to see it. He explained how this contraption \u2013 essentially a conveyor belt in a glass box on wheels \u2013 was built to exercise a horse while acting as a moving marketing tool for Dubai\u2019s businesses. \u201cYou put the posters on ze side\u201d,<\/em> he said, \u201cand zen gallop down ze road!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about the air-conditioning?\u201d<\/em> I asked, wiping a hand across my sweaty brow. \u201cWon\u2019t a horse die in there? It\u2019s so hot!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The inventor\u2019s face fell, like he\u2019d forgotten it was a hundred degrees in the shade and he\u2019d probably have animal welfare on his back if he ever put a horse in a greenhouse, on a freeway. He continued to talk about his plans for world domination, but my attention had drifted over his head to what looked like a pile of scaffolding in the hazy distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/em> I asked. The inventor frowned again, clearly annoyed that something else in Dubai was coming together more successfully.<\/p>\n

\"TheCredit: Becky Wicks<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/strong>Ze tallest building in ze world,<\/strong>\u201d<\/strong> he said with a sigh.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It didn\u2019t look very tall, but sure enough, a few days later a press release landed on my desk at the magazine where I worked.<\/p>\n

What I read was impressive: \u2018The Burj Dubai [it was called this before it was changed to Burj Khalifa] will be the world\u2019s tallest building and must-see landmark of Dubai\u2019s urban landscape. It will carry people 124 floors to the world\u2019s highest viewing platform, and in an array of restaurants they will enjoy some of the world\u2019s finest cuisine by the world\u2019s greatest chefs\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n

OK, it wasn\u2019t exactly<\/em> in those words but I do remember thinking \u2018Wow, I really am in the world<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s greatest place <\/em>\u2013<\/em> so why am I still the world<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s poorest person, living in the world<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s weirdest house with the world<\/em>\u2019<\/em>s kookiest Iranian man?<\/em>\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

So many questions.<\/p>\n

\"BurjKhalifaDeckGettyImages-157558636\"<\/p>\n

Burj Khalifa, floor by floor<\/h3>\n

Over the next year or so I watched the Burj Khalifa being built from my window. If I fluffed up my pillow just right, I could see it growing floor by floor from my bed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was constantly casting shadows over the inventor as he huffed and puffed and tried and failed to get his Fleethorse off the ground. As he sweated and cursed and fixed what broke, the Burj climbed its way into the sky, till it was piercing the clouds with the world\u2019s spikiest roof and Tom Cruise was talking about scaling the outside for a new Mission Impossible movie!<\/p>\n

Being one of those \u2018media people\u2019 in Dubai, who over time had miraculously started dating the man of her dreams, landed two great jobs in quick succession, moved out of the Iransion and finally started paying off her debts, I was lucky enough to be in one of the first groups invited to the observation deck, once the building was complete. As the elevator whisked me up the 124 floors I\u2019d watched expanding like my waistline, I felt a bit emotional, like I\u2019d somehow grown alongside it in every possible way.<\/p>\n

So had the inventor. I bumped into him one day. His Fleethorse had finally come together. He had a horse test it out and, amazingly, it didn\u2019t die. Not only that, it had caught the attention of a sponsor in the USA. \u201cI will go make it big in ze greatest place!\u201d<\/em> he grinned as the sun glinted off his shades. \u201cZe<\/em> other greatest place, I mean.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"BurjKhalifaDay_GettyImages-183371461\"<\/p>\n

Looking down from the world\u2019s highest man-made heights, knowing that on the floors below me sat an\u00a0incredible hotel<\/a>, luxurious million dollar apartments, offices and more gourmet cuisine than one could ever eat in a lifetime, it was hard to see anything but the tops of smaller buildings. They were all shining through the cotton-ball fluff like a fairytale kingdom in the clouds.<\/p>\n

But I was sure somewhere down there from a driveway not far away, the inventor was looking up at me and smiling. After years of sweating it out, he was living his dream, just as I was. He never stopped believing.<\/p>\n

The Burj Khalifa and Dubai, and its overpowering, self-awarded greatness taught us both something during that time. Sometimes, on the way to the top, we all have to stand in the shadows. But keep on moving, turn your face to the sun and eventually those shadows will fall behind you.<\/p>\n

Head\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0to visit or book a stay near the Burj Khalifa.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo credits: Getty Images<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Expedia Explorer Becky Wicks shares her experience growing up as the Burj Khalifa was constructed and took over the Dubai skyline. Read the pages of her Dubai travel diary: How I grew alongside the world\u2019s tallest building When I first found out about Dubai\u2019s impressive plans to construct the world\u2019s tallest building, nothing could have… Continue reading Travel Diaries: Witnessing the Rise of the Burj Khalifa<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,3,4,34,13],"tags":[373,131,374,36],"authors":[],"class_list":["post-1456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa-and-middle-east","category-feature","category-hotels","category-travel-diaries","category-world","tag-architecture","tag-dubai","tag-middle-east","tag-travel-diaries","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTravel Diaries: Rise of the Burj Khalifa | Travel Blog, Expedia<\/title>\n<meta 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