FLOWER OF THE DESERT :: Discovering Dazzling Dubai

The popularity of Dubai as a holiday destination skyrocketed relatively recently. In a way, it emulated the success story of Las Vegas, another jewel in the sand, similar in their spectacular transformation, but a world away (and not just in terms of geography). Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates, and definitely the most advanced and progressive. With its ultra modern skyline dominated by the gigantic Burj Khalifa - until recently the world's tallest structure - Dubai offers top-of-the-range accommodation facilities, extravagant attractions, shop-till-you-drop retail opportunities and more, as it gears up to host the 2020 World Expo. It also has a vast and wondrous dessert at its outskirts, some of which blows right down its trendy boulevards when the winds decide to change direction.

Like so many of Dubai's millions of visitors, I was there in transit on the last leg of a journey which had included longer stays in Australia and New Zealand, and a brief stop over in Malaysia.

More about this soon...