The Burj Khalifa is the highest building in the world. To maximise the superlatives it contains the highest observation deck, apartment, swimming pool and library. Literally sky high and that is where we are headed. Arriving at the ticket office I ask for tickets to the highest observation deck for the two of us. As my credit card is immediately stung for 1000 dirhams. My mind tries to process the exchange rate. Something seems to be wrong! The brochures say it is $44 US to get to the top. Surely there is a decimal point out of place or I have my arithmetic wrong, but I keep coming up with a converted ticket price of an “eye watering” $170 US per person. It transpires that the $44 ticket only gets you to the 125th floor observation deck. The higher price gets us to the 148th floor. Here as with any purchase in Dubai sky high also applies to the price. Nonetheless the view is not to be missed and the Emiratis know that punters will pay through the nose for this experience.
Base of Burj KhalifaBurj KhalifaDubai skylineLongest driverless train from 148th floorDubai skylineLooking to the reclaimed islands that form a world mapDubai skylineDubai mall
The evening sees us travelling out to experience the desert sunset. Unsurprisingly it is highly commercialised with camel and falcon photo ops and henna painting. The dunes and the sunset are somewhat underwhelming.
Our first full day sees us atop an open bus braving the 30+ degree heat. Traversing the length and breadth of this massive city, the scale of construction is mind boggling. Literally hundreds of skyscrapers jostle with each other vying for my attention some modelled on classics such as Big Ben in London and the Chrysler building in New York. In between sit large construction sites attesting to the ongoing wealth of this oil rich country and its ongoing expansion.
In contrast to this ostentation is the area of Old Dubai straddling the Dubai Creek the historical heart of the original township. This started as a pearling village in the 19th century and the creek with its harbour was its lifeblood. Today it is the lowest rise area of this metropolis with some pretty, if largely reconstructed historical precincts. We alight from the bus and it is now sizzling high 30s temperature as we amble through the gold souk. Row upon row of dazzling jewelry shops under a covered arcade . Sadly in this expensive country no great bargains to be found and the whole effect is less dazzling than the gold markets in Asian cities such as Bangkok.
Gold soukEmiratiEmirati womanEmirati women
I find myself seduced by the neighbouring spice market but again more scenic are the markets in the subcontinent. Nonetheless the variety is amazing including quality saffron, worth more by weight than gold, and biblical classics such as Frankincense and Myrrh.
Myrrh
We escape the heat to seek respite in the cooled Dubai museum featuring some surprising 5000 year old, Bronze Age, antiquities excavated from the desert sands before crossing back across the river for an evening cruise on a dhow boat down the Dubai Creek. Remarkably these sturdy teak boats still ply the ocean transporting goods thousands of miles across open water to India and Sri Lanka exactly as they have for hundreds of years.
Gaudy, kitsch, tacky all very appropriate descriptions of the excesses of the people who conceived of this city in the desert. Strangely it is also compelling and one finds oneself drawn into the repeated mentions of the Guinness Book of records and how Dubai features so frequently in it. For instance the highest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa also features the highest observation deck, the highest accommodation and the highest library in the world.
Burj Khalifa, world’s highest building
Here is the first “7 star hotel” in the world, the Burj al Arab.
Burj Al Arab
The world’s biggest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall the worlds biggest indoor ski fields at the Mall of the Emirates and so it goes on and my eyes glaze over.
Dubai MallDubai MallDubai MallDubai Mall
There are multiple massive aquariums wrapped around restaurants and hotels and even a shopping centre with an Egyptian antiquities theme with a pyramid, massive Ramses statutes and a delicate little Philae temple.
Wafi, Egyptian themed mall Temple of Philae reconstruction at WafiWafi, Egyptian themed mall
Apart from the obvious tourist dollar incentive there seems to be an underlying theme from those in power here that they are, in common with the people who built the monuments of Egypt, all about constructing a city that is grandiose and will stand the test of time. They are building a monument to modern civilisation and to themselves in particular, all atop the searing heat and the desolate desert sands.
Remarkably they have established green vegetation on the arid sands and built massive world class sporting facilities so that they have the world’s richest horse race, lucrative tennis tournament and a state of the art F1 circuit in neighbouring Abu Dhabi. Massive skyscrapers dominate the landscape where formerly desert sands supported nomads and Bedouin tents. All of this has basically happened in the last 12 years, less than half a generation and all of it has been built on the obscene wealth generated by a single resource, oil. Black gold which has transformed this tiny peoples living a nomad lifestyle to one where almost obscene displays of wealth are de rigeur.
Our second trip to the jellyfish lake had us there early and have the place to ourselves. We were richly rewarded with more jellyfish than the previous time and a quiet peaceful experience without hordes of chattering Chinese tourists.
Away from the jellyfish lake the snorkeling was nothing short of spectacular and in my final post from Palau I have indulged myself with a few more underwater pictures.
Anyone who has holidayed on Pacific Islands will appreciate what a rarity a day with crystal clear blue skies is. Our last day here is just that. We have rented a car to explore the main island complex of Palau. We hit the smooth Chinese built bitumen and quickly the congestion of the main city of Koror yields to empty roads and tropical lush green vegetation. The roads are bereft of traffic and the maximum speed limit of 50km/hr is inappropriately and painfully slow.
The drive to the stone monoliths at Babeldoab takes the better part of an hour. We are at the very northern tip of the islands and the view down to the 2000 year old stone carvings with the reef and ocean in the background makes us go weak at the knees.
Lunch on the beach, dip in the cool clear waters beneath the Ngardmau waterfall and a wander around the nation’s Capitol buildings, the sleepy seat of government modelled on Washington DC’s Congress buildings completes our final day in this island paradise.
The latter half of 1944 saw the Japanese army being repelled by American forces in the Pacific. General Macarthur was back in the Philippines and the push was on through Iwo Jima in the east and Okinawa in the west. Palau sits between these lines of attack and the 10,000 Japanese soldiers and the valuable airstrip here was cut off from Japan. Opinion was divided wuth US Admiral Nimmitz in favour of attacking the Japanese in Palau and Admiral Halsey against. Nimmitz prevailed and the marines were sent in in here September 1944 for an anticipated 3 day skirmish to drive the Japanese out of Palau.
As I wander through the museum, past the memorial cairns and the rusted out WW11 military hardware in the jungle, I try to imagine the living hell this must have been then. The lush vegetation on fire an angry witness to the carnage below. I have the luxury of a pleasant afternoon of cycling around the island to see all of this and reenact the battles in my mind’s eye. Especially poignant as this all happened just over half a century ago and is relatively fresh in our minds as the planet’s last great war
The Japanese soldiers changed tactic for this battle. Elsewhere in the Pacific they met the US forces head on and fought mano y mano. In Peleliu the fact that the island is made of limestone and honeycombed with caves allowed the Japanese to bunker down, await the enemy from a secure position and to shoot at the attacking US forces.
US tanks
Ultimately 3 days of battle became 16 and the casualty rate of this under reported and relatively unknown US victory was a horrendous 2000 dead for the US and all 10000 Japanese perished. Ultimately the Japanese commander here refused to surrender and committed harakiri as any honourable Japanese warrior would.
As a post script to this battle, amazingly and against the odds a few Japanese soldiers survived in the tunnels. The last of them surrendered in 1947!
“Why would you want to come all the way to Palau when Australia has the best beaches in the world?” asks a German guy at our lunch stop. My reply was quick and succinct “Jellyfish lake”. “OK I now get it” says he.
12000 years ago the lake lost contact with the sea. It is a deep salt water lake where the jellyfish, without any natural predators have multiplied and lost the ability to sting. The result is an amazing almost sci fi experience of swimming with masses of alien looking gelatinous blobs.
Our day trip starts with a 30 minute speed boat trip to “Paradise point” snorkelling. I am just in the water fiddling nervously adjusting my mask when Anthony calls out “sharks” and ducks back into the water. My initial response was to treat it as a joke but getting my head in the water I saw three graceful reef sharks gliding by deep below me. They stayed for the whole time we were there, alas a bit too deep to get any decent photos.
Nonetheless the smaller tropical fish put on a better show.
From there the jellyfish lake did not disappoint,although for a weak swimmer like me the 500 metres swim to get to them as they have congregated on the other side of the lake was a bit daunting.
Lunch was on a beach on one of the many uninhabited rock islands and the view was spectacular.
After lunch an invigorating sea kayak in among the rock islands.
The finale saw us stop at a beach they call the milky way where we jump in and grab handfulls odf the sulphurous smelling limestone mud that substitutes for sand and apply it as if it were a some sort of spa treatment. A frivolous end to what is one of the most spectacular day trips that I have ever done.
Walking out to breakfast on the open air terrace, a broad spontaneous smile erupts on my face. It was all there, coconut palms, jungle, white sand dissolving into the turquoise lagoon, lush tree clad rock islands. A zephyr of a breeze cuts through the warm humidity. I’m back in the Pacific, specifically the island nation of Palau but this is a scene repeated all over Oceania.
Palau is halfway between PNG and the Phillipins just above Australia. For a short time a budget airline operated direct flights between here and Cairns, The flying time then was a cruisy 4 hours plus the add on to Cairns. The price was also about half of the modern fare. It went broke leaving us with the present situation where the trip over is a gruelling 22 hours long with a fare that is comparable to a Melbourne – Europe one.
I first heard about this island group from the GPs on the peninsula who scuba dive. They used to hold regular conferences all around the world and Palau was consistently their favourite destination. I do not dive and the attraction for me is the unique opportunity to swim and snorkel in the world heritage listed “jelly fish” lake.
The main priority of our first day here is to recover from the journey here that had us in at 4 am. A brief few hours sleep saw us walking into the capitol of Koror. This is a nation with a population of only 210,000 so the city is, as you would imagine, quite underwhelming. Once again we could be in any capitol anywherein the Pacific. The afternoon for me was a practise swim in our hotel’s lagoon puting my hitherto barely used underwater camera through its paces.
The attached photos are of the Sea Passion Hotel where we are staying.
In 1967 a movie depicted 3 astronauts slingshot through time and space landing in the future on what they thought was an alien world. Only at the end of the movie did Charlton Heston discover that he had actually landed on a postapocalyptic Earth. That movie was, of course, Planet of the Apes and that movie was filmed here in the remotest corner of Djibouti. Looking around here now I can absolutely see why this is an “alien planet” like landscape.
We are at Lac Abbe a massive lake that straddles the Djibouti Ethiopian border, half being in Ethiopia’s Danakil where we have spent the last 4 days. It takes the better part of a day to drive out here most of it on a rough 4WD track running through rocky desert. The wildlife is surprising we see gazelle, Egyptian duck, warthog as well as the ubiquitous camels.
Egyptian gooseCamel
This was an ancient lake bed until 16 thousand years ago when the earth level rose leaving a residual lake and a remarkable row of limestone rocky outcrops which stretches for around 5km. These are literally chimneys as they emit geothermal steam and all around their bases are geothermal springs, scaldingly hot but able to support patches of spinifex green meadows.
ChimneysLac Abbe
There is a well equipped campsite here with actual toilets and generator power, but the little huts we sleep in enhance the otherworldly appearance of this place. They are igloo shaped but made out of yellow straw matting. It resembles a set from a Star Wars movie.
Lac Abbe campsite
Dawn has us wandering around the chimneys looking for the best light and photo angles.
Dawn Lac Abbe chimneys
The tour finishes with the drive to Lac Assal which is a salt lake 155 metres below sea level which vies with Dallol in the Danakil as the lowest point on the planet. It is the finale for us and does not disappoint. The road plunges quickly to this low point and all around are high hills which intensify the contrast. The photography is spectacular and a fitting end to an adventure in this little known corner of Africa.
Lac Assal
Arriving back in Djibouti city it is Friday afternoon. In a Muslim state it is the day of rest and most of the heart of town is closed. Nonetheless we seem to run into more scammers and arseholes than anywhere outside of India in a short period of time. It all underlines the fact that we have extracted the best out of our last two weeks here and aids in the adjustment back to the Sorrento reality next week. It will be good to be back with you all my loyal readers. Until the next time, au revoir from Djibouti!
I reckon there would be a market for T shirts that merely had on the back “Where the f*** is Djibouti?”. This little country is only 200km wide and 400km long. It sits wedged between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia with the Red Sea to the east. It has a massive, busy deep water shipping port. Enhancing its strategic importance is the interminable civil war and social disintegration of Somalia to the south. The west’s interest in intervening in the Somali war nosedived after American reversals early on and now they content themselves with limiting the terrorist threat by bolstering the surrounding states’ security. Happy times for Djibouti!
The US maintain a permanent military base here, Camp Lemonniare. In addition there is ongoing commitment of troops to Djibouti from a strange array of countries including Germany, Italy, China, India and Japan. The local boast on arrival is that this is the safest country in Africa, conveniently ignoring the recent terrorist bombing by Al Shabbab.
The capitol, Djibouti city has an unusual vibe to it. It is a low rise sleepy African village with wide streets that, for Africa are pretty clean. It is cooler than anywhere else we have stayed with temps in the low 30s and a nice cooling sea breeze. There is one beach but the dirty grey sands lead to unappealing mud flats.
There is no bustle here, all is laid back and a wander through the tree lined European quarter in the heart of town reveals the inner charm of this place. This is probably the only place in Africa where photographing the (intrinsically uninteresting) parliament is allowed by contrast even just walking on the other side of the road from the president’s palace earns us an exhortation to move on by the police. One mosque we photograph without incident but the next one earns us comments from the locals.
Djibouti mosques
A lady at a spice stall asks us to take her photo and is delighted when we do so but we get the schizoid treatment from a random local guy who growls us out about taking pictures of a local woman.
The true highlight of this little place happens in the evening, namely dinner. One legacy, arguably the only good thing, that the French leave in their former colonies is a culture of food and wine and this place is no exception. Croissants are great and the baguettes crisp. Our seafood dinner was nothing short of being magnificent. Despite being an Islamic state, wine is readily available. It is French and tastes good. Sated and slightly titubant we meander back to the fortified compound that is our hotel and have the first night’s sleep in a bed for over a week!
japanese war tunnel 
