The dark side of Dubai - Johann Hari

I recently read an article saying that Dubai was one of the places you needed to visit before you die, or in this case before it crumbles back into the desert it was created from.  Don't get me wrong I have always been interested in Dubai and what they were doing over there but there comes a time in any economic development when you have to pull back and decide if you want to show off or try to do more with your investment dollar.

In a way Dubai is like a modern day ancient city created to attract travelers from around the world and give them a taste of how things could have been back in the old world.

A South African PR girl shows me around its most coveted rooms, explaining that this is "the greatest luxury offered in the world". We stroll past shops selling £24m diamond rings around a hotel themed on the lost and sunken continent of, yes, Atlantis. There are huge water tanks filled with sharks, which poke around mock-abandoned castles and dumped submarines. There are more than 1,500 rooms here, each with a sea view. The Neptune suite has three floors, and - I gasp as I see it - it looks out directly on to the vast shark tank. You lie on the bed, and the sharks stare in at you. In Dubai, you can sleep with the fishes, and survive. 

This is a long article and I urge you to read the last section, even if you don't read anything else.

Related Web URL: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/...