Dubai Emirate hotels collection

Built of coral stone and gypsum, the houses of Al Fahidi rise into wind towers, open on all four sides to draw the breeze down into the rooms. Wooden abras cross the Creek between Bur Dubai and Deira. Beyond the glass towers, the desert begins quickly, and oryx graze beneath the ghaf trees. On the Deira wharves, dhows are still loaded by hand with cargo for Iran and the Somali coast, as they were before oil.