Dubai built itself from desert into a skyline in under three decades, and it shows no sign of slowing down. It's the easiest introduction to the Gulf for first-time visitors — safe, efficient, and endlessly photogenic — but scratch past the malls and record-breaking towers and you'll find old Dubai's souks, abra boats crossing the Creek, and a desert that starts the moment the city ends. It's a city built for spectacle, but the contrast with its older quarters is where it gets genuinely interesting.