Dubai Adventure, From Sky To Sand To Snow

Even though the global economic crunch is starting to make itself felt in the super-wealthy Arab emirate on the Persian Gulf, Dubai is getting bigger, as construction of huge islands there goes on.

Seen from the air, manmade land masses resulting from the building boom are taking the shape of a mammoth palm tree, as Early Show viewers saw vividly Friday.

Futuristic, mega-skyscrapers already up and going up are also sources of amazement.

Co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez provided looks at many facets of Dubai -- including an aerial tour -- as the show continued its series, "Destination Unknown." Our on-air personalities show up for work each day with their bags packed, ready to be sent to they-know-not-where as they depart. Julie Chen went to Paris and Russ Mitchell to Athens.

Maggie started her journey Thursday.

"This once-sleepy desert town is now known for its opulent, constantly-topping-itself architecture," Rodriguez observed on the show, From Dubai, Friday. "It's known for golf, beaches, everything under the sun." Even an indoor ski slope in a giant mall. And oh -- that shopping!

"It's a desert here, and it feels like one," Rodriguez continued. " ... It is 88 degrees, but just 17 floors below me ... it is 25 degrees" at the ski slope.

Rodriguez showed views from a helicopter of the "palm tree" below and its sister community that, when finished, will consist of more than 300 islands two-and-a-half miles out in the Gulf, forming the shape of all the world's continents. "Dozens of massive dredgers are scraping hundreds of millions of tons of silt, sand, coral, rock and sea grass," she said, as Early Show cameras recorded the machines at work. "The islands are 50 feet deep and rise 12 feet above sea level. Thirty-four million tons of boulders are being packed into the islands' edges to stop erosion and act as a reef. When finished, the palm and the world will increase Dubai's beachfront from 20 miles to 400 miles. On the islands, it'll be shops and more shops.

Source - The Early Show

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