The powers-that-be in Dubai would indignantly deny even the merest hint of ‘rush job’ however. Some say that there had been so much pressure to open the tower on time that it was opened a little sooner than perhaps it should have been. The Observation Deck first opened in January 2010 but was then promptly shut down again after one of the elevators trapped 14 visitors for about an hour who were en route to the Observation Deck. I recently journeyed up to the Observation Deck of the Burj Khalifa, weeks after its opening for the second time. So if you stuck the Empire State building on top of the Empire State building, you’re not far off the Burj Khalifa. To give it some perspective, New York’s tallest building is currently the 102-story Empire State Building. The tower (‘burj’ is Arabic for ‘tower’) stretches more than 160 floors into the skies, not forgetting the ‘needle’ bit stuck on the top of which Tom got himself to the pointy end. Since it opened to tourists earlier this year, the Burj Khalifa’s Observation Deck, called ‘At the Top’, has been a big attraction for local residents and a must-do for visitors to the emirate. Word is he was shooting a scene for Mission Impossible IV, reprising his role as superspy Ethan Hunt. Tom basically sat on the pricky end of the needle, somewhere almost no one has gone before. Reaching 828 metres (2716 feet in old money) into the sky – we’re talking looking down on clouds here – the Burj Khalifa stands in the centre of Dubai like an upended hypodermic needle. It would take man’s bits of steel to perch up there.

Say what you will about him but he’s a brave little Hollywood megastar. However, then I saw a photo of him sitting at the very tippy- top of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, on the bit that’s so high it’s out of bounds for normal mortals, I had vertigo in sympathy. He was teetering in my estimation there for a while, what with all that sofa-jumping-Scientology-don’t-make-any-noise-when-you’re-giving-birth-or-take-medication-if-you’re-depressed stuff that’s come out about him. I have healthy, new respect for Tom Cruise.

Find out what it feels like to ride up the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa in Dubai. But one of our most fearless Holiday Goddess editors, Tamara Pitelen, took the elevator without him.

Tallest tower in dubai