Blogs from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 5

Friday 15 January: at sea. Basically nothing to report except eating and watching the world go by. We departed Port Qaboos Muscat on the Thursday evening and sailed, very slowly through the night north towards the Strait of Homuz before entering the Arabian Gulf and sailing on to Abu Dhabi. The first land we saw before Abu Dhabi was when we passed between some islands just off the tip of the Musandam Peninsula: and even then it was so hazy as to make it difficult to figure out where we were. However, when we turned parallel with the Oman coast the coastline was sufficiently clear for me to recognise the cliffs near Bukha where I had driven to from Khasab three days previously. Saturday 16th January. We docked at Port Zayed in Abu Dhabi around 7.30am ... read more

This log is posted out of chronological order. The dilemma was, Dubai or not Dubai, it was only an hour and a half away and taxis here are cheap, is it worth going or not? The trouble was someone had told me that it was the place to go for a little shopping - added to which a fellow traveller had recommended a place to us. My mother's gene kicked in and I was hooked but I have been left feeling guilty about wasting the time on a little retail rather than a Dubai experience. Oh well perhaps another time and we did at least see Dubai from the taxi! Determined not to miss the Grand Mosque experience in Abu Dhabi, we stopped off on the way home and then remember that my naked shoulders and ... read more

Prosecco please I replied when asked if I would like a drink. Sorry Madam we only have champagne! This is so bloody posh, I feel like a gatecrasher at a strangers party. I wonder if everyone around me travels like this all of the time? I bet they know how to get the headphones working. As it happens, even in business class you sometimes get duff headphones but they are soon replaced. If we hadn't given ourselves away as first timers already we soon did as Martin tried out every position on the seat, forwards, backwards, tilted slightly, completely and then proceeded to press the privacy button to move a screen between us up and down - seriously the kids would have played less! Eventually he settles down and we both enjoy a film and dinner ... read more

Geo: 24.4764, 54.3705En Abu Dhabi tomamos el tour de la mezquita, de hecho la Gran Mezquita Sheik Zayed, la sexta más grande del mundo. En esta mezquita tiene un puesto de seguridad con rayos x y todo, con entrada separada para hombres y mujeres. Cuando dicen Gran Mezquita no se andan con cuentos tiene una capacidad para 40000 personas, aunque 30000 van en el patio exterior. Luego recorrimos la zona nice de Al Bateen, y visitamos la Heritage Village, domde hicimos algunas compras en el souq. Al regresar morimos tras la comida.... read more

When we were booking this trip, we had no idea what there was to do in Abu Dhabi. We were only going there to see Theresa´s sister. Once we had booked the flights and started looking into what to do, we realised that we did not have enough time here. Consequently, we tried to cover the more popular places during this trip with the knowledge that we will probably be making a return visit within the next couple of years and can spend more time here then. Most of our time during this visit was in the 4 and 5 star hotels around the city. We did not get a chance to see the older parts or any of the waterfront. We are very much looking forward to our next visit which will be longer giving ... read more