Advertisement
Published: June 27th 2011
The last 3 days have been full of action and adventure – so here’s the update..
After 2 days in Abu Dhabi, I joined a long line of men to board the bus to get to Dubai. I am coming to appreciate the local culture here as I soon discovered there was a ‘women only’ line and section on the bus - so not so much if a wait after all!
With just over 2 days in Dubai, some careful planning was required to ensure I could squeeze in as much action as possible! I kicked it off with a visit to the Mall of Emirates - a 10min walk from my hotel and got as far as 2 of the 3 levels before I called it quits at 10.30pm.
The next day I splashed out at Aquaventure waterpark where I spotted some Aussie army boys (returning from Afganastan) to hang out with for the day. We started with the Leap of Faith ride and worked our way down the tower of rides and through the aquarium tank (see photo).
Later that day, I took the train to see the tallest tower in the world, Burj Khalifa
and the biggest mall of them all – Dubai Mall. The dancing fountains put on a spectacular show see (video on facebook) and the closing time of midnight meant I could shop til I dropped – but I didn’t buy anything because I cant afford to carry any more luggage around for the next 3 months!
Then came Sunday and a visit to the place that sparked my curiosity of Dubai. The only way into this 7 star hotel is via a reservation (to spend a night there seemed a bit rich) or a restaurant booking. I opted for the later and took this once in a lifetime opportunity (although would love to do it again!) to treat myself to breakfast. The hotel tour operator was kind enough to show me around and be my photographer, and later showed me the nearby souk (markets).
Whats a visit to Dubai without a desert adventure!? So on my last night I went on a desert safari which was UNREAL! I thought Stockton beach sand dunes were good, well there were a few moments where I came face to face with the sandy floor and didnt think we would make it out
Shark Attack
Aquaventure ride where you pass through an aquarium - very cool!smoothly! After some dune surfing, quad bike, camel ride, cultural show and authentic meal, there was just one more thing more to do to remind me of thegreat night I had - and that was to get a henna tattoo!! haha so its sticking with me for the next 2 weeks to remind me of the hot desert sun when I'm freezing in Irelands liquid summer sunshine!
That night I got a big 4 hours sleep before I had to be up at 4am to bus it back to Abu Dhabi airport and fly to Dublin. I arrived Dublin late yesterday afternoon and despite the lack of sleep, appreciated the sunshine until 10pm. Today I started my 5 day Ireland tour with Shamrocker Adventures, stay tuned for what Irish fun I get up to!
So in summary: I loved Dubai!! If anyone wants to go, I'll be up for another trip anytime!! 😊
*Feel free to write any comments (I choose if they become public) and if you want to receive my blogs via email, just select 'subscribe' on this page.
Hope the winter chill isnt too bad back home!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.033s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0125s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
Your adventures are a serious inspiration! I hope to be able to do what your doing one day but until then I enjoy vicariously through your blogs!