#2 Dubai (cont.) & Abu Dhabi

We're checking out of our Dubai apartment today but we have time to check out one other attraction. I wanted to go to at least one waterpark in U.A.E but they turn out to be quite pricey, but we still decide to pay the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm a visit. What sells it for me is that to get there you take a monorail. We get the tram from our hotel to where the monorail departs and we hop on. Departing the mainland you get cools views of the sandy beaches as you head onto the gigantic man-made island-thing. We pass a lot of nice looking houses and construction sites before arriving at the Aquaadventure stop. We can see the waterpark from the monorail and I shed an inward tear of things not to be. We then check out the Atlantis resort. There are many restaurants here, and an aquarium. We get some ice cream and decide to head back. I thought there might be more to explore on the palm but I don't think there is.

"Mono means one, and rail means rail"

Future neighbourhood?

The awesome looking waterpark we didn't go to

The Atlantis hotel. Fancy.

Complete with hiking rucksacks, we take the metro to the bus station and wait in the sun for the bus to Abu Dhabi. On the bus, I manage to get some sleep - the journey takes around 1.5 hours. When we arrive, we find a taxi and head to our hotel. It's another nice one  and we start to feel a bit under dressed. When we get to the room, Heidi conks out in the bed as the heat and travelling seems to have taken it our of her. We order some room service then I head out on my own to see some of the city.

In Dubai, one thing that became clear quite quickly was that walking places is generally out. This is not just because of the intense heat but because of the lack of pedestrian crossings and even pavements. I read somewhere that it's not uncommon for people to get a taxi to get to the other side of the road. Abu Dhabi is quite different. I manage to find the coast and walk down a concrete promenade (just before the corniche) before turning and heading into town. Like Dubai, Abu Dhabi is a metropolis but I felt like it was a less intimating one. I play with the idea of going to a bar but decide against it based on my sweaty appearance. I head back to the hotel after 1.5 hours of walking. Desert travellers of old used the stars in order to find their way - I luckily spotted a Porsche showroom I had passed on my way in. Times have changed.

Stick that on a box canvas

This the entrance to a park

The next day we head out to the Emirates Palace, one of the big attractions of Abu Dhabi. It's a 7 star hotel with every amenity you could want from a hotel. When we get there, though, we find that I'm not dressed appropriately to go in. We walk down towards the beach but mot of it seems to be owned by private resorts. After this false start, we resolve to head back to the hotel so I can change. On our way out we head to a Lebonese restaurant and I have Jordinan Mansac. This is lamb with a sauce I can't really describe and a huge plate of rice. It...wasn't to my tastes.

We then head to the Emirates palace (all these journeys are via taxi because it seems to be the only way to get around). It's ridiculously opulent as we expected and full of very nice halls and rooms. We then go to the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque. This is the biggest mosque outside of Saudi Arabia. It was an idea of U.A.E's late president Sheik Zayed to have a mosque built with influences and materials from all over the world. It's very impressive. We plan our visit to get a free tour, led by an informative and friendly Muslim lady. They give out headsets and she has a mic, which is great because it's annoying when you can't really hear the tour guide. Here are three facts I remember:

1) Sheik Zayed is buried here and is so beloved, he has the Qu'ran recited to his grave by people 24 hours a day, in 1 hour shifts.

2) The biggest chandelier weighs 12 tonnes.

3) The carpet is the world's biggest one piece carpet.

Again, this fits in with what U.A.E seems to be all about. We take some nice pictures of the sun setting then head back to the hotel. It probably seems like we didn't do all that much in Abu Dhabi and, well, that's because we didn't. This was partially due to poor planning but also due to the heat getting to us quite badly.

This is what happens when I'm not allowed to pose

12 tonnes of chandelier.

Next stop, Colombo!

#1 Dubai

Money saved, jobs quit and bags packed. It's time to start the adventure.

We touch down in Dubai after two stressless flights and are met with the incredible dry heat we were warned about. We decide to get a taxi to our hotel, which we later learn is a mistake as the metro goes direct from the airport. But hey ho. It's early in the morning so we can't check into the hotel so we check out the surrounding area. We walk a little down the marina boardwalk and go into the marina mall, but most things are shut. We later find out that it's generally late mornings, late nights here.

After wondering around in the morning heat for a while, we're able to check into the hotel. The hotel is pretty nice, and the room is essentially an apartment, complete with washing machine and microwave. We didn't get much sleep on our overnight flight so we decide a quick power nap is in order. When we wake up, we make a plan to visit Old Dubai. We take the metro to Al Ras, which is a good starting point for the souqs (markets). We walk through the gold market and see some very OTT jewellery and garments. I worry about Heidi getting ideas, but luckily she only seems interested as an observer and not as consumer.

We walk through the various souqs, which concludes with the spice market. I really like this idea, I think Sainsbury's should up their game. We then take an old wooden boat (abra) across the creek. Just before we depart, a small cat hops aboard before being thrown off by the driver. "No ticket" I say to Heidi, but I don't think she gets my awesome Indiana Jones reference.

As we cross the creek we hear the call to prayer echoing through the streets. We haven't really explored new Dubai yet, but this feels a world away from the multitude of skyscrapers we passed on the taxi journey in. On the other side of the creek, we head towards a restaurant which sells Camel Burger. When we get there I find you can also order Camel kebab and Camel Wellington (!) but my hearts set on the burger. The burger is good but actually not too distinctive from a beef burger. We call it a night and head back to the hotel.

Poor Humphrey

The next morning Heidi is feeling a bit crap (go to wordpress.travelwithendo.com for more on Heidi's experience) so I'm to check out one of Dubai's biggest tourist attractions by myself. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world and I'm going up it. Not all the way, mind, I'm not mad.

I take the metro to the Dubai Mall. To get to the entrance of the BK you have o go through  bit of the mall. People had told me how big the mall was and how we should go there, but having no interest in shopping I didn't think we'd be there long. However, quickly after entering the first time it becomes clear we will be spending more time there. It's quite difficult to really communicate the size of the mall, except perhaps by saying it has it's own taxi service. 

I head to the Burj entrance, only to find out there you can only buy tickets to the very top for 500 AED (100 pounds!). I remember seeing a tourism bureau on my way in so I head back there. On my way out I see a big Sony shop and I pop in wondering if they have a Playstation VR booth which of course they do. I have a quick go at a shooting game which is pretty cool, then head to the bureau where I pick up a ticket for a much more reasonable 160 AED which takes me to the 124th and 125th floor. I then go back to the Burj entrance, feeling like I have just walked the height of the tower,  and begin my ascent.

The ascent takes roughly a minute, due to lifts that travel a 10 metres a second. You don't feel anything other than that weird popping in your ears. The views from the 124th floor are incredible. It's a very odd feeling looking down at huge skyscrapers, I can't move too close the the glass without looking out towards the distance. I attempt to take a selfie with my camera and a gent offers to take one of me for which I am grateful. Looking back, however, I think I prefer my selfie. I get a little bit freaked out at this height and it was probably noticeable by my wall-hugging, so I don't spend much time before I head back down.

You be the judge

I pick Heidi up from the hotel and we head back to the mall. It's now lunch time so we go to one of the food courts, the fast food one. They have most big brands we've heard of plus a load we haven't. Heidi goes for a curry and I go to a Middle-Eastern chain I forget the name off, and have a spicy sujuk wrap. Sujuk, I learn, is a type of spicy beef sausage. With garlic mayo, it kind of tastes like a kebab so I'm happy. 

We walk on and find SEGA republic. This is a theme park and games arcade centred mostly around Sonic the Hedgehog. I expect to have a bit of a childish blast here, but the choice of arcade games is limited and not many of the rides take my fancy. I go on one ride which uses the Oculus Rift headset whilst the chair you're sat on moves. The simulation was that o a roller coaster, and when it heads down I was really gripping the handles on the seat. However, the quick demo never does anything that interesting, it would have been cool if the track suddenly disappeared during a vertical drop or something. But what do I know.

We then start exploring the mall proper. As stated before, I have little interest in shopping on this trip, or even in general, but even I can't help but be impressed by what's on offer here. There is just about every fashion brand you can think of, plus a separate kids shop for each, We wonder round and hardly go into any shops. The mall also has it's own 'souq' which is dressed up to look like old Arabia. In the middle is a reconstructed dinosaur, made mostly with actual fossils found only a few years ago. It fits the 'because why the hell not?" ethos of the mall.

We were also told we needed to go to the Aquarium and underwater zoo, which is right in the centre of the mall.  You can see he aquarium for free but once you pay you get to walk down a tunnel which goes through it which is a far better experience. There are small sharks in there that are pretty gruesome looking - I get "Hungry Eyes' stuck in my head.

Dur-nuh

Guy with cool job

We then have a small tour and talk about how the shark conservation, and this is followed by the underwater zoo. I'm always amazed by the variety of species the oceans can produce, and that variety is on show here. They even have a couple (literally Mr and Mrs) of King Crocodiles. There's a platform above them which has clear plastic windows, so you can stand directly above them and look down. I don't do this for too long because it's cruel to tease animals with fresh meat.

Found 'im

I have no idea what this is but it's awesome

Teasing King Croc

We finish our mall experience at the supermarket which is, of course, a Waitose.Here we get a few things to eat back at the hotel. In total we spend around 6 hours at the mall.