Our originally unplanned visit of the United Arab Emirates proved to be a very enjoyable experience. With the conclusion of our current trip, we’ve already started to look back at the places we visited. We found over the years that the amazement of a trip often occurs months, if not yet years, after the given trip has come to an end. We trust the lasting memories of this trip will not be any different. Often we struggled when we were asked what was our favorite place we visited. It is far often easier for us to point out our least favorite stay rather than our best one. If we had any regrets about this trip, it was with our staggering use of plastic water bottles. As much as we appreciated our various accommodations supplying us with daily water bottles, the shear quantity of single-use water bottles we consumed was deeply disconcerting. We welcomed the few hotels that provided us with water in recyclable glass bottles or provided self-serve water fountains.
2023.04.24 – Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
After an early breakfast, we took a taxi to the Central bus station where we lined up for seats on a bus destined for Dubai. The 2.5h bus ride was uneventful. We arrived shortly after 11:30am at a suburb of Dubai. We took a metro to the Dubai Mall using the same Nol transit used for our bus ride. We explored the world’s largest shopping mall for a few hours until our 1:30pm scheduled visit of the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world. Our tour tickets included a visit of 124th and 125th floors while other keener folks could splurge on more expensive tickets to visit 148th floor. We were transported up to our floors on the world fastest elevators. Needless to say, Dubai was a city of superlatives. We saw so many extremely luxurious car dealerships along our metro ride. After completing our visit of the Burj Khalifa, we continued exploring the many attractions spread out across the Dubai Mall. We had some tasty noodle soups for dinner at a fast food in the Mall’s latest addition: a Chinatown. After watching a short water fountain show outside the mall, we took an overly crowded metro to another bus station in the town’s center. We again queued for seats on the 7:50pm bus. We appreciated resting on the bus after an exhausting day of walking in and around the Dubai Mall. Upon arriving at the Central bus station in Abu Dhabi, we took a taxi back to our hotel.
2023.04.25 – Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
Today marked our 20th wedding anniversary. The same anniversary we were originally meant to celebrate in the Maldives. Unfortunately, due to some itinerary changes we had to adapt to a change of venues. After a relaxing breakfast, we took a taxi to visit the luxurious 7 stars Emirates Palace hotel. Sadly we were refused to access at the main gate as our shorts did not comply with the hotel dress code. Jenny managed to negotiate with the security guards allowing us a few pictures from the outside of the hotel. We promised ourselves that we would not be booking any stays at this hotel in the future. We briefly visited the nearby Marina Mall before returning to our hotel neighborhood. We both got well deserved haircuts from different salons owned by Filipinos. Later in the afternoon, we took a taxi to visit the #1 site of interest in Abu Dhabi: the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. We had read beforehand that the dress code was strictly adhered to. Hence, I wore long pants for the 1st time since leaving Canada and Jenny prepared a scarf and sweater to ensure she was properly covered. Strangely the visitor’s entrance to the mosque starts at a small underground mall with various fast-food outlet such as McDonald’s. Our clothing was reviewed at several checkpoint before we emerged from the underground to view the magnificent mosque. We spent 45 mins following the visitors path and taking plenty of pictures along the way. Before leaving, we decided to join a free cultural tour of the mosque. The tour lasted another 45 mins and provided a wealth of information on both the mosque but also the cult of Islam. We returned briefly to our hotel before heading out for dinner at a nearby hot pot restaurant. We had a very fulfilling last day in the UAE making it a great wrap-up to our trip. At 11:00pm, we left our hotel for the airport.
2023.04.26 – Abu Dhabi – Ottawa (Canada)
As the early minutes of the day rolled in, we had already checked our bags to our final destination: Ottawa. To our surprise, the airport was bustling with people – even when we boarded our flight for Dublin at 3:00am. Our 8h flight with Etihad Airlines to Ireland was uneventful. After a short connection time, we embarked on a 7h flight with Air Canada to Toronto. Finally our longest airport wait time was to catch our final flight to Ottawa. Sharon, our good neighbor and friend kindly picked up us at the airport for our return home.
A few statistics
| Topic | Amount | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Number of trip days | 99 | |
| Number of countries visited | 8 | Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Maldives, United Arab Emirates |
| Number of places stayed at | 31 | |
| Domestic flights taken | 10 | |
| International flights taken | 7 | |
| Number of local transport taken | 98 | Grab, taxi, loca, tuk tuk, public transit, sõrngtãaou |
| Number of laundry service used | 1 | Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) |
| Number of hotel room unable to hang clothes line | 0 | |
| Lowest cost hotel | $27.26 | Asahi Villa Tam Coc |
| Highest cost hotel | $158.44 | ibis Singapore on Bencoolen |
| Number of ATM withdrawals | 3 | Melaka(Malaysia), Can Tho (Vietnam), Vientiane(Laos) |
| Number of local SIM purchased | 7 | Singapore (+2), Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Maldives, United Arab Emirates |
| Number of Visa credit card locked-up | 3 | |
| Number of luggage item lost | 1 | Mini – backpack (Sea to Summit Ultra Sil Day Pack – 20l) |
| Number of travel blog post | 16 |
