{"id":16452,"date":"2023-04-30T06:54:01","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T10:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sunflowerit.ca\/travel\/auto-draft\/"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:00:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T19:00:44","slug":"some-closing-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sunflowerit.ca\/travel\/trips-asia\/other-trips\/south-east-asia-2023\/some-closing-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"Some closing notes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2023.04.24 – Abu Dhabi – Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n