Month: June 2014

India Day 2 (11 Jun 11) – Sneak Peek into Delhi

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Getting Train Tickets for My India Trip

After a good night sleep at the hotel, I headed to the train station to arrange for my interstate travels in India given the short time I have here. I am mentally prepared for the heatwave that I will be experiencing in India, given this is the middle of summer. As I step out of the hotel, it did not feel very bad after all. I took a stroll towards the train station, which was not very far from the hotel I put up for the night. I entered this dark foyer with an “Unreserved Ticket” stated on it. As I entered here, long queues were forming at every counter that was attended. I did not feel like queuing up, so I approached a security guy and asked where can I get tickets for my train trip. He pointed me to the main station and head to the 2nd floor where it states international tourist. As per directions given, I went to the room that was pointed out. This room is full of tourists trying to sort out their train tickets. Getting the train tickets was rather uneventful, after queuing for about 30 mins (well there are seats where we move around like musical chair for people trying to get tickets. Got the tickets for my 3 trips settled for less than I would expect, one of which is first class (Well that is the only seat available). As I exited from the station, due to time constraints I took a motor rickshaw to the Red Fort.

On the streets of Delhi 
On the streets of Delhi 
On the streets of Delhi 
On the streets of Delhi 

The Majestic Red Fort

The ride to Red Fort exposed me to more foul smell!!! Mostly from the rubbish that the locals threw on the ground and of course the ammonia smell from the roadside toilets. As we were heading towards the Red Fort, the rickshaw driver has mentioned that the people just do not bother about the governmental policies to curb littering, to make things worst, the local authorities accepted bribes when to look the other way when they catch people breaking the law. Soon I found myself in front of the Red Fort. It looked majestic and lived up to its name as the Red Fort. The gates and the main walls surrounding the fort is red, due to the red sandstone used to build the fort. India practices dual pricing system where the locals pay a fraction of what the foreigners pay. At the time I entered the fort, there weren’t many people. Guess it is still rather early at this hour. Entering the fort is like checking into the airport, we have to go through metal detectors and subjected to a body search. I passed the main entrance and the first thing I saw was a covered bazaar selling mainly souvenir to tourists. In the olden days, this place mainly served the royalties. The bazaar wasn’t that long, took me about 2 minutes to walk across it into the another a building known as the Drum house. This was where the emperor enjoyed the drum as part of his entertainment. However, this Drum house has been converted into a military museum. Guess most tourists gave this a miss as I found out I am the only foreigner in this museum. Perhaps the inconspicuous entrance is part of a factor many give this a miss. The smallish museum displayed main weapons that were used in Shah Jahan’s time, but towards the end, there are exhibits of weapons used by the Brits.

The entrance of Red Fort
Me at the entrance of Red Fort
The entrance of Red Fort
Introduction of the Red Fort
The entrance of Red Fort
The entrance of Red Fort
The Bazaar after the main entrance of Red Fort  
Drum House converted Military Museum
A painting of a war scene in the museum 
Weapons used during the ancient times
Weapons used during the ancient times
Weapons used during the ancient times

Exiting from the Museum I headed towards the next building where the Diwan-i-Am stands, this pillared building is where the emperors received the general public and listened to their grievances. The centrepiece of this pillared open building was a white marble throne where the emperor used to sit. Passing the Diwan-i-Am opens up to the interior of the palace. At this point, I realised the Red Fort is the royalties’ residence. With areas where the emperor would have meetings with his officials and even a balcony where he would address his subjects, other than the sleep quarters. As I walked past the Diwan-i-Am, the next building – Rang Mahal was immediately insight. This building was also known as the Palace of Colours as it once was painted in bright colours and decorated with mosaics. Its ceiling was once laid with mirrors and gold, and this building functioned as the quarters of the emperor’s wives and mistresses. The building next to the Rang Mahal, known as the Mumtaz Mahal, where it once housed the princesses. It has since been converted into an archaeology museum. Tracking back towards the Rang Mahal, the building next to it was the Khas Mahal made out of white marble, which served as the emperor’s private palace. There was a balcony between the Khas Mahal and the building next to it – the Diwan-i-Khas (used as a robing room for the emperor), where the emperor used to address his subjects. This balcony overlooked a huge garden, where I can imagine the subjects used to gather to listen to their emperor.  The other buildings in the Red Fort are rather uneventful. There weren’t any signs that explained their purpose in the olden days. There were a smaller garden and a palace (Zaar Mahal) like building, built into what seemed to be a pool of some sort between 2 white coloured pavilions. I guess this was pretty much it for the Red Fort, so I made my way out of the fort. At the entrance of the fort, I was rather shocked to see a snaking long queue forming at the entrance of the fort, mostly locals and some tourists, waiting for their turn to gain entrance into the fort. I thought I was lucky to have come early, if not I would be amongst the snaking queue. Leaving the fort, I headed to my next destination, the Jama Masjid mosque, which boasted as the largest mosque in India.

The Drum House
Diwan-I-Arms
Interior of the Diwan-I-Arms
This is where the emperor address his subjects in the Diwan-I-Arms
Mumtaz Mahal
Inside the Rang Mahal
Rang Mahal
View of the Rang Mahal
The Bath House
Inside the Rang Mahal
Inside the Khas Mahal
The Balcony where the emperor used to address his subjects
Inside the Khas Mahal
Khas Mahal
Inside the Khas Mahal
The ceiling of Khas Mahal
The Rang Mahal was decorated with carvings of flowers
A building inside Red Fort
Zaar Mahal
The water palace
The entrance of Red Fort
The crowd started to build up at the entrance of Red Fort

Scaling the Minarets of Jama Masjid Mosque

As I was walking towards the mosque, which was not that far, there were touts along the way, people selling stuff, the rickshaw riders trying to grab my business and such. There was one that tried to sell his rickshaw service to me by saying that the tourist entrance to the mosque was a good 30 minutes walk! Well I did not buy into it and chose to walk, and right I was, the entrance was not that far, and tourists are allowed to enter the mosque at any entrance. The interesting part about this mosque is the entrance is free, however, I had to pay to bring my camera in, what a weird rule! Other than being the biggest mosque, one of the pulling factors for tourists is that one can climb up one of the minarets to marvel the surroundings. As I entered the mosque, a local who seemed to be working in the mosque grounds volunteered to bring me around without even my consent! I did not suspect much except that he would probably want a tip out of it at the end of the trip, so I allowed him to bring me around. At the end of the short 2-minute walk, he popped the question and asked for a tip. So I gave him 50 rupees and that fella asked for minimum 60 rupees! How can he extort visitors in a religious grounds???  That staff member left me after taking my tip and I was given the freedom to explore the mosque on my own.

My main purpose of visiting this mosque is to climb the minaret. Paid for the ticket for the minaret and off I went, getting to the base of the minaret. Now to get to the base of the minaret, I had to climb up to the second level of the mosque wall and a short walk on the wall to get to the minaret. At the base of the minaret, before entering it, there seemed to be someone guarding the entrance of the minaret. He forcefully assigned a boy who seemed to be his son to guide me up there. Well, I have to say the boy did a good job by ensuring that my climb is a smooth one. As the 122 step stairway was very narrow, good for only 1 person at a time. Along the way, people are descending from the tower so we have to shift one side to allow their passage. At the top of the minaret, the view was stunning! I can see the whole of old Delhi as well as new Delhi. Not to mention the breeze up here was welcoming amidst the hot weather. I stayed up there for a good 10 mins before descending. As I reached the base of the minaret, the father of the boy started to ask for a 100 rupee tip! At this point, I was rather pissed so I shaft 10 rupees to him and tell him I did not ask for the guide, and he volunteered his son as a guide, either he takes it or he leaves it. I think he saw how aggressive I was and did not insist on his 100 rupee tip! Well twice in a row I have been extorted for outrageous tips for services I did not ask for, it was frustrating!

One of the entrances at the Jama Masjid Mosque 
Inside the Jama Masjid Mosque
The stairways inside the minaret
Jama Masjid Mosque grounds
View of Delhi from the minaret 
View of the mosque grounds from the minaret
View of the mosque grounds from the minaret

Shopping Mall in New Delhi

Out of the mosque, I took an auto-rickshaw to Connaught Place to grab lunch before heading back to the hotel to pack up my stuff for my train ride in the afternoon bound for Jaipur. I asked to be stopped at the shopping mall, hoping the air conditioning can ease the heat in Delhi. I was prompted sent to the underground shopping mall, which was nothing other than shops after shops selling daily necessities to the locals. Was rather boring and I decided to leave the mall and check out for any fast food to settle my lunch (well all I had for the day was a sip of water before I left the hotel and nothing else). Exiting the mall, I saw a McDonald’s across the road and headed that way for lunch.

 

Train Ride to Jaipur

After lunch, I went back to the hotel and packed up leaving for the train station. As the train leaves from Old Delhi Station, which was a distance away from the hotel, the hotel staff was kind enough to hail an auto-rickshaw for me. This is where I learnt my 2nd lesson. The auto-rickshaw driver kept saying pay whatever I like, so I boarded his vehicle (partially due to time constraint), when we reached the station he asked for more! As I was about to miss my train, paid him whatever he asked for and left to catch my train! At the crowded station, finding the platform was not that tough. The tougher part was finding the carriage I was supposed to travel in and the berth! It took me 3 tries before I found where my berth was! About an hour through the ride, a teenage boy approached me asking me if he could sit, I asked if he has a ticket and he said he didn’t but just wanted a sit to rest. So I told him he could that the seat beside me. Throughout the train ride, there are vendors selling things like potato chips, tea, snacks. The teenager bought a packet of chips and asked me if I wanted some. Well, I didn’t wanna get my hands dirty by eating the chips, I rejected his kind offer. Later, the tea selling man came by and that boy asked if I would like to have some tea and he intended to buy me a cup (probably out of gratefulness), however seeing him probably having not much cash with him, I rejected his kind offer again. The rest of the journey was uneventful. The only thing is there is no announcement of the train stop, lucky for the locals I was travelling with, they reminded that the train pulled into the station that I was supposed to alight, and off I went.  Here I am in Jaipur after a 6-hour train ride. I must say the ride was rather comfortable. I checked into my hotel and rest for the night. I was rather exhausted partly by the heat and partly by the train ride, I hit the bed early at night.

India Day 1 (10 Jun 11) – Journey into India

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Journey to India

The decision to travel to India is rather ad hoc. I was rather hesitant to make this trip, as it is the middle of summer in India with a daily average temperature of 40°C. However I couldn’t resist the opportunity to travel, thus 2 months ago I made the plans to travel and did the necessary arrangements and now here I am travelling to India. Today is rather uneventful as I practically spent the whole day travelling to India. I took Thai airways to India, transiting Bangkok. The only highlight is the free massage in Bangkok Airport that I was so looking forward to. The lady who did the message is not only skilful, she also got rid of the shoulder ache I have since before my Iran trip. Kudos to her!!

Shopping around Singapore Changi Airport
My Seat for the next few hours
Reaching Thailand
Transiting Thailand Airport
Transiting Thailand Airport
Flying off to Delhi
On My way to Delhi

Arrival in New Delhi

After spending almost 10 hours of travelling (plus transit time), I finally reached the Delhi International airport. The first impression of this airport is it is very new, very modern and is comparable to the Singapore Changi Airport that most Singaporeans is so proud of. Immigration was swift and there wasn’t a lot of people as I had anticipated. Customs clearance only took about 10 mins. After collecting my luggage, the moment I step out of the airport, it doesn’t feel and look like India at all. There is not much crowd, which could be due to the time that I arrived. I headed happily towards the airport express metro that took me to New Delhi train station. The ride was rather fast and I was at New Delhi train station in less than 20 mins.

Waiting for the subway
Waiting for the subway
Subway to downtown Delhi
Me on the subway to Delhi

Exiting the train station, this is the time I felt I am really in India! The usual cab touts that the guide books mentioned sprung into action upon seeing that I was a potential target. They quickly rushed up to me trying to get business. As the guide books have mentioned, these touts that approached the foreigners often quote a higher price, so I told them I am at my destination and do not need auto rickshaw. I gotta give it to their determination, these touts do not seem to buy my excuse and kept following me till a distance where they stopped and approach other foreigners. Well, I was intending of getting train tickets to Jaipur the next day, so technically I am at my destination. There are Xray machines at the entrance of the train station. I asked the guard at the Xray machine if the ticketing counters are closed (it is 9.30 pm when I reached New Delhi station). The guard mentioned that they are closed for the day so I see no purpose in going into the station. I tried to walk towards the hotel that I will be putting up for the night. 

After some distance I saw some tourist police and approached them for directions, they mentioned that walking to my hotel is quite far and they helped me hailed an auto-rickshaw, negotiated the price for me and off I go towards the hotel. The journey to the hotel is indeed far, I was grateful to the tourist police for telling me walking is too far. The hotel was very inconspicuous, however, the diligent auto-rickshaw driver managed to find it. After settling in, I walked around nearby looking for dinner. After dinner, I returned to the hotel to rest for the night.

My nest for the night
Hotel entrance
The street around the hotel

[Accommodation Review] – Auris Boutique Hotel Apartments, Dubai (11 – 16 Mar 11)

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Location

The location of this hotel is a little far from Dubai Mall, however, it is conveniently located beside the Mall of Emirates, which is a short 5 minutes walk away from the hotel. There is a subway station (about 7 mins walk), linked to the Mall of Emirates near this hotel. With this subway, getting to Dubai Mall and around Dubai is a breeze. However, the local cabbies do not seem to know the location of this hotel if one were to mention Auris Boutique Hotel to them. Patrons of this hotel, however, can direct the cabby to Mall of Emirates and direct the cabby to the hotel from there. There aren’t many dining options in the hotel compound, however, being near to Mall of Emirates means one can always find food.

Mall of Emirates next to the hotel
Hotels at the back of the hotel

The Suite

Kitchen

The layout of the suite can be segregated into 4 main areas – The kitchen, the living room, the bedroom and the bathroom. Upon entering the room, I was welcomed by the kitchen, which is to the left of the door. This fully functional kitchen has a stove, a full-sized fridge and a bar counter. The washing machine is also located here. The full-size stove allows guests to cook their meal or get some microwave food and chuck into the microwave, which is also on the inventory list. The kitchen comes with a full set of utensils, ranging from cups and mugs to plates and cutlery, along with the pots and pans.

Full-sized kitchen in the room

Living Room

Right after the kitchen is the living room, which features a 2 seater couch and an armchair. There is a TV in front of the couch, which is hooked up to most of the international news channels and popular channels such as National Geographic and Discovery channels. There is a small dining table at the far end of the living room, large enough for 2 persons. The lighting in the living room gives it a warm and cozy feel and is a great place to hang out.

The cosy living room

Bedroom

The bedroom is rather small but large enough for 2 single beds to be placed inside. There are a makeup table and an armchair in the room. The bedroom also features a wardrobe, which is enough for 2 persons to unpack their luggage. It also comes with an electronic safe, hidden in the wardrobe.

Comfortable bedroom

Bathroom

The bathroom is relatively small in size. It felt as though the standard toilet bowl, sink and even a shower area, which is combined with the standard-sized bathtub are compacted into the small area. By the entrance of the door is where one can find the marble laid sink with sufficient space on the countertop to put toiletries onto. Next to the sink is where the toilet bowl is located. Furthest into the bathroom, after the toilet bowl, is the shower/bathtub.

Functional bathroom

The suite is well decked out with the essentials for a comfortable stay and the sleep quality on the bed is excellent. As Dubai is a hot city, the air conditioning in the room is efficient in cooling the room in a relatively short period. The only thing that one can pick on this room is the lack of view. The room we were assigned is facing another building under construction. The proximity between the 2 buildings allows me to look into the building and see what the workers are doing. Despite the proximity, the thick curtain does a great job is not only providing privacy, but it is also effective in blocking out the rays emitted from the hot Arabian sun.

Service

The service at the front desk varies with who you met on duty at any particular time. Most of the staff are helpful and friendly. They are not stingy in providing services from information on Dubai to hailing a cab. I have no problems with getting greetings every time I walk past the reception. Checking in was a nightmare, as we had to wait for 3 hours to be checked in due to high occupancy and the time needed to turn the room around. We only managed to check-in 1 hour after the stipulated check-in timing. The staffs at the reception were apologetic and gave constant updates on the status of our room. They even suggested for us to take a stroll at the Mall of Emirates to kill time.

This is the kind of service that should be emulated by a couple of the unfriendly staffs around, especially the Indian national staff in a blazer (who gave us the impression that he is the manager or supervisor). The night before our check out, we checked with staff to see if late check out is possible. The diligent and friendly staff did some checks and assured us that is possible and told us to just pop by at the time we agreed upon and do the checkout. However, I disgusted by the behaviour of the Indian national staff in a blazer. We returned to the hotel at around 3 pm local time to rest awhile before grabbing dinner at the nearby Mall of Emirates before our checking out. The said staff started to (literally) shout at us for overstaying past the check out time. I told him that we arranged for a late checkout and one of the staff offered us a half-day rate for checking out at 11 pm. The Indian guy rebutted that the half-day check out is at 7 pm. I told him to go check with the staff whom we arranged the late check out with. He then barked (literally) at one of the staff to go call the staff we spoke to, and ordered another staff to “charge the other half-day to his account”. I was taken aback, where is the service by the man who seemed to be in charge here? Instead of being happy that this staff is taking care of the customer, he started to bark and vent his frustration on both the other staffs on duty and worst at the guest!! What baffles me is his penalising his staff for providing good service. It is obvious to me that this person is not suitable to be in the service industry and should be SACKED!! He has no idea what basic customer service is.

Overall

The suite is great and has the standard facilities to ensure guests of a good rest in the hotel. The fully self contained room is comfortable and the sound proofing in the room is excellent. The hotel is near the Mall of Emirates, which means guests would have no problem finding food (as the hotel has limited dining options) or directions to the hotel. The service provided by the staffs are generally good, however, I was particularly disgusted by the supervisor. Overall the hotel gives guests a good value for money as hotel stays can be quite expensive in Dubai and this hotel is rather reasonable in terms of value.

Dubai Day 7 (17 Mar 11) – From Finest to the Tallest: High Tea at the Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa revisited

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High Tea at the Luxurious Burj Al Arab

We woke up rather early today as we planned to go skiing in Ski Dubai. Ski Dubai isn’t that far from where we stay. When we were about to get the tickets for the Ski Dubai, the lady at the counter informed us that we must be able to at least ski decently, if not she would not sell the tickets to us. Since neither of us can ski, we gave it a miss and went shopping around Mall of Emirates instead, since we have about 2 hrs to kill before our high tea at Burg Al Arab. Nothing eventful happened and we hopped onto the cab once the time comes.

Soon we found ourselves driving towards Burj Al Arab, once passed the tourist infested main security gate, the surrounding seem peaceful. As we alighted the cab, we saw a bunch of Mainland Chinese snapping pictures around the main entrance of the hotel. We did likewise and proceeded into the lobby. As we entered the lobby, the luxury of the hotel was immediately felt. Walking inside here gives one a feeling of VIP. The water fountain rhythm greeting visitors at the main gate was smoothing. However, this tranquillity was shattered by the hordes of visitors who either paid to visit this hotel or is part of their tour package.  Nonetheless, we headed up the escalator heading towards the lift that would take us directly to the Skybar for our high tea. While waiting for the lift, we saw the same bunch of Mainland Chinese chattering and commenting loudly (very typical of them) about their posture for their pictures and such. The lift had come and we soon found ourselves heading upwards towards the Skybar.

The Burj Al Arab
View of the nearby beach from Burj Al Arab
Inside Burj Al Arab
Inside Burj Al Arab
Inside Burj Al Arab
Inside Burj Al Arab
A crystal model of the hotel

The lift was facing the Arabian Gulf, riding inside simply gave me the feeling of propelling towards the sky. The same bunch of Mainland Chinese were in the same lift with us, they can’t contain their excitement about this hotel and I can hear “Wows” from their mouth, as if for the moment that is the only vocabulary that they can find to describe their feeling inside the lift. The journey upwards only took 50 sec and soon we were talking to the waiter about our reservation. The Chinese who came with us in the same lift were disappointed when they were refused entry into the Skybar as they did not have a high tea reservation. We were introduced to Glenn, who took care of our stomach while we were up there in the Skybar. Our seating was one of the best at the restaurant. From the seat, I can see iconic buildings of Dubai like Burj Khalifa afar, the Jumeira Beach Hotel and Wild Wadi. The view was not only stunning, but it also gave me a sense of carefree. Glenn came by pouring us champagne and filled our table with appetizers and the teas that we ordered. Glenn appeared about 10 mins later with our tower of finger food. We only managed to clear 2 levels of the 4 level tower container that was shaped to resemble the Burj Al Arab. The level of service here was amazing, felt very much like the business class of an aircraft when Glenn remembered my surname, and using my surname to address me every time we interacted. The service felt personalised.

View of the surrounding from the Skybar on top of Burj Al Arab
The Arabian Sea from the Skybar
View of the surrounding from the Skybar on top of Burj Al Arab
Appetiser
Champagne
High Tea is great here
Me in the Skybar
Tea Time
High Tea in the Skybox

We initially thought High tea probably will not fill our stomach too much, geez how wrong we were. We did not even manage to touch the scones that Glenn brought to us before we gave up and surrender to the food. We spent about 2 hours at the Skybar, enjoying the view and the food as well as the service and live music. Felt like the world was without worries. However, such a relaxed feeling was about to end when we had to head towards the Burg Khalifa as we had bought tickets for the 4 pm entrance. As we were at the main entrance and saw some buggies ferrying people in and out of the hotel. We curiously asked the driver if it is for everyone, the driver sternly told us that it is for hotel guests only. However, after 5 mins of waiting, he decided to give us a lift. Perhaps he was thinking no harm giving us a lift since he is heading the same way as well. The ride on the buggy facing the Hotel as we exited it was good. We managed to take some good shots of the hotel. As we exited from the hotel, it is not tough to see the envious faces of the people outside taking pictures. They probably thought we were staying inside the hotel.

View of the surrounding from the Skybar on top of Burj Al Arab
View of the Palm Islands from the Skybar
Light music in the Skybar
View of the surrounding from the Skybar on top of Burj Al Arab
The hotel entrance
Causeway driving out of Burj Al Arab
Burj Al Arab from the causeway
The Burj Al Arab

Burk Khalifa Revisited

We were about 1 hour later when we reached the Burj Khalifa entrance. The guy at the door merely asked: “why so late”. This question feels more like asking for the sake of asking, I replied: “We were held up at the hotel” (well in some ways we were held up soaking the ambience at the Burj Al Arab). He passed us 2 tickets and we find ourselves at the lift lobby waiting for the lift to ascend the tallest building in the world. Though this is my 2nd visit in my short stay in Dubai, I was still excited about visiting this skyscraper and watching the sunset. Today doesn’t seem as crowded as the first day I visited. We went around snapping our cameras away and watched the sunset (or so I think since we did not see the sun physically going under the horizon). We stayed up till the first fountain showtime. I managed to get a good spot that allowed us to see the whole of the fountain. I took a video of the 3 min show. Then we headed down for dinner as it is close to our hotel check out timing. After dinner, we went back outside to see the fountain show once more time. Very coincidentally, the music (or song) they used was “Time to say Goodbye”. I was telling my friend how appropriate this song came accompanying the fountain dancing, as though they knew this was our last night in Dubai. We stayed for 2 shows before heading back to the hotel to pack up for our flight back to Singapore.

View of the surrounding from Burj Khalifa
View of the surrounding from Burj Khalifa
View of the surrounding from Burj Khalifa
Arabian coastline from Burj Khalifa
Panoramic view of the coast from Burj Khalifa
View of the surrounding from Burj Khalifa
Awaiting sunset
Sunsetting over the Arabian Sea
Sunsetting over the Arabian Sea
Sunset
View of the surrounding from Burj Khalifa
View of the surrounding from Burj Khalifa
Musical Fountain show from Burj Khalifa
The Arabian night sky
Night view from Burj Khalifa
Night view from Burj Khalifa
Night view from Burj Khalifa
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Night view of Burj Khalifa
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Musical Fountain performance
Night view of Burj Khalifa

Night view of Burj Khalif

Farewell Dubai

We took a cab to the airport after checking out. The queue for the flights was horrendous! Only 2 counters open for the snaking queue of passengers, but this was solved shortly after one of the staff told us to head to the other side where they had just opened another 4 counters to process the check-ins. We loitered in the airport for the next 3 hours for our flight back home. The flight was delayed by another hour, making flying at this hour seem sleepy.

Dubai Day 6 (16 Mar 11) – The Charming Creek and Old Dubai

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Wild Wadi Water Theme Park

We woke up slightly later today and went to the Wild Wadi Water theme park. Initially, we can’t decided to go Wild Wadi or Atlantis. After speaking to people and reading comments on the internet, as well as we saw how boring and lifeless Atlantis is, we decided to go for Wild Wadi Water park instead. We spent the afternoon at the park, making sure that we took all the slides at least once. The first ride we took was the slide that goes around the park. We found this slide to be one of the most convenient ways of moving around the park to different rides without having to walk too much. This set of slides propels you upwards to the next high-level ground. There are some parts where you get to slide down, at any given checkpoint, the slides will end up at different areas of the park. We went around once to get our bearings and to check out where to stop for which rides. After going around once, we walked to the main attraction of the park – Jumeirah Sceirah. This is the largest and tallest slide in the UAE. I can see the whole of the theme park from the top of this ride. It is facing the wave-shaped Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the view up here was breathtaking, too bad I didn’t bring my camera along. It was my turn to take on the slide, the initial part of the slide was rather gentle, however at about half point of the slide its gradient turned steep. It felt like I was thrown drop to near-vertical steepness. What an exhilarating ride. We headed for one of the twin rides in the park, these 2 only differ in their thrill level. We took the more exciting ride with 3 funnels on the way down (Tantrum Alley). The initial launch was thrilling, as the slide was rather steep. After passing the other 2 tunnels, the ride felt rather “tamed”. We then head back up and tried the other not so exciting ride (Burj Surj). Indeed this was not so exciting as the first one, just felt like riding some tube down the tunnels pretty mild though. We then head back to the slide around the park one more time. By this time I realised that we have taken almost all the slides in the park. We then went over to this wave attraction that has staffs teaching people how to do surfing. Man, I suck at this, failed to learn surfing despite the patient staff’s teaching. We did the Jumeirah Sceirah and Tantrum Alley once more before calling it a day at the Wild Wadi.

Crossing the Creek to Old Dubai

We went back to the hotel to leave our swimming gears and headed out to old Dubai. This is our last night here, thus this is our last chance to take the dhow across the creek. We arrived at the creek, which is just a 10 mins walk from the nearest metro station. As we arrived, we can’t seemed to find the water taxi pier. I approached a ship crew nearby and he pointed us to a direction. We headed to the pier and took a boat across the creek. As we were being transported across the creek, we asked the coxswain of the boat about the dhows. He told us to stay put on the boat and alight at the next stop instead. At this moment, I was rather shocked. I asked him isn’t the boat going back to the other side of the creek. He told us the boat is going up and down the creek. Upon hearing this I was delighted, at least we get to ride on the dhow, one of the things that we said we wanted to do before embarking on this trip. As the boat came alongside the next stop, we thanked the coxswain and got off the boat. At the pier, the moment we saw the dhows that we wanted to ride, we took out our cameras and started to snap pictures of the dhows.

Crossing the Creek at night
Crossing the Creek at night
Crossing the Creek at night
Crossing the Creek at night
Crossing the Creek at night
This is the dhow that was used as a means of transport across the Creek
A dhow docking

The Bustling Old Dubai

We headed over to Old Dubai as we wanted to look at the Gold and Spice Souks. This seems to be a place where the Indian immigrants congregate, perhaps the rental in this area is cheaper than the other areas in Dubai. As we were walking along the streets, which was either illuminated by the neon lights of the signs in front of the shops or the lights within the shops, a few men were standing at junctions of the road asking if we want women. I thought UAE being a Muslim country was very strict in prostitution, and these men are asking if we want women??!! What a risk they are taking. We walked around the area, soon most of the shops looked the same to me. We decided to head back to the creek instead, feeling bored with the shops around.

As we were walking back towards the creek, we found ourselves standing across the famous Gold Souk! This is where people from all over the world visit to buy relatively cheap gold. We took a stroll in the Gold Souk, looking at the golden jewellery being displayed at the window, glittering at us under the halogen lights. At the end of the street, was a shop that has the world’s biggest ring on display at the window! We asked the staff at the shop if we could take pictures of it, they generously allowed us to do so! After snapping some pictures of the ring, we decided to head back to the creek as we wanted to get back to the metro station before the last train leaves. Arrived at the creek after 10 mins of walking from the Gold Souk, we took the dhow across the creek (which was an interesting experience, we would have taken the dhow a few more times and appreciate how people used to travel across in yesteryears if not for our time constraint). We alighted the creek, and at this side of the creek, the lighting on the building makes it a good photographic spot. After taking some pictures of the buildings and the creek, we headed back to the metro station. As we were kinda rushing for the last train, we half brisk walked to the station. As we arrived at the station, we found out that the last train has left. Damn! We should have taken a stroll instead if we knew it has left. We hailed a cab back to the hotel and rest for the night.

Old Dubai
Old Dubai is still buzzing with life
The Gold Souk
Riding on the dhow
World largest gold ring
Crossing the Creek

 

Buildings around the dock at night

 

Buildings around the dock at night
Al Bastakiya at night
Al Bastakiya at night
Me at Al Bastakiya at night
Dubai Museum at night
Al Bastakiya at night
Al Bastakiya at night

Dubai Day 5 (15 Mar 11) – Abu Dhabi: The Capital City visiting the Heritage Village and Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

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Abu Dhabi – The Capital of the UAE

We spent the day in the Capital of UAE, seeing how the towering skyscraper grows all over Dubai like wild mushroom, I would think Abu Dhabi won’t be too far off. We headed to the bus terminal in Dubai, which was a good 30 min metro ride from the hotel. The bus journey towards Abu Dhabi took roughly 2 hours. On the bus, we met this elderly American couples. They are travellers like us, who didn’t like to be constricted by the typical tour groups. We chatted a lot on our travels to a different part of the world, our home town and the places we have been to and are going to in Dubai. Despite being grandparents, this couple is still rather adventurous. Some 2 hours later, we arrived at Abu Dhabi. My impression of this city is it looked rather run down and not as “glamourous” as Dubai. We bide the American couple farewell and headed over to the mall near the bus terminal for lunch.

A mosque that we spotted on the bus ride to Abu Dhabi

The Luxurious Emirates Palace

After lunch, we took a cab to our first destination, Emirates Palace. This building is a hotel, now turned into one of the very few tourist spots in Abu Dhabi. The staff at the hotel were very friendly, unlike those hotels in Dubai such as Burj Al Arab or Atlantis, this hotel welcomes guests to walk around inside the hotel. The hotel is huge and indeed looked like a palace, the amount of luxury in this hotel is beyond description. Everywhere we turn we saw nice big couches, chandeliers, and antiques. We headed to this 2 storey window that looked out into the terrace of the hotel, where the private beach is at. We wandered to the ground floor and saw this door unlocked, so we headed out. After taking a few pictures, a security staff approached us and told us we were not supposed to wander to this part of the hotel as this is reserved for residents of the hotel. He then politely escorted us back inside the hotel. So this hotel does have out of bounds areas. We then wandered within the hotel, looking at how luxurious a USD 3 billion hotel can be. We spent about 20 mins inside the hotel and then headed out into the front garden to take pictures of the front of the hotel before heading for the heritage village which is not too far from the hotel.

The ceiling of Emirates Palace
Emirates Palace – A Pure luxury
Inside Emirates Palace
The courtyards of Emirates Palace
Inside Emirates Palace
Broadwalk outside Emirates Palace
Inside Emirates Palace
Front entrance of Emirates Palace
Front entrance of Emirates Palace
Front entrance of Emirates Palace
Front entrance of Emirates Palace

The Heritage Village

We arrived nearby the heritage village. This village is situated on the waterfront. From the village, we can see the whole city skyline of Abu Dhabi. Well, the heritage village felt very fake to me. It doesn’t felt original, feels more like a site built for the tourists. Even the well and the old tomb at the entrance of the village looked fake. There is a small museum on the left side as we entered the village. The museum is very small, took us about 5 mins to finish all the exhibits in the museum. There is a mocked-up village square where some shops are situated. We went into some of those shops to see if there is anything worth buying. The staffs here are pretty slack, they don’t even give a hood about visitors and were rather unfriendly. There is another row of shops selling souvenirs, where my friend bought some stuff from. We hanged around the village for about 20 mins and headed for the Grand Mosque.

Skyline of AbuDhabi
A mosque near the Heritage Village
Inside the Heritage Village
Inside the Heritage Village
Inside the Heritage Village
Inside the Heritage Village
Inside the Heritage Village

The Opulent and Solemn Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

I was impressed with the grandeur of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Grand Mosque. It felt like the epitome of all mosques in UAE. When I saw the domes of the white mosque, it somehow reminded me of the Taj Mahal in India. We headed inside the main building of the mosque and saw a rather large chandelier. A staff member of the mosque told us that there is a guided tour of the mosque in 5 mins time. After taking a few more quick pictures, we went to the gathering point of the tour. We met up with the American couple we saw on the bus earlier on. They were glad to see us here at the same time as well. We joined the same group for the mosque tour. The tour was indeed informative, through the tour, we got to know that the first hall was designed in accordance with how the Quran described paradise as. The large chandelier we saw in this hall was termed as the “baby chandelier by the guide. She then brought us into the main prayer hall. This is a huge hall and is where we saw the biggest chandelier in the world. The colourful 4 storeys high chandelier was suspended from the ceiling by 3 wire cables. In this hall was where the world’s largest Persian Carpet was housed. The guide told us the carpet was produced by 1200 Iranian women by hand.

On one of the walls hanged a clock with 7 times, the guide explained that these are the times of the daily prayers for the Muslim culture, it also displayed the local time. After the main hall, we were brought to a smaller male prayer room. Though smaller in size, this room was also designed with the interpretation of paradise in the Quran. We were led to the outdoor square of the mosque. The guide told us that there are a total of 81 domes and 4 minarets in the mosque. The top part of these domes is made of gold! She also told us that the Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi is the only mosque opened to non-Muslims in UAE as the founder of UAE wanted to build a mosque to allow even non-Muslims understand Islamism better. However, he passed away before the building of the mosque was completed. The locals built a mausoleum next to the mosque and buried him there. There is even someone to read verses of the Quran to him 24/7 since 7 years ago! Can’t help but wonder how’s the watch system like for the reading of the Quran to him. After the tour, we bid the American couple farewell and wandered around the mosque more a bit.

The facade of the Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
The Grand Mosque
Inside the main prayer room of the Grand Mosque
A huge prayer room in the Grand Mosque
Looking out into the square from the Grand Mosque
Chandelier inside the Grand Mosque
Inside the Grand Mosque
World largest Persian Rug
Inside the Grand Mosque
World’s largest chandelier
Peaceful Grand Mosque
Outside the Grand Mosque

Visiting Abu Dhabi Airport

We went to the Airport in Abu Dhabi to see if it is as impressive as the one in Dubai after all this is the capital of the UAE. Well, we were disappointed when we saw the airport. It is small and the shops are limited, and the passenger flow isn’t a lot. We only spent about 15 mins here and took a bus back to the city. We walked around the area near the bus terminal. The area is pretty boring, nothing much to see or to shop here. After dinner we took a bus back to Dubai, the journey was pretty much uneventful.

Abu Dhabi Airport