april 13-14, 2012 friday to saturday
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
- T.S. Eliot
My 12th country to visit, 16th solo backpacking adventure, 1st visa-on-arrival (VOA) encounter and of course, usual budget do-it-yourself itinerary from arrival to departure.
Excitement has never been like this. after almost sweeping the countries in nearby countries around south east asia, it's time to put the escapade and hop on the outer level. This time around the neighboring countries around my new home in the western part of asian continent or what commonly known to us as Middle East. The term Middle East is a word developed by the westerners (europeans) because they describe a region in relation to Europe or The West. Despite this, the term is now accepted and even people in the Middle East call it that (Al-Sharq Al-Awasat means Middle East in Arabic).
United Arab Emirates covers the following astonishing world record on modern tourism attraction:
- highest building in the world at 830 meters (burj khalifa)
- largest indoor theme park in the world at 200,000 square meters (ferrari world)
- fastest rollercoaster in the world at 240 km/hr (formula rossa)
the 1,975 AED budget, printed maps, itinerary and plane ticket to UAE |
This another race against time very short backpacking researched in somehow detailed manner has a compressed itinerary designed as follows:
april 13 Friday:
0250H ETA dubai
0500H ETD dubai airport
0555H ETD dubai bus terminal
0745H ETA abu dhabi bus terminal
grand mosque & hyatt capitol building
1200H ETA ferrari world
1700H ETD ferrari world
1800H ETD abu dhabi bus terminal
2015H ETA dubai bus terminal
0745H ETA abu dhabi bus terminal
grand mosque & hyatt capitol building
1200H ETA ferrari world
1700H ETD ferrari world
1800H ETD abu dhabi bus terminal
2015H ETA dubai bus terminal
dining at mall of emirates
check-in hotel
2200H the atlantis nasimi beachclubbing
april 14 Saturday:
check-in hotel
2200H the atlantis nasimi beachclubbing
april 14 Saturday:
0230H ETD the atlantis
sleeping time
0730H ETD hotel
0815H ETA dubai mall metro station
burj khalifa
sleeping time
0730H ETD hotel
0815H ETA dubai mall metro station
burj khalifa
1500H ETD dubai city
1545H ETA dubai international airport terminal 1
abu dhabi's grand mosque |
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman to the east and Saudi Arabia to the south, as well as sharing sea borders with Qatar to the west and Iran to the north. UAE oil reserves are ranked as the world's sixth-largest and it possesses one of the most developed economies in West Asia. It is the thirty-fifth-largest economy at market exchange rates, and ranks among the world's wealthiest nations.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE):
timezone - +0400H UTC
alias - the emirates
capital - abu dhabi city
currency - dirham (aed) 1AED = PHP11.5, 1USD = 3.67 AED
language - arabic
visa - Filipino's need to apply 1st before travel but there is exemption.
Airlines that provide direct flight to United Arab Emirates coming from Manila are Emirates, Etihad and for locals are PAL and Cebu Pacific;
the highest building in the world |
burj khalifa view at the top (burj al arab) |
the palms atlantis nasimi beach clubbing |
Availed my ticket via ID90 benefits provided on any airline company for their regular employees. Lot of savings of course, but consequence is extreme. That is, I am subject to bump-off or off-load once my preferred schedule is fully book with revenue passengers. This scenario takes added delicate possibility of budget failure.
Weekend day allocation is different in the middle east due to their Islamic religion. That is, this days drop-off to Friday and Saturday (in Saudi its Thu-Fri). Thus, Friday and Saturday are peak days to visit and more tourists arrival especially coming from nearby Arabic Muslim countries.
Anyways, i divided this wonderful journey into different set of posts to be more specific on its content;
I found this blog extremely helpful. This page gave insights on the way I can travel to Abu Dhabi on a solo trip for a 2 day weekend. I have applied for my Dubai Visa already and now I have every minute detail Irequirefor a successful weekend trip. However, I visited askdubaivisa.com and it gave mebrief yet detailed information on visiting Dubai.
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