26th
After spending 15 days touring Rahjasthan the Holiday Inn hotel is like paradise. Dont get me wrong we did enjoy our time in the desert and the sights we saw, but it is so nice to be back in a modern hotel where hot water works when you want it. Where the internet works all the time. Where electricity is always on. Where you dont have any concerns over the food quality. Really makes you appreciate the life we have. Are we glad we visited India, hell yes. I know we have some amazing life time memories. I have to give Shauna credit as there were times when i was getting annoyed at things and she held it together and made me rethink the situation.

So after a good nights sleep we head down to enjoy a buffet breakfast. With such a huge selection of food we eat till we are very full. It is so nice to be able to eat fresh fruit again. Even the coffee is very nice. So we do over indulge and then we spend half and hour in the gym using the walking machine. Check out is 12pm and its off to the aiport. Our flight is not till 4pm.

The flight from Delhi to Dubai is very smooth. We dont arrive till 6.40pm and by the time we get out of the airport and pick up the rental car we dont get on the road till 8pm. We drive to Abu Dhabi, its 130ks and we arrive at the hotel just before 10pm. We have 2 nights/1 day in Abu Dhabi to see the sights.

27th
We wake to beautiful blue skies where the temperature will be nice 25c. Slept reasonable well in our rather large studio apartment. The day is spent visiting the Grand Mosque, Ferrari World, Yas Island, Emirates Palace, The Corniche and of course a very large shopping mall. The only problem with the shopping malls now is that they are so big it is easy to get lost. After tea Shauna wants to re-visit the Grand Mosque, as it it all light up with blue lights. Well it is well worth it. The crowds are gone and there are only a few other visitors. Such a great sight.

28th
The drive back to Dubai is a little boring. However to break the drive we stop of to drive to the end of the Palm to see the Atlantis Hotel. Then its to Madinat Souk to see the Burj Al Arab. This is the closest you can get to see the Burj without having to pay $200 per head for high tea. This is the cheapest way to get inside the hotel. At $200 each you can guess we did not have high tea there.

We arrive at our apartment hotel in Dubai at 1.30pm. The reception tells us we are too early, check in is 2pm. So we go for a walk to get lunch. We arrive back and its 2.30pm and we are told the room is still not ready, so they offer us some coffee. At 3pm we are taken to our studio apartment. After unpacking and just about to run the washing machine i notice the electric cook tp is broken. Now this means we are not able to cook.

So i call reception and they send a person up to take a look. He shrugs his shoulders and leaves. So we both re-pack our bags and i head down to the lobby to see the manager. After i raised my concerns of the poor service etc we are offered a 1 bedroom suite on a high floor.
The 1 bedroom apartment is double the size of the studio, and the cook top is not broken, so we unpack again.

Now its off to Deira City shopping mall, about 1k away to get our groceries for the week. Shauna is blown away at how big the Carrefour hypermarket is and the vast amount of fresh fruit and vegetables for sale. Some she has never seen before. We enjoy are home cooked meal with salad. So nice to be able to enjoy salad and fruit, unlike in India where we stayed clear in case we got Delhi Belly.

29th
Took the hire car back this morning. It wasnt due back till later in the evening, but i have had enough of driving here. The traffic is heavy and its not the easiest city to drive around. So with the car gone, its back to public transport, The Dubai Metro. A all day unlimited use ticket is just $7 each.

We take the metro to Dubai Creek, where we sit at a cool little cafe for lunch on the creek. Then its off to explore the Souks.