16th February 2014

We are now on our way home at 40,000 ft in an Emirates A380-800 thinking back on our amazing 6 week Holiday in Thailand and Dubai.  We have had many magical moments some of which are captured in our photos and we have also met some wonderful people.  A few highlights shown here! Thailand & Dubai are very different countries in many ways and it's been fun experiencing both.  We are glad to have missed the horrendous weather back home and hoping to find everything still standing.  So it's the end of our exciting travels for a while and back home to see the family, and of course our little Granddaughter Olive!   Bye Bye for now from The Globetrotting Grandma. 

15th February 2014

Well here we are - the last day of our 6 weeks in Thailand and Dubai.  For our last day we were booked up to go to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. We had a leisurely start having drunk and eaten too much last night but around 10.30 am we got a taxi to the Dubai Mall which is the starting point for the 'Trip to the Top'.  We had time to spare before our 12.30 pm slot so we were able to do a bit of shopping and have a smoothie before it was time to go to the waiting room for our accent. There was much talk of long waits for standard entry (we paid £26 each - fast track was £80 each!)  but it all flowed smoothly and we were up to the viewing platform on the 124th floor in no time at all.  Magnificent building - very high quality materials and finish.  After an hour or so enjoying the views it was back down for a rather yummy pasty in a food court before returning to our resort for the last bit of sun on the beach. (You might be surprised to know we have been out and about so much, we have only had 6 beach days in our 6 weeks away!).  Then it was Sundowner time and our usual Gin & Tonic's and packing ready for our 6.00 am taxi ride to the airport tomorrow.

14th February 2014

Today was the second of our two days on the Red Tour Bus.  As we were up a bit late we decided to miss the 9.00 am shuttle and got a taxi straight to Creek Walk.  Here we boarded a Dhow boat for a one hour guided tour of the Creek and it's history (this was included as a freebie with our bus tickets).  It was a very interesting little trip.  After lunch at the Deira Mall we went to see Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum's house. Sheikh Saeed was the Grandfather of the current Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed.  The house is now a museum of historical photos and documents of Dubai. These show its unbelievable transformation over the last 50 years.  The house was part of a Diving Village showing Dubai's Old Pearl Diving Industry.  It was now 5.15 pm so we had to make our way to The Emirates Mall to catch another bus for the night tour we had signed up for.  This took us on a 2 hour tour of the city to see all the illuminated buildings which were named and explained by a guide as we travelled round. Absolutely staggering what has been built here in the last ten-fifteen years - really amazing sights!  We were on the open top deck of the bus so it was very chilly and windy.  Back at the Hotel at 10.30 for a beer.  

13th February 2014

Today we had tickets for the Red hop on hop off bus which we hoped would help us get around the sights. Good job we decided to buy a two day ticket because, as we found, it is difficult trying to get around more than a couple of sights each day.  First we went to The Mall of the Emirates to check out Ski Dubai. It took longer there because it was so big - amazing place. Next stop the Dubai Mall which is supposed to be the largest in the world. After a quick Food Court lunch, we went to the Aquarium (which included a boat trip across the top it!) and then the Underwater Zoo (Olive, our little Granddaughter would love it!) We then decided to continue on our bus tour route to make the most of the daylight hours before returning to the Dubai Mall in the evening. We probably should have stayed at the Mall as it was getting late and, with light fading, we had to be content with taking a few pics from the bus while it was making its way around the route and back to the Mall. We got back to the Mall about 7 pm where we had another quick food court meal before we took our night shots of the Bellagio style Fountain, the Olympic size Ice Rink and the Waterfall before getting a taxi back to our Hotel. Then we had a couple of beers in the Hotel Bar which was very busy with non residents (hotels are the only place you can get a drink!) before we went to bed.

12th February 2014

After a long sleep to catch up and another super breakfast in the hotel, we walked to the nearby Marina to stroll along its walkways and take some pics of the awesome buildings that surround it. After a lunchtime coffee we boarded a waterbus to travel back up the marina to a Mall which is not too far from our hotel.  Here we did a bit of shopping before heading back to our hotel to spend the rest of the afternoon on the Beach. Unfortunately we were a bit late starting our day which meant we did not get down there until around 4.00 pm when it was starting to cool down and today was a bit breezy anyway and a couple of degrees cooler than the normal 23 degrees at this time of year.  That didn't stop me having a paddle, my first in the Arabian Gulf!  Tomorrow we are going on the 'Big Red Bus' which is a hop on and hop off service like the ones in London.  This will enable us to work around the main sites and places of interest in our own time and lot cheaper than by taxi.  Now we are having our G&T's before our evening meal.  Hoping to web up to see Olive later this evening.