"Sheikhs & their hummers" Jacinta81s photos around Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates by TravelPod blogger Jacinta81 titled "Sheikhs & their hummers!!"

Jacinta81s travel blog entry:

"I landed in Abu Dhabi early in the morning & quickly got through the boarder formalities & made my way outside to change some money & grab a taxi into the city. Its about 30mins drive (depending on traffic) from the airport to the centre of the city.

It was about 30C on arrival & I checked straight into my air-conditioned Novotel Hotel room to have an hours power nap before I headed out to explore. It will give you an idea of how much things cost in Abu Dhabi when I have to book into a Novotel. It was the cheapest of any available hotel I could find (99GBP/night). The location is pretty good, right in the centre of town & around the corner from a little shopping centre which surprisingly has a Marks & Spencer.

So after my little morning rest I got changed into some clothes that werent too hot outside but not too revealing either. I knew Abu Dhabi was fairly open to all but I didnt want to miss out on visiting anywhere because of what I was wearing. So I headed out into the now 36C heat to explore. Luckily I havent been in London long enough to suffer in the heat. I was loving it!

The first thing I did was to start zig-zagging through the streets north of my hotel. The majority of what you see are hotels but I did eventually come across another shopping centre, so I went inside to check it out & to grab a bite to eat. The shopping centre was pretty dingy & hardly anyone to be seen.

 After that I went back out into the sunshine & headed for the waterfront. Almost completely lined with hotels, many still under construction; I walked for hours along the water. I came across a really cool hedge maze & of course had to give it a go. I made it in & climbed up the tower in the centre to get a few photos overlooking the maze. Getting out was sadly a more difficult challenge but I got there eventually. The length of the strip consists of these kept gardens  that run for miles which run alongside the 6 lane road with the waterfront boardwalk on the other side. There are gardeners working throughout the whole day watering, trimming & keeping each of the themed gardens & play areas. It would be at least a 2km strip..or at least it seems that long.

I spent most of the the day wandering through these gardens & running for dear life across the roads to the boardwalk to check it all out from that side too. By mid afternoon I decided to flag down a taxi & get them to take me up to the Emirates Palace Hotel. This place is amazing! It was once an actual Royal Palace but has now been turned into a top notch hotel, fit for sheiks & a-listers. This place was beautiful with manicured gardens & an amazing building with even more amazing interiors. I walked through just about every part of the palace that I could get my way into & found the most amazing hanging carpet I have ever seen in my life. On one side of a grand staircase they have the carpet with an image of the palace by day (which I wanted to bring home with me although its 2 storey tall & about 15m long) & on the other side of the staircase is another wall hanging of the palace by night.

After seeing how the high life live/holiday I headed back along the water to the Abu Dhabi City Beach. Its costs 5 dirham to be allowed on the beach. I had unfortunately forgotten by swimmers but I still paid (reluctantly) to wander along the sandy beach & take a few photos. There were plenty of tourists & locals enjoying the water & the sunshine.

By the time I came to the end of the beach I was exhausted. Id been walking in the sunshine for over 10hrs & needed a cold drink & some food. But I had walked so far along the road it took more than an hour just to get back to my hotel. Luckily at the base of the building there was a little icecreamery which went down a treat.

Once safely back in my hotel room I skulled another full bottle of water & slid into a nice bubble bath to relax. I think that would be the closest Ive ever come to falling asleep in a bath. Quite scary because my mouth was only just above the water level when I realised Id been soaking there for about 2hrs. So by now I was starving & wasnt keen to go out & find anywhere to eat so I settled for the chinese restaurant within the hotel. The food ..."
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jacinta81/8/1239453360/tpod.html

Photos from this trip:
1. "- The Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi"
2. "- A hospital for wimps???"
3. "- The ceiling of every hotel room"
4. "- Royal Palace"

See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-013a-4c84-887b?ytv4=1