Wordless Wednesday No. 78 - Egypt & Dubai

Horseman at Pyramid

Dubai

Dubai

Hoo roo for now...

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Photo a Day Challenge - Day 121 Skyline(s)

I've been lucky enough to see a few skylines in my travels, yet nothing seems to surpass that of Sydney's. And this is not just that its my home city either, its the type of construction, its textures, and of course, surrounded by the magnificant harbour... The only one that comes close, is that of Hong Kong, especially when viewed from atop of Victoria Peak...

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak

Hong Kong (Happy Valley) Tote Board and Skyline

Santiago Skyline

Dubai Skyline

Sydney Skyline

Hoo roo for now...

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A sale is now, not to far (WW #35)

Firstly, WW pic is down the line a bit as this post needs some explaining, sorry!

Ok, today is the LAST day, of the LAST cooling off period for the sale of the house... And, whilst I have heard (last night at 8pm), that the purchaser has transferred the deposit, he still needs to get the printed receipt to the agent by 5pm! This is very important for them, as the deposit was done via an EFT to the Agents Trust Account, and you know that these things do take time of somewhere between 24-48 hours to transfer! So, the countdown is on until this afternoon, where hopefully, I will be able to report with some FINAL good news!

Also, there is now a very (very) slight possibility of me heading across to Dubai in mid September! I will be racking up a couple of days this coming weekend at a conference, and as such, I will be using them to go across to the Emirates Nation! At this stage, it is still very much 'up in the air' (no pun intended), but I will know a little more by the end of the week!

NOW, for the WW pic. here is a funny sight this morning, but an all to serious one as well... There is a great little spot, to sit and watch air traffic movements... It has slowly been deteriorating over the years, and things like this certainly do not help! The amount of times I have seen cars bogged in the soft sand behind is amazing, but this guy really does take the cake!

Fool Truck Driver at Sheps

Hoo roo for now...

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Day 42: - (+3 as I'm HOME!) Rome and Dubai

Firstly, I am SOOO sorry NOT to have posted whilst in Dubai, but there was a few reasons... Namely, we were flat out busy, and the inability to upload photos because the UAE do not like you uploading photos (or perhaps, don't want UAE locals looking at pictures of the outside world??)! Anyway, NOW that I have uploaded some of the photo's, I will include some in this post and re-cap, the last couple of days of the trip and what I have been doing since I got home!

After the final day of the cruise, we got into the city of Rome. However, I had realised on the way there, I had left my silver chain ON the ship! I managed to get in contact (after MANY phone calls and distressing hours) with the ships handling company, and she said to call back in around 45 mins as she would go to the ship and make enquiries. An hour later, I was in an excellent mood as when I called, they had it (and some other incidental items I could care less about...). It would cost me 100 Euro for a cab to deliver it OR I was on the next available train out to collect for around 20 Euro! Needless to say what I did!

By the time I got back into Rome, it was now well after 6pm and the 'Grey Brigade' had done a lot of walking and site seeing. They had been in the cafe/restaurant opposite the hotel (for coffee) for some time, and mum was very happy to see me. That night, whilst they went to bed (exhausted) I went out for a walk around Rome at night, only to find myself out in the rain without a brolly! Oh well...

The following day, after checking out but leaving bags in the hotels luggage room, we hit Rome for the last time. We caught the Metro out to the Colosseum where, when we arrived, were greeted again by a tour guide spookier! This again, was well worth the money, however, the group was quite a bit larger than the one we did in the Vatican City! So it took us a good 2 hours (maybe 3) to walk around both outside AND then into the Colosseum itself! The tour then, with another guide, took in the Roman Forum next door. This was also another good 2 hours worth of tour!

We then headed back to the hotel to meet our transfer to the airport. This was a very interesting ride as a) it was in the evening peak hour rush, and b) we took a most senic route! At one point, we thought we were being taken into a car wrecking yard, as the laneway we were on, looked like that was the destination! But instead, at the very last second, it took a left turn, and that took us back onto the motorway! Phew!!! As I had already 'checked us in' we cleared immigration in no time at all, and we then just had to wait for the plane. Dinner was Pizza and a drink...

The flight time was to take 5.30 hours, but just after we took off, there was some quite sever turbulence for our ride, an Airbus A330-200. The flight deck told us that initially we would climb to 35,000ft and then to a final altitude of 41,000, but he got up there pretty quickly and being in that airspace, we had a much quicker flight time of just 4.10 hours! NICE!

We ended up getting the hotels limousine service to the hotel, which was money well spent... Upon check in, I quickly discovered that this hotel was something special! It was SOOO Divine! Here is a pic from our room!

Dubai Atlantis Room View, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

We had a 'special' afternoon adventure, that the Grey Brigade knew nothing about. It was a 4wd Dunes Adventure that was just fantastic! Mum, well she doesn't like drives along cliff edges and has an aversion to heights (so SHE took a window seat, good one mum) and as soo as we hit the dunes, she turned green and the language was, well, 'colourful' shall we say! BUT, at the end of it all, she had a great time. The night continued with a traditional 'Bedouin Feast' and a Belly Dancer! A great night was had by all!

Dubai Dunes Safari 11, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

Dubai Dunes Safari 12, originally uploaded by AussiePomm.

By the time we got back to the hotel, the 'Greys' were tired and packed for the early morning departure and hit the sack quickly. ME on the other hand, didn't want any jetlag when I got home, so I stayed up until around 2am and organised the airport transfer and stuff. 5am was our wake-up call, 5.25 was the baggage collection time and 5.30am was our departure time. All went according to plan! We arrived at the airport in almost no time at all and dropped our bags, cleared immigration and headed into the shopping mall. Hang on, its NOT a shopping mall, but an airport, with shops! It has been reported to do around $1,000,000USD a day in sales! We quickly found a coffee shop (with seats for us all) and had breakfast. Boarding commenced and dang it, we had a bus trip to a VERY remote stand! The flights home were pretty cool, with the second leg only about 1/2 full, which allowed us to spread out and get some sleep (for me, as I was tired as per the plan) and I got a row of 4 seats to sleep.

Since getting home, I have one ALL of the washing from the trip, got my tyre fixed as it was going flat before I left, and done some shopping. Answered some emails and made some URGENT calls (mainly to my energy supplier as the day after I left a bill arrived and whilst I was away, a reminder and a disconnection notice. But it was all sorted, and I still have power! I also emptied, cleaned and refilled the spa. So I have been somewhat BUSY!!!

I will TOMORROW, do a couple of 'photo posts' that will be of the places we went to, where I was unable to upload the photos... I promise!!

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Souk's & delays, but I'm home!

Apologies for the long post...

After a day of meetings, and inspections of sites across Doha, I returned to my hotel (Royal Qatar Hotel) for a 'freshen up' before leaving later that evening (early following morning actually...)! Here is a couple more 'sights' of Doha:

Coliseum Construction Rear

Doha's Funny Buildings

So, after a shower and ensuring that the bag is packed for the return flights, I decided to head down to both the Gold Souk & General Souk which were nearby. The Gold souk, market, had a lot of stuff, cheap, but too much to look at. I had mentally picked a few items to bring home, but wanted to visit the General Souk first. I am glad I did:

Souk Storefronts

Souk Cafe

Souk Donkey Rides

I then gathered my purchases, repacked, went to the restaurant for a bite to eat, another shower and watched a bit of local TV. What was funny was, there was either a Pakistani or Indian version of Judge Judy! It was so funny, couldn't understand a word of it, but just the mannerisms and the vocal tones just did my head in!

I then had a call from reception to say that my car was ready to take me to the airport...

Royal Qatar Hotel

When I arrived, the check-in for Emirates was still to open, so I perched on a 'seat' and waited... Check-in finally opened and my bag was on its way home. With nothing else to do, I went through Immigration and entered the Doha Duty Free area:

Doha Int Duty Free

After a small walk around looking for any bargains, I found my way to my departure gate (12.45am) and waited, tried to get a nap to no avail...). It was soon time for boarding and the departure area was filling up. All of a sudden, an announcement was made that there was going to be a delay. New departure time was now 6.45am! Now, a quick estimate of times showed me that we would make Dubai at a local time of 8.45am, leaving one hour to transit, short but do-able. 6.45am came and went and many people (including myself) were at the gate agent wanting updates and information about departure times and connections. Depending on WHO you talked to, you got a different answer. And even the same guy was giving different answers to the same people (he could not even remember the same lie he had already told!). Eventually, at 8.45am, we were called for boarding and to board the bus to the remote stand that our plane was at. From memory, I was now some 32 hours without sleep, and the bus took 30 minutes to get to the stand! We boarded, and departed quickly indeed. A very quick meal service was had and we were soon on approach into Dubai.

Upon arrival, guess what, another remote stand followed by another 20 minute bus ride to the transfer station. We were all taken into a transit hall and told to take a seat and all information would be relayed as to what process would follow. Refreshments (bottled water, Chocolate Muffins and Orange Juice were on the table. I finally got processed, and instead of returning via Bangkok, it would now be the direct flight, again on the new A380. A hotel (including ALL meals) had been arranged, and we were transferred. Shower, lunch and a much needed rest was in order. I slept through an alarm I had set for the Dubai evening bus tour!

After a GREAT nights sleep, it was time to meet my friends (from Doha delays) in the hotels lobby for the bus to the airport.

Dubai Int Arrivals

This is SUCH a grand entrance (typical Emirates style...). Check-in was effortless even though I had been told I already had a bag checked. I reminded him of my days events prior, and he said it was all good and I could go. My new found friends though were not having quite as much luck, as Emirates had not processed the booking rebook as thought. After a couple of eye-rolls from the check-in agent, a request for the Supervisor (and me mentioning that they look at the PNR they might just see a case history of the problems) all was now sorted and it was time to venture through to Immigration.

Dubai Check-in Hall

I did my Duty Free shopping, and went to my departure gate 230, (YES, that's two hundred and thirty!). This is SUCH an amazing new terminal:

Gate 230 Glass Roof

The new A380 has some really special features, like the tail camera and the flight information system:

A6-EDB Screen (DXB)

DXB-SYD In-flight

And is there anything better than arriving back home, to your own city, especially when this is your arrival view:

Sydney Arrival

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