Dubai trip 9th July to 20th July 2014 - Days 1-4

Day 1

Left the house at 4am for our flight which was due to leave at 08:40, when I first saw the Airbus A380 we were about to board,I couldn't believe the size of it.

Economy seats were spacious and fairly comfortable, food was nice. After a slightly delayed take off, we arrived in Dubai just 15 mins late, had a great view of the Burj Khalifa poking through the top of the clouds as we flew in.

Security at both Heathrow and Dubai were really quiet with only 2 or 3 people in front of us.
My friends uncle Frank who we will be staying with,picked us up and drove us to his apartment at the marina,

you never get tired of seeing the skyscrapers lit up along the way. We got to the apartment about 19:30 and after settling in we ventured out for some food.
The humidity was pretty high but bearable.
We went in Chinese village, the food was great and the duck starter was amazing, portion sizes were huge so we left quiet a bit, Frank kindly offered to pay as a welcome gift.
Back to the apartment for a well earned beer before bed.


Day 2

Woke up about 6:30 to the amazing view out the window of the skyscrapers lighting up with the early morning sun.
Cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast, then went for a swim in the apartment pool.
Went to the metro station and topped up some cards then travelled to Mall of the Emirates where we planned on booking the exclusive penguin encounter but we were informed it wasn't running during Ramadan so we booked the basic one for 150 aed (£25) each, I only had shorts on but they provide all clothing needed. Well worth the money, we go to meet and stroke 3 penguins and give one of them a cuddle and kiss, they're soo soft and friendly.

We then purchased a pack which included 1x 8x10, 2x 6x8 photos plus the whole 38 photos they took on a cool penguin shaped usb stick for 450aed.
We had a look round the mall and brought a slice of the most amazing cheesecake at the cheesecake factory.being Ramadan we had to travel back to the apartment to eat it.

We then had a wander around marina walk along to the Marina Mall, we had a quick look round before getting on an RTA boat which took us up to the Burj Al Arab and back for some great photos and only 75 aed gold class which got you comfy leather seats and the opportunity to stand outside on the front of the boat for the best view.

When we got back we went back into the mall and waited until 19:15 when the restaurants opened and had some food in yo sushi which was lovely.

We then got on the water bus back to marina walk which only cost 5aed each.
Had a quick shower before walking to Barasti bar for a couple of drinks

 and then on to the Observatory on the 52nd floor of the Marriott for another.
We then wandered back towards the apartment but Stefano's underneath was open until 4am so we had some ice cream and shared a sheesha.

 After that it was home to bed.

Day 3

Got up around 9:30 and made scrambled eggs for breakfast, got a taxi from Al Habtoor Tower (marina walk) to Atlantis which cost 22 aed about £3.60
Spent all day at Aquaventure which was great fun,

 chicken burger with fries and large diet coke was 57 aed which wasn't too bad.
After this we took a few pictures outside of the Atlantis hotel before getting a taxi back.

We stopped at spinnys for some essentials and brought some smurf flavour ice cream

 which just tasted like bubblegum.

After a quick shower, we went to meet frank at Thyme restaurant in JBR Al Fattan building for some happy hour Peroni then next door to Wagamamma for some delicious chicken noodle soup which came in the biggest bowl ever,

 washed down with beer and saki.
After this Frank and his mates left and we went on to Pure rooftop bar in the Hilton residence which gave amazing views of the Palm island,

 bottle of Bulmers was 50aed Kopperberg was 35aed, we got there and an old friend was there with her sister so we sat with them and caught up,

 before getting chucked out at 2am and getting a taxi back.


Day 4

After a late one we didn't get up till about 11pm, had some bacon and eggs for breakfast then jumped on the Metro for 8 stops to Dubai mall, from there we got a taxi to Dragon mart mall for a cost of 36.50 aed (£6 ish)

We spent a good few hours looking around the indoor market, Kat was looking at all the bags and ended up getting a nice Juicy couture bag which we were told was 65aed but I got him down to 55 (£9 ish).
I then started looking for a nice watch, a guy walked up asking if we wanted and Rolex or omega watches so I followed him to a small stall where the guy opened a cupboard behind the counter and pulled out a rolled up velvet cloth,  he unrolled it to reveal all the good fakes which he told me he had to be careful with as he'd just had some confiscated. I settled on a gorgeous blue faced Rolex,  the quality is so good you wouldn't tell it was fake, he said 450aed but I got him down to 350 :)
We got a taxi back to Dubai mall which for some reason cost us 10aed more than on the way.
We were dropped off at the valet parking entrance where there were some very nice cars :).

Had a walk around and checked out the aquarium.

Brought a few bits in the massive sweet show opposite,

then went outside to get a good photo of the Burj.

We had a look at the waterfall which runs from floor to ceiling of the mall,

We waited until Iftar and were planning on eating in The Cheesecake Factory but the wait was too long so we jumped on the metro back to Mall of the Emirates and went to that one which was fairly quiet.
I had a spicy Chipotle chicken pasta dish (84aed £14 ish) which was gorgeous but the serving was massive,

unlimited soft drink (14aed), you can tell it's an American company.
We could only finish half our meals so they put the rest in boxes for us to take home, we did however get some Red Velvet cheesecake to take home and eat later.

Back to the apartment for a chill out before heading over to Barasti bar to watch the cup final in the makeshift dome.

Iceland trip February 18-02-2012 to 24-02-2012

Day 1.

Started off with a 35 minute delay but i had a free upgrade to Saga class so i wasn't too worried.
From when we had flown over Leeds i could already make out the faint glow of the northern lights and sure enough as we flew closer to Iceland they just intensified and gave out a good show for about an hour.
We landed in a bit of a blizzard which was quite exciting, if it was england, they would have cancelled the flight.
Picked up my hire car from budget and drove to Cabin hotel, got there about 02.30 and straight to bed.



     
Day 2.

    Got up about 8am and went down for breakfast.
Today i would be driving the south shore tour,
It was a rainy day but i had my gear on so no worries there, first stop was Seljalandsfoss

 which can be seen from the main road so no chance of missing it, what a sight it was,
Where the spray had been landing on the staircase near it, it had turned the stairs into something beautiful.

Next was Skogarfoss, this is a wider falls than the first one so even more impressive but the rain was coming down quite hard so i just walked down to take a few photo's then back to the car.

I wanted to have a look at the glacier tongue but after turning up the road and after not very long realising that this was a big mistake in a 2wd car i now needed somewhere to turn around but if was just too narrow so i had to drive for what seemed like ages to find somewhere wide enough, a mistake i dont plan on making again.

Final stop was Vik, i fueled up both the car and my belly and then parked next to the black sand beach, it was blowing a gale but i went for a walk along to the cliff face to see all the birds flying about.

Then it was time to head back, stopping along the way to take photo's of the beautiful scenery .
As it was still raining there was no chance of seeing the northern lights so i had a basic but plesent meal at the hotel 1490isk about £8 and a beer from the bar 900isk about £4.50,
Then it was time for bed.

 
   
Day 3.

    I got up and had breakfast a little earlier today as i would be trying to attempt Glymur waterfall,
I first had to drive to Hvalfjorour, just before you get to the tunnel you turn off right and drive round the fjord, the views on route are amazing with all the snow capped peaks surrounding the fjord and a few waterfalls along the road.

Once you get to the end of the fjord there is a right turn signposted Glymur, the road turns to gravel and is a little bumpy, you drive over a very narrow bridge up a bit of a slope and eventually reach the car park.
I was told there were two routes, an easy one and a hard one called Leggjabrjotur which translates as Led breaker.

I know the the right hand one is the easy one but it wasn't very clear and i took tne left one,
Because there was snow on the ground it was difficult to find the track so i ended up following some footprints until i lost those so i just aimed straight for the top and went for it.
I now know where the name comes from as my legs were killing me but i kept going and got to the top, i was warned that you shouldn't attempt it in winter because of the ice and i was the only person there the whole time but i made it and my god what a view, the waterfall has a 615 foot drop and half of it was frozen so it looked stunning,

 the view back towards the car and the fjord was just as breathtaking,

 i took lots of photo's and made a phone call, yes that's right, all the way up there i had a full signal, technology these days eh.
Finally i thought it was time to get back down, i thought i would try a different route as i made the accent up myself, i got a bit stuck so ended up coming down rocks and through bushes which was good fun.
Finally got back to the car only 3 hours after leaving it and drove towards Akranes which is continuing round the fjord, once i got there i brought some lunch from the Bonus supermarket and drove back to the hotel, this time going through the 5.6km tunnel which goes underneath the fjord, this costs 1000isk about £5 ish.

After having dinner in the hotel again i set off to look for the northern lights picking up a
Very nice couple i met through Trip advisor.
We had only just got out of the city lights on route to Geysir and i could already see the glow out the car window so we stopped at the next parking area and watched a low energy but still fantastic display for about an hour before we got back in the car to get warm,

 what a great start to my first night looking for them, i can only hope for more of the same or better, time for a beer and then bed


Day 4.

    Today i was driving the Golden circle, i did this via Reykjavik Excursions the first time i was here but i thought but doing it myself i could see things that i didn't get time to see before.
After breakfast i picked up Kash and Andy who i'd met the day before for the northern lights from the youth hostel just 30 seconds drive from Hotel Cabin.
We set off for Pingvellir national park.
We pulled into the first main car park which has a look out point in which to view the park,

 there were a lot of trips already there but the main slope leading down into the park along side the techtonic plate had been closed for some reason.
We proceded to drive to the other side of the park where Kash spotted a large waterfall that i didnt see on my last trip.
We had a walk through the park taking photo's along the way and even stopped to sample the water from the stream which tasted really nice,

We then walked up to the waterfall Kash had spotted and i'm so glad we did,
The colour of the water coming over the falls was bright blue with hanging ice everywhere, it was beautiful.

Next stop was Geysir,
We had some lunch in the cafe first and then walked around the various pools and spouts doing what you shouldn't do and testing the temperatures with our fingers ,
A few areas are completely fenced off so you couldn't see the mud pools but i had to get some photo's so hopped over a few ropes for pictures.
I got some good photo's of Strokkur erupting and it was back to the car.

Last stop was Gulfoss,
Kash and Andy had never seen such a big waterfall and were quite stunned, it did look beautiful with all the hanging ice,

There is a path down the left side taking you right to the middle of the falls, this path if closed during the winter because of safety fears but it looked fine to us so over we went,
It was a totally easy walk and i have no idea why they bother to close it, stupid health and safety, we took some great shots which we wouldn't have got if we'd not broken the rules abit.

On the way the road had been a solid sheet of ice for most of the day but this had now melted so the journey back was quicker.
I dropped Kash and Andy off and said my goodbye's , what a nice pair.

All northern lights trips had been cancelled that evening but i drove out anyway and got caped in fog so turned back and went to bed.




Day 5.

    Today was an early start, i would be driving to Snaefells peninsula and the town i was heading for was Grundarfjorour on the north coast which was 175km from Reykjavik.
It was still dark when i left but it was supposed to be a nice day, through the long tunnel under Hvalfjordur was first, at £5 each way this was going to be an expensive trip with fuel.
The drive from Borganes to the peninsula was very flat but surrounded by snow capped mountains which was a very beautiful sight, during that part of the journey which was about 50 - 60km i must have passed one vehicle, it's sometimes nice being isolated.

I had to make a right turn at Vegamot and up into the mountains, the views just kept getting better and better through each corner up there with cascades round most corners, i kept wanting to stop everywhere to take photo's but that wasn't a problem due to lack of traffic.

I arrived at my destination around 10:30 so there was now good light, i didn't know what to expect and my main aim had been to look for Killer whales around the coast so i decided i would drive round the whole peninsula.
I stopped at the town of Olafsvik to takes photo's of their very futuristic looking church and a big waterfalls at the back of the town.

I carried on driving , driving up various coast access roads to look for signs of whales, still nothing and i was wanting to give up hope by now so i just treated it as a general sight seeing tour.
I pulled into one beach area where there were lots of big random shaped rock formations along it which looked like something out of avatar, the beach was also covered in iron wreckage from an old english trawler which made for some great photo's.

I carried on round to the south coast of the peninsula with the mountains along my left and below them for miles were flood plains which were frozen and the mountains were reflecting in them, lots more photo's .

On way back just before Borganes i crossed a river and i hadn't noticed on the way that it was actually all pack ice, it looked like a small lake of icebergs, it even had a big waterfall running into it so i had to take more photo's.

Then it was back to the hotel for dinner.

Chances of seeing the northern lights tonight were good so off i went towards Pingvellir national park, it's nice and dark along that road with places to stop.
I stopped at one area but there was still cloud to the north and it looked clearer further in the distance.
I turned down highway 360 which runs down the west side of the national park,
To start with the road was just a little slippery as most of the smaller roads are,
About 10km down the road suddenly turned into a proper ice rink and i was having great trouble getting grip, i wanted to turn round but there wasn't any oppotunity so carried on a bit further, just before a main junction i was planning to turn in came up, i had to go down a steep S bend hill with a drop off on the left hand side, well i lost all traction even trying to use 1st gear to slow me down, it wasn't working, i slid left and right, coming inches from going over the edge about 3 times, i finally got to the bottom and my whole body was shaking and my heart beating out of my chest.
I crawled to the junction to turn around but there was no way i was going back up that hill and the road i turned into was a closed red road, i was stuck, i didn't know what to do,
I thought i best phone the emergency number 112 but i had no reception on my phone, now i was really panicking, after about 20 mins i got signal so called them, they arranged to send a couple of volunteers .
About an hour later i could hear an engine and then see lights over the hill, what emerged looked like a monster truck, it was one of the huge super jeeps with tyres almost the same height as my car.
Example below.

I was so glad to see them, they hooked up a tow rope and one of them got in with me to steer the car, we slid back up the hill but made it, then the other side went down again and he lost control, he started beeping the horn as we were about to go into the back of the truck, we went off the road sideways into the gravel and then back the other way and then off again, the guy now seemed just as shaky as i was, busy swearing in Icelandic.
We took it nice and slow and i could see the main road in the distance and i felt a huge sign of relief.
By this time the main road had started getting very slippery too so they carried on towing to the next layby where i took over and they said they would stay with me right back to Reykjavik to make sure i got there.
I asked them how much money i owed them and they said that they do it for fun but i had to give them something, so i gave them 5000isk each about £25 each, they were more than happy with that.
I was so glad when i got back i jumped straight into bed .


Day 6.

    Today i was due to go on a whale watching trip which didn't leave until 13:00 so there was no rush to get up.
After breakfast i thought i would find out what time i would be picked up to go to the harbour, when they answered they said they were about to call me to say it was cancelled due to bad weather so there went my last chance to see some whales :-(.

I thought i would have a wander around the city and take a few photo's, i headed to an area i went to on my last trip over where the backs of the buildings were covered in fantastic grafitti, some of it had changed so i took some photo's, this sort of grafitti i don't mind seeing on walls, some of it is just brilliant.

I headed out in the car to the Blue Lagoon in the afternoon, i'd only been there for 10 mins and through the steam i heard some voices and i said 'i recognise those voices' it was Kash and Andy, i didn't expect to bump into them again but it turns out they were on the tour bus i had followed all the way from the city.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time chatting together and then discovered the lagoon bar and swam over for some Blue Lagoon cocktails which were quite yummy.

I stayed in there for just over 4 hours and then said goodbye to them and left, i had planned on buying one of the beauty products to take back for my mum until i saw the prices, £35 for a bloody tube of moisuriser, sod that, she's getting a bar of chocolate.

I had planned to look for the lights on the way back but it was total cloud cover again so i went back to the hotel and had a few beers instead.


Day 7.

    Today i was going home :-(, my flight wasn't until 16:30 but i didn't really have anything planned so after breakfast i checked out and went for a final wander around the shops.

I stopped on the way to the airport to have a walk to the clifs and take a few final photo's.

I filled the car back up at the airport and dropped it off at Budget rent a car office, they checked it over and there were no extra charges which was a relief, i can't argue at £180 for 6 full days hire.
Because i was early , at check in they asked if i wanted to get the flight that was about to leave which was going via Frankfurt, they said they would give my either a free flight or $200 for doing it but it was a bit of a detour so i just stuck with my original flight, besides i had already checked in and got a Saga class seat for free, here's a tip, you can check in 36 hours before online and change your seat when you do so the earlier you check in the more chance you have to get a free upgrade, and the Saga class seats and very wide and you have loads of legroom.
The flight took off on time but when we landed there was a delay in the baggage hall so it took a while, finally i picked up my car from Purple parking £36 for 7 days parking is a bargain, drove home remembering what side i should be on and got home around 22:00, all in all a brilliant trip and i can't wait for the next one........