TBK Travels- Summer vacation 2021

 

                             

                                                         Pav in Dubai in 2010

One of the first places I went on vacation when I arrived in Bahrain back in 2010 was Dubai to stay with my dear friend Pav Shroff. She has now moved on to Canada but I decided to return to Dubai on my last vacation from Bahrain this year. It was the only place that would have me in our COV 19 times without Quarantine and with my Sputnik vaccination! Sputnik is not accepted in Qatar or Thailand!

Although Pav has left I still thought I had three friends in Dubai, Thang ( an Indian who used to work in Bahrain), Erickson ( a Pinoy I met in Dubai a few years ago) and Jeyboy who has been friends since 2013 when he came to Bahrain from Kuwait. I wrote to them all to say I was coming back and Thang was the first to reply with this shocking picture:

He was in his company quarantine suffering from COV 19. Its amazing how many of my friends have been affected by this horrible disease and I only hope I test negative again on Wednesday so I can fly to Dubai on Thursday.

PCR test all booked, plus car collection, driver ( Corleen) to the airport and hand my flat back after 4 months staying here in Juffair.

The good news is Thang recovered in time to watch Italy beat England at Football and celebrate his Birthday on 12 July.

                                 Dubai Museum of Illusions 

We decided to meet on Sunday 18th July when he has a day off.  He suggested we go to the Museum of Illusions ( Museum of illusions ) and we managed to get a BOGOF ( Buy one get one free) offer so we had 2 tickets for 10 bd by going at 10 am ( sorry Thang who is working the night before until 2 am!) . 

Then I am taking him for dinner to celebrate his recovery and his birthday at Han Shi Fu Restaurant at the Aloft Hotel, Dubai Creek ( Aloft Dubai Creek ) . 

Erickson, who I first met in 2018, is now working at  ME Hotel in Dubai and last time I was there in December 2020 he kindly paid for my dinner as I ran out of money ( when Bapco did not pay my relocation expenses until I left!) 

This is Jeyboy- if anyone has seen him let me kow!

As for Jeyboy ,well he has ignored 3 of my emails so maybe he disappeared.

Since Pav left Dubai in 2018, when I took her to Izakaya restaurant to thank her for providing me with free accommodation in Dubai for 8 years, I have been staying in various hotels around Dubai.

In 2018 I stayed at the Al Khoory Executive hotel in Al Wasl with Erickson and in  2019 I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Creek Heights with Thang ( and then in Abu Dhabi with Erickson) . 

           My suite at the Hyatt Regency Creek Heights in 2019

In December 2020 Erickson and I stayed at JA Ocean view hotel overlooking JBR, near where Pav used to live. We also went to Green Planet to see all the birds and animals, one of my favourite places to go in Dubai ( I took Jeyboy there in 2019)

This time the cheapest rate with availability was at  Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa, so I am back in the Creek area- the old part of Dubai, which I love. I always remember when our then ILM External Verifier , Mo Steer, took me for lunch there in 2010.

Arabian Courtyard Hotel and Spa even has an outdoor pool and a gym so who knows I may loose weight there. It's going to be hotter in Dubai ( 45 compared to 42 in Bahrain) so I have bought extra sun tan lotion, shorts and tee shirts so I can top up my tan.

                    The Books in my Suite at the Hyatt that I never read 

 I am not taking any books this time ( having paid excess baggage on every leg of a previous trip) so I am finally going to work out how to use the Kindle Phil and Di gave me last year and read my books on there. 

                            My Kindle from Phil and Di, still unused!

However I will be taking my new camera, microphone and tripod and will be making some travel vlogs for you which I will edit myself ( having taught myself how to by watching You Tube!).

So I am really looking forward to getting out of Bahrain for 3 months and learning lots of new things. On every trip to Dubai we visit new places like Green Planet, the house of Illusions , Etihad Museum ( where the UAE was formed) , Miracle Gardens, Atlantis hotel and Dolphin show etc. This year Waqas suggested we take a day trip to Ajman ( one of the other Emirates, about 45 mins drive from the hotel with a beautiful beach) 

 

                                 Etihad museum which I visited with Thang in 2019

The amazing Miracle Garden which Jim told me about and I have now visited twice- last time with Jeyboy in 2020. It's closed this trip ( winter only!)

If it gets too hot we can always visit the Malls and Dubai has some of the best in the world including Mall of the Emirates with it's indoor ski slope and penguin encounter ( Mall of the Emirates- Ski slope) .

One year we took the Big Bus tour and got off at Wafi Mall which looks like an Egyptian Tomb . Then in 2019 Balu told me about Ibn Battuta Mall with it's amazing India Court. I caught the coach from there to Abu Dhabi to stay with Erickson. ( Ibn Battuta Mall- India Court )

     Ibn Battuta was a great traveler and the mall has many exhibits like this

So , as you can see I have an action packed two months ahead in Dubai which includes Arafat day,  Eid Al Hada. Hijra and Ashoora and the start of the Christmas celebrations in the Philippines on 1st SeptemBER.  

I have booked the first month at Arabian Courtyard ( you can only book for one month at a time on Booking.com) and have now booked to stay at the Al Khoury Executive hotel again for the second month with their huge beds!

You can check out their website at : 

Al Khoory hotels

The third month of this vacation has been more Traumatic to arrange due to COV 19. I did a lot of research ( Thanks to Mike Roche and Martin Peters in Thailand for all your updates) into travelling to Phuket in Thailand which opened to vaccinated Tourists on 1 July. Then I discovered they do not accept people with Sputnik vaccination. The next option was Doha, same problem! So now I have booked to stay in Salalah in Oman where it will be the end of the Khareef season. For those of you who did not hear of this term let Wikipedia enlighten you :

"Khareef is a colloquial Arabic term used in southern Oman, southeastern Yemen, southwestern Saudi Arabia and Sudan for the southeastern monsoon. The monsoon affects Dhofar and Al Mahrah Governorates from about June to early September. Towns such as Salalah depend upon the Khareef for water supply."

Source: Khareef accessed 12.7.21

Prior to that I have to do a weeks quarantine in an approved hotel in Muscat and so I am taking the opportunity to spend an extra week in Muscat at the Ramada Qurum Beach Hotel - Muscat (ramadamuscat.com) I saw the hotel and the nearby beach when I did a Big Bus tour of Muscat some years ago so it will be nice to stay there for a week to explore the area more. 

In Salalah last time I stayed on the beach at Salalah beach villas but this time I decided to stay in the town centre at the Grand Flora Hotel ( website Grand Flora Hotel, Salalah ) for my final 19 days of my vacation.

I look forward to spending a lot of time walking on the beach here as the weather is a lot cooler in Salalah in October ( 31 degrees ) and taking some more tours. I did two last time and they were excellent. Just me and the guide in his car . He even dropped me off at an out of town restaurant for dinner and had them call him when I finished my meal to come and take me back to my hotel.

Well that's my vacation, its taken months to plan, I hope you enjoyed reading about it as much as I did writing about it!

I will be updating you on my progress through my TBK Facebook, Blog and Vlog pages, so stay tuned and don't forget to like and subscribe

Best wishes