Day trip to Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is about a 2 hour bus ride from Dubai and makes for an interesting day trip. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE and seems a quieter and younger city than the bolder Dubai but has many projects in progress and planned for the future.
The scenery on the trip is often barren desert and once your pass over the so called border into Abu Dhabi you notice large plantings of trees. Apparently over a million trees have been planted so far to help the environment.
A new development is being built on a 27 square km natural island just of Abu Dhabi that will become Abu Dhabi's cultural hub with new Guggenheim and Louvre galleries being built. Also being built on the island is the Zayed National Museum that will showcase the regions history and the unification of the Emirates.
Abu Dhabi also plays host to the Grand Prix and has a purpose built track has constructed out on an island called Yas Island which also contains theme parks and hotels. We had afternoon tea at the hotel that has the Grand Prix track running through the middle of the hotel.

The road from Dubai to Abu Dhabi

Almost as many billboards of Sheik Mohammed as the King of Thailand has

New skyscrapers

The city skyline from the cultural village

Spices in the local souk

The Grand Prix track runs through the middle of the Viceroy hotel

Practise laps while we we having afternoon tea

Dubai

Having had a stopover in Dubai in 2008 and concluding that it was a building site in progress, it was interesting to go back and see the progress that has happened in 4 years. Although some of the major construction has stalled due to the GFC, there were quite a few projects that were finished such as the metro train network around the town.
 Also completed was the Burj Khalifa which is the tallest skyscraper in the world at 829 m high. The observation deck is on the 124th floor and on a clear day gives great views over Dubai. We went up at night and the lights of Dubai were impressive as was the fountain light show in the area surrounding the Burj Khalifa.
The area surrounding the Burj Khalifa contains the Dubai Mall that is also the worlds largest shopping centre with over 1200 shops. As it was approaching Christmas the shops had very festive displays.

We also ventured out on to the Palm Island which is a man-made island in the shape of a palm. The island has many hotels and also residential buildings. The main hotel is the Atlantis and we were lucky enough to bypass security to visit the foyer which is over- the- top to say the least. The hotel has a huge aquarium in which you can go diving in.

The Burj Khalifa

 View from the observation deck at the Burj Khalifa 

The Burj Khalifa made out of Ferrero Rocher chocolates

The Burj Khalifa at sunset

Fountain show at the Burj Khalifa

Easy way to buy gold at a shopping centre

Waterfall in the Dubai Mall

Atlantis Hotel

The aquarium at the Atlantis Hotel

Murals on the ceilings at the Atlantis Hotel