Holidays and prices in the Emirates (part 2)
Hello dear tourists! A year earlier, we rested in Dubai and I left a review-instruction on the pages of this site about the rest and prices in this wonderful city. In March 2014, we again spontaneously decided to go on vacation and see something that we had not had time to see a year earlier. Having chosen a budget hotel in Deira, having arrived in Dubai, we successfully checked into the Versales Hotel, which I left a review on this site and I will not repeat in this story. The main purpose of this trip was to visit the Wald Waidi Water Park and the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. As before, our route was drawn up, the budget was calculated. We moved on the targets on our own, without the help of travel agencies. I won’t describe our entire vacation, but I’ll dwell on the moments that may be important for those who plan to go on vacation and which at the time of our trip we didn’t know and partially “got lost”. Prices have not changed compared to last year, so I won’t dwell on them too much. The only thing I want to note is that we went to the Palm Deira metro fruit market. Being inside the market, you realize that the prices are far from the desired ones, and at the moment when you are bargaining for the purchase of one type of fruit, a bunch of others are put into your bag, and you don’t ask for it and are not going to buy it. While we were bargaining about the cost of a melon (starting price 65 AED), they put in our packages: pineapple (very small) -10 AED, dragon's eye (pack of 2 pcs) - 15 AED and some other crap, while at the exit they counted for everything 75 drh. At my request to lay out everything that I did not ask, the seller began to mumble something on his own, it looks like nasty things addressed to me, but with a sweet smile I took a melon worth 25 AED and left. In this market, we bought a box of strawberries 350 gr worth 5 AED. Looks beautiful, tastes disgustingly sour and unripe. Watermelon costs AED 3.50 for 1 kg, AED 13 for mangoes, AED 10-15 for mangosteen and in general prices for fruit are over AED 10 per kg. Regarding the trip by taxi: we had no problems, but our compatriots, at the airport, said that taxi drivers “bred” them twice, namely: unexpectedly at the beginning of the journey the meter broke down and upon arrival the fare increased by almost 2 times. It was useless to swear and ours laid out money. Therefore, we came to the conclusion: as soon as the meter turns off, immediately stop it and change to another one. One day we gathered in Abu Dhabi to visit the mosque. According to previously read reviews, we determined a more economical route, which we moved on. Arriving by metro to the station. Ibn Batuta, we immediately went to the bus station, but there were only city buses. There were no signs and information about the bus stop to Abu Dhabi. After asking several people, for some reason they all sent us to the left, which we did. After walking to the left for 1 km, we realized that there were no bus stops. At this time, a taxi driver stopped near us and we, having explained to him that we need to go by bus to Abu Dhabi, agreed to take us to the bus station for 10 AED and brought us back from where we started our movement. Everything turned out to be corny simple: the departure of the bus from Abu Dhabi comes from the first left platform, and in order to buy tickets, you need to go to the building in the form of a construction trailer and give transport cards (with which we went to the subway) we were credited with money for a trip to AED 25 one way per person. At the entrance to the bus, the cards must be attached to the counter as well as in the subway and do the same on the way out. A few minutes later the bus came and we safely reached Abu Dhabi, and there we immediately took a taxi to the mosque, the cost of which was 45 AED. The mosque, there are no words, but without adventures it was not possible to enter it. Since our clothes did not meet the requirements for entering the mosque, my daughter and I were sent to the parking lot, where there was a changing room. The husband was left upstairs, as his appearance matched. Having descended, they began to demand a passport from me, to which I said that we had passports in our hotel as a deposit and showed copies of passports and visas. I was asked to write down my data in some kind of notebook, and then they sent me to change clothes. . Having changed into an abaya, not like everyone else, my daughter and I began to leave the locker room and at the exit a security guard would stop us and offered to sit down and wait. We sat down, but for what purpose, we did not understand. A few minutes later, a police car drove up and offered us to drive, while I, not understanding anything, tried to find out the reason, to which the employee replied that there were no original passports, this was a problem and it was impossible to enter the mosque. Specifically frightened, I said that I would not go anywhere and to the mosque, too, to which I was given to understand that it was OK and I could leave. We took off the obaya and went upstairs, where I told my husband that the mosque was "flying by". Of course, it was very disappointing that we made such a journey in vain and we decided to go to the store and buy appropriate clothes and scarves, which we did, after which we returned back and went straight to the mosque without any problems. Conclusion: either dress right away so that they don’t find fault with YOU (the whole body should be closed) and a scarf on your head (for women) or take the original passport and get a hug. The road back went according to a previously planned scenario. . A trip to Abu Dhabi for three cost 250 AED (round-trip bus 75+75 AED, taxi there and back 50+50 AED) not counting an unplanned trip to the store. Aquapark Wald Vaidi: entrance AED 245 per person + AED 45 cabin. You can not take a cabin, the tourists put their things on the sunbeds and I did not observe any problems. Be sure to bring your own towel, as the sunbeds were mostly covered with towels, on which they then lay down. Everyone (almost everyone) does this. I expected more from the water park, too advertised, but in real life: two slides from which you go down in circles, two slides (kamikaze) one fast and one slow river, a wave pool and 2 surf pools and EVERYTHING !! ! Our water park in Gelendzhik is YES-A-A compared to this. So it’s probably better for water park lovers to go to Abu Dhabi on Yaz Island, to that water park, maybe it’s better, but I already doubt it. Food prices in Dubai have not changed, shawarma AED 5, grilled chicken AED 22, fresh juices AED 8-20 (500 ml), pastries from AED 3, milk AED 3-0.5 liters. Ice cream at Al Mamzar beach small scoop 12 AED. Everything seems to be short, there will be questions, I will answer. Have a nice holiday.