Maldives 2017 Recap

An additional synonym for ‘paradise’, the word would be the Maldives.

This is part 3/3 of my recaps from my trip in December. (if you haven’t read already, part 1 and part 2 are up!)

The Maldives are one of those places most people I know just plot for honeymoons one day and think it’s super expensive and inaccessible. False. Completely false. When I tell you the Maldives are accessible and are NOT only for honeymooners, please believe me (as written in this itinerary I posted for Maldives). You definitely do not need to wait until right after your wedding to come here. This place is magic and worth the trip at any point in your life. 

Monday, Dec 25, 2017

We planned our trip accordingly and were able to land in the Maldives on Christmas morning. I have flown over various islands in my life but trust me when I tell you that the view over the islands in the Maldives is something totally different. The water is so many shades of blue and there are so many tiny islands that you just try to guess which one of these beautiful plots of land could be your home for the next week. Unfortunately, our plane from Sri Lanka was running late and it had put us in a very tight schedule to make our speed boat to Maafushi. I rarely travel with checked-in luggage and this was MOST DEFINITELY one of the days where I wish we had none. Luckily, we made our speed boat just in time and enjoyed the bumpy 45min trip to Maafushi as best as we could. (Sidebar: Sherry and I had gone through a horrific boat ride back in 2015 coming from Venice to Croatia so since then, boat rides weren’t exactly our favourite activity.) 

Arrival – the small island of Maafushi. It was about 11am when we finally got to the island and we were fortunate enough that the hotel let us check in three hours early so we could spend the majority of Christmas day on the beach. Arena Beach Hotel would be our place to stay until December 31st. Very cliche to say but this hotel was small but with a lot of personality. The staff were incredibly nice and we would be seeing the same people every day for the duration of our stay. The best part of the hotel was that we were directly on a bikini beach so we could go upstairs and throw our tiny bathing suits on and go frolic immediately….which we did. I think by noon we had managed to finagle another tourist to take a picture of Sherry and I in our santa hats and red bathing suits to piss off everyone at home sitting in the cold. Merry Christmas! 

The switch from the craziness of Dubai to this quiet island was great for me. All we had to do was walk 10 feet from the beach to where we could have our breakfasts, lunches and dinners. A big PLUS in the differences was also our breakfast was now included in the price (no more $42 per person brekkie), lunch barely came to $20USD for both of us and dinners were $12USD for a whole buffet. Cheaper food and a beach to eat it on is definitely my idea of blissful living, thanks. A bit of a nuisance was that everyone else on this island also preferred our hotels food to theirs so there was a couple of times where it was a packed house with not so many servers. Perhaps THOSE people should have picked better hotels. Yes, I am that petty.

Tuesday, Dec 26, 2017

As payback for my stunting on IG for Christmas, my whole body was burnt to a crisp. I wasn’t even in the Maldives for 24 hours and my body was like ‘LOL, you thought!’ Major fail on my end and major pain in most of my pale skin turned tomato-ish coloured now. On this day I would be relaxing alone in the morning/early afternoon because Sherry had chosen one of the scuba diving excursions the hotel offered and went off to do that. Since I couldn’t really be exposed in my bathing suit that day I decided to lay in a hammock in the shade for a while and then took a stroll around Maafushi. This island was officially the smallest I have ever been on. You could see from one end of the island directly through to the other. Without stopping, if you walked the full circumference of the island it would maybe take 20 minutes. During my walk I got to enjoy seeing more locals, I found a beautiful soccer pitch, empty non-bikini beaches and a prison. Somehow, on this tiny island, there was a whole ass prison. Didn’t see that coming. 

When Sherry returned we hoped to do another excursion that I had been looking forward to – night fishing. Sadly, for the entirety of our time at the hotel there was no point where the minimum (4 people) amount had signed up for it so we never got to go. Sucks. We just ended up doing a nice night walk around the island again and went to sleep.

Wednesday, Dec 27, 2017

Today was the day we were venturing out to experience the luxurious side of the Maldives we all see on Instagram. We took a day excursion from our hotel to the private island of Olhuveli, specifically, to the fancy pants Olhuveli Beach & Spa. I think it took about a 30min in a speedboat to get to this utopia. Holy shit, I promise you, the pictures I posted don’t even do this place justice. From entry to every corner of the island, it was perfectly manicured trees, villas and beaches. We were allowed to use the whole island for the day and there was also a buffet lunch included in the entry price. I was especially elated at the sight of the famous overwaater villas. Every picture I have seen of the Maldives included these damn villas and I wanted to feel like a rich person too OK? I made sure to get plenty of pictures in front of those villas and fully take in another piece of my bucket list being crossed off. 

This ended up being a mostly lazy day for us as we sat by the infinity pool before and after our lunch, drinking some rum. This was a notable experience as bringing liquor into the Maldives is illegal and we cannot access it on the ‘local’ island we were staying on. These private islands though? Bottoms up! 

Thurs, Dec 28 + Fri, Dec 29 + Sat, Dec 30, 2017

We didn’t have as hectic of a schedule in the Maldives as we did in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. One of my biggest regrets was that perhaps we should have gone to the Maldives first and then made our way to Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Our jet lag had FINALLY somewhat worn off but there really wasn’t anything to do at night in Maafushi because, let’s be serious, its CRAZY dark outside and we don’t have access to liquor. I can assume those on honeymoons get into a different variety of shenanigans in their private rooms at night, but like, that clearly wasn’t an option for us two. From Thursday to Saturday we just would eat, lay on the beach, eat again, lay on the beach some more and then go to sleep. I feel no shame in that for once in my life I actually went somewhere and did NOTHING. I should add, these three days of nothingness were necessary with what was ahead for our journey home….. 

Sunday, Dec 31, 2017

I’m just gonna tell all of you from the start – this goddamn journey home took 40 hours. 40. Goddamn. Hours. This was another reason we maybe should have reversed our schedule of going to the Maldives first and ending it in the UAE.

Alright, so, we were up at 5am on New Years eve to finish packing and get to our flight. While Sherry finished packing I did my last stroll on our bikini beach and took in the silence and warmth that would be absent from my life as soon as I got back to Toronto. We pulled some wild shit on this day, oh boy. There are scheduled speed boats from Maafushi to the airport throughout the day. You could take your own private boat, but that would be $150USD for both of you instead of the $25USD per person for the scheduled ones. Never in my life have I arrived in an airport with less than an hour until the flight departed. Not even boarding, no no, actual departure. We took a boat at 7:30am from Maafushi and arrived at the airport at about 8:15am. Boarding was set to begin at 8:45am. Take that in. We had 30 minutes to (hopefully) check in, check our luggage, make it through border control and get to our gate.

Small ting, we totally made it with time to spare!  

I wouldn’t suggest anyone else cuts it that close for their flights, but we somehow made it on time AFTER people telling us that it is ‘busy season’ and they recommended being at the airport 3hrs before departure. Guess sometimes you have to live your life on the edge, this was our morning on this edge. Sadly, customs confiscated the charcoal I had in my checked-in luggage for my bf’s newly bought shisha and they also confiscated a souvenir lighter Sherry had purchased and also stowed in her checked-in luggage. Thank god we were running so close to our departure because if not? Sherry likely would have created an international incident over that damn lighter. It was a little weird though, we came in with those items into Maldives but we were not allowed to leave with them. Whatever, onto Sri Lanka. 

We got to Sri Lanka on time and within an hour we boarded our flight continuing onto Dubai. It is now about 4:30pm and we are back at DXB airport. I had booked us a coach ride on the complimentary Etihad bus going from Etihad Travel Mall in Dubai to Abu Dhabi airport for 7pm. Let me tell you guys, this service is THEEEEE SHIT! You get to this place and you can check in for your flight from there. They took our luggage (which we didn’t see again until Toronto) and gave us our boarding passes. There was a restaurant to eat in, an exchange place and even bathrooms with showers in them at this Etihad Travel Mall. We boarded promptly at 7pm and were on our way back to Abu Dhabi, arriving at 820pm at their airport.

Without having to deal with our heavy checked-in luggage and with boarding passes in hand, we quickly went to the lockers at Abu Dhabi airport and dropped off our carry-on bags. To note, they aren’t actually lockers – there is a gentleman at a desk who will tag and store whatever luggage you have until you come back and pick it up. (They charge by size and length of time in storage) Now that we had no heavy items to carry on us we went over to the taxi area and had the driver take us to Yas Island.   

Sherry and I had read that there was a free ‘Winter Wonderland’ that night at Yas and we would see fireworks from there as well. That was a mistake, too many kids everywhere. It was literally a carnival for children and families with fake snow sprinkled everywhere. Not exactly how we wanted to spend our NYE so we decided to take a hike over to Yas Marina. Once there, we pranced by Stars n’ Bars again and took a seat at a bench overlooking the marina. The security guard told us where to face for the best view of them – he was wrong, but we still got to see them. There was some outdoor nightclub blaring forgetful hits from the 80s and 90s the entire time so we brought in the new year listening to the Macarena at a marina in Abu Dhabi. Great. 

Monday, Jan 1, 2018

Clock struck midnight. It was officially 2018 on this side of the world. Our flight was at 2:15am going from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt so we had to find a cabbie quickly to make it back for customs screening etc. We got VERY lucky as the first cabbie man we spoke to agreed to take us. He spent the entire ride complaining about taking us since there were ‘more expensive fares‘ to be had but we thanked him and tipped him nicely for picking us up over the other New Years Eve revelers. When we arrived at the airport we went and scooped our carry-on luggage from the lockers and easily made our way in through customs and border protection. 

2:15am, we finally left for Frankfurt. We were happy that the layover in Frankfurt was only three hours going home, unfortunately, the captain decided to speed shit up and we got there an hour early. Great, another four hours at Frankfurt airport. Fast forward through the boredom there and our flight home to Toronto was finally boarding. Hallelujah. We landed in Toronto at 12:30pm on Monday, January 1st. New Years Day – absolutely exhausted. If you take in the 10hr and then 9hr and then 6hr time differences between Maldives, UAE and Frankfurt, we were spent. 

Home at last, whyyy must it be so cold?

If you’re wondering the costs associated with this entire trip, make sure to click here. Gives a breakdown of what we paid for flight + stays.

– Mirna 

Toronto to Jamaica Dream Weekend: Group + Two Person + Solo Options

SPECS

Who: Four people/Two Beds, Two people/One Bed, Solo

Where: Toronto to Negril, Jamaica

When: Wednesday, August 1st to Wednesday, August 8th

Budget: Under $1200

Note: You would be flying into Montego Bay and find transport to Negril. The actual Dream Weekend dates are August 2nd-August 6th and tickets for the events can be purchased on their website, found here for $295 USD ($368 CDN)  General Early Bird OR $515 USD ($642 CDN) Diamond VIP Early Bird. Also, I have no affiliation with the organizers of this event, I just did this because a lot of people requested cheaper alternatives for travel. 

Flight: Toronto to Montego Bay, Jamaica | August 1st to August 8th

$800.00 CDN per person; roundtrip (FYI – I might could have a discount code to bring this price down to $713, just contact me directly and I will gladly provide it)

Stay: Hotel or AirBnB for four | August 1st to August 8th

Option 1: $1006.00 CDN ($251.50/per person); Great reviews, OK looking, Close taxi ride to beaches and nightlife 

Option 2: $877.00 CDN ($416.00/per person); In quiet area, Cozy looking, Great reviews, Close taxi ride to beaches and nightlife 

Option 3: $843 + 10% tax + $11 fee = $938.30 CDN ($234.58/per person); Cottage, Good location, Good reviews 

Option 4: $1182 + 17% tax + $11 fee = $1392.94 CDN ($348.49/per person); Next to Rick’s Cafe, Great reviews, Big space

Option 5: $1401 + 10% tax + $11 fee = $1552.10 CDN ($388.03/per person); Close to Rick’s Cafe, Big cottage, Great reviews

 

Stay: Hotel or AirBnB for two | August 1st to August 8th

Option 1: $712.00 CDN ($356.00/per person); Close access to nightlife and beaches, Quaint looking, Great reviews

Option 2: $843.00 CDN ($421.50/per person); Great view, Balcony, Nice looking, Close to beach

Option 3: $613 + 10% tax + $11 fee = 685.30 CDN ($342.65/per person); Quiet area, Close to Rick’s Cafe, OK looking, Good reviews

Option 4: $701 + 17.5% tax + $11 fee = 834.68 CDN ($417.34/per person); Cottage, Good location, Good reviews 

 

Stay: AirBnB for one | August 1st to August 8th

Option 1: $431.00 CDN; Close to attractions, OK looking, Great reviews

Option 2: $314.00 CDN; Close to Rick’s Cafe, OK looking, Great reviews

Option 3: $281.00 CDN; Close taxi to beach, Close to Rick’s Cafe, Nice looking, Great reviews

Total: Overall, even if you go for the MOST expensive options I posted it’s about $1129.00 CDN per person for the 4 person trip,  $1134.50 CDN per person for the 2 people trip and $1144.00 CDN for solo.

Extras: If you plan on using AirBnB for the first time, click here for a free credit towards your stay OR if you choose Booking.com for the first time click here for a free credit. Also, if you plan on using Uber for the first time, click here for a free credit towards the ride.

– Mirna 

 

I am not a licensed travel agent of Ontario and make itineraries as a hobby. Any itineraries used by readers are of their own free will and choosing. Site owner is not responsible for any misadventures, mishaps, airline issues or accommodation issues that occur on trip itineraries that are posted or individually e-mailed to readers.

Dubai 2017 Recap

Oh, Dubai. We were waiting for you.

This is post 2/3 of my recent trip. (check the Abu Dhabi one here if you haven’t already)

We had been waiting to finally see the spectacle that is Dubai. You hear stories about it from people who have traveled there and from friends who work for Emirates and live there. It really isn’t real until you get there. Once you arrive into this shiny city, it hits you that you broke as f….

Yeah. Let’s just say the wealth is apparent and in your face regularly while in Dubai. Nonetheless, you should see the city at least once in your life.

Friday, Dec 22, 2017

After the little hangover from our final night in Abu Dhabi, we proceeded to catching our bus to Dubai. I would suggest this mode of transportation for anyone going between the two cities as it is cheap and only takes 90 minutes, with shockingly comfy seats.  

I said we were waiting to get to Dubai, but what I really meant was we were waiting to get to our hotel in Dubai. If I ever return to Dubai, it will be so that I may stay at the Five Palm Jumeirah again. This is the single most impressive hotel I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. The one in Abu Dhabi was cool and chill, this was a very different beast. The entrance is grandiose, the service is really five star and the pool was so damn sexy! When we arrived the lady at the front desk (shout out to Natasha!) explained all the hotels amenities and how they offer a complimentary shuttle service to both Mall of Emirates and Dubai mall. Furthermore, we got upgraded again! She put us in a partial sea view room for no extra charge. Upon entering our hotel room, let me tell you, love at first sight. The bathroom alone was beautiful with music controls so that you could stream the music from your TV to the bathroom. Also, the toiletries? Oh, Salvatore Ferragamo. Heavenly. 

While we were on our trek from the bus station to our hotel we noticed that the ‘strict’ clothing guidelines all these message boards had warned us about were a bunch of bullshit. So, Sherry and I both threw on some maxi dresses and took an Uber into downtown Dubai to try and find some Pho. Blame Sherry for that idea, she had a craving for Pho and I just like eating and adventure. We got lost for a little while because (as it seemed for the entirety of our trip) people aren’t too accurate when giving directions in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. We eventually found the Pho spot and filled our bellies while taking in some of the impressive architecture surrounding us. We hopped in an Uber to go back to our hotel and that is when I noticed another pattern, the Uber cars. It isn’t like we were requesting nice cars to drive us around but ONLY nice cars were picking us up. Lexus. Lexus. BMW. Lexus. Lexus. Fine by me.

It was approaching sunset at the hotel so we decided to take a stroll throughout the beautiful property. First we took pictures by where the spa was overlooking our beautiful pool, followed by going to the ‘Penthouse Bar‘ on the 25th floor. If you are someone who lives for a good view, make sure you go to that bar. It opens at 6pm and it is worth every penny you will spend up there on food, shisha or liquor. There is a shallow heated pool, I believe about three different eating areas and a view that one could only dream of. The staff was also really cool and attentive with some of them even assuring me they’d get me to try shisha one day. Good luck. It was a wonderful place to spend the rest of our night just gazing over Dubai.

Saturday, Dec 23, 2017

Naturally, we were up at 6:30am again. Our sleeping was still not ANYWHERE near normal so we figured if we were up we may as well head to the all-you-can-eat breakfast by the pool. This breakfast was different than the one in Abu Dhabi, this was really some fancy shit. There was a man there just baking donuts and fresh croissants. What? DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE FOOD? OK.  After filling up our bellies we chose our spot for a nice day poolside and went upstairs to throw our bikins on.

Oh, what a pool. The place is lined with palm trees, beach beds everywhere and each one had it’s own button so that you could summon the staff to bring you food or drinks without ever having to leave your spot. I was finally in a place that treated me like I thought this whole time in my head I should be treated. There was a lot of construction on their beach unfortunately, but I assume when that is all done the beach would be used a lot as well. We spent about 3-4 hours at the pool but decided to finally leave as there was sadly an abundance of crying children everywhere. Not that I have issues with children existing, but when you are in your tiny bikini just trying to relax poolside in such a sexy atmosphere – it kind of ruins the mood.

I had pre-booked our tickets to go up to the top of the Burj Khalifa a month ahead. Thank goodness I did because as we arrived there all the times said ‘unavailable’ because it is probably the most famous tourist trap in Dubai. The tallest building in the world. I understand why people go up there, the view was pretty cool (even though the goddamn fog was out again) but do I need to go up there again? Not really. We chose our timing well because we were able to see Dubai in daylight, during the sunset above the clouds and then as night fell. If you do ever go, definitely pay more for the sunset time to visit. When we descended back down the 125 floors we paid $8 to go onto the walkway that was put out at the Dubai Fountain. We could have definitely watched FOR FREE from the sides like everyone else, but, we just had to be extra and stand on a long floating walkway for the duration of the first show. So the fountain has a choreographed water ‘dance’ every 30 minutes to different music, depending on when you are there, you will likely see something different. It was very quick, beautiful and it was interesting to watch how such a large crowd of people went so silent to witness it. Following that we did quick walk through of Dubai Mall. (Burj, Fountain + Mall are all connected) I’m not a big mall person because the crowds annoy me and as it was Christmas time, the mall was packed! It was cool to see that they had an aquarium inside and all the different stores I had never heard of/the ones I had heard of that I couldn’t afford. 

Sunday, Dec 24, 2017

There was a genuine sadness when we had to check out of our hotel. How could I leave somewhere so damn luxurious and awesome? Sigh. This hotel was so awesome that we were given the option to leave our bags, use the amenities still and then could shower and get changed in their spa and pick our bags back up later. Stupid fog ruined that whole plan so we went wandering around again. Our flight wasn’t until 11pm so we had a lot of time to kill.

First we went to the Burj Al Arab because it looked so cool in pictures. I was not aware that you couldn’t actually just walk around the place, it was tight security. So we walked down to the beach by it and admired it from afar. That may have taken a whole 23 minutes of our time that we had to kill. Horrible. Luckily the Mall of Emirates wasn’t too far away so we called an Uber and went there to kill the rest of our time before our booked nighttime activity. So when you get to Mall of Emirates, unless you got some SERIOUS money to spend, don’t go to the third floor first. Sherry and I looked around hella confused like???? I can’t afford this, why did I come here? I seen a children’s store for D&G. I didn’t even know that was a thing. We went to the lower floors and many stores we could afford appeared. There was one souvenir store that we found and really found some good things in. Camel milk soap, pens, even found a mini-shisha for my boyfriend and bought the charcoal to go with it. Great find.  

Now onto our evening activity – Dinner in the Sky Dubai. We had booked the tea time for this because having a view over Dubai marina at sunset sounded like the best option. Sadly, THE GODDAMN FOG was there again. Bane of our existence while in the UAE it seemed. The whole premise is that you will be hoisted 50m in the air while buckled to a seat and enjoy a small spread of treats while your feet dangle and you avoid looking down. I thought it was pretty cool, just wish it wasn’t so damn foggy for the sunset and the overall picture taking I wanted to do. I really like that the chairs swiveled and also reclined like 90 degrees so I could test how much I valued my life over and over.  We were also treated to a surprise magic show because it was Christmas Eve. Dude wasn’t like David Copperfield, but it’s the thought that matters right? 

Long. Ass. Day.

We went and picked up our bags from the hotel and made our way to the infamous Dubai airport. When people tell you that it’s busy – believe them. I had never seen such a busy airport in my life and I feel like being there on Christmas Eve was pushing it even more. People were standing on the conveyor belts and yelling orders at others, the people in all the lines had no less than like 10 boxes per family… chaos. I don’t mind the chaos as long as everything was on time, but sadly our Sri Lankan flight was taking its sweet time to board. I made the mistake of going to the bathroom by our boarding gate and finding out it was a squat toilet. How the hell is this one of the busiest airports in the world and you have a squat toilet? Mans were tired, that was more work than I was ready to put in. Blah. We finally boarded, time for the Maldives. 

If you’re wondering the costs associated with this entire trip, make sure to click here. Gives a breakdown of what we paid for flight + stays.

– Mirna 

Abu Dhabi 2017 Recap

This trip was so damn epic.

It’s currently 3:46am, I’m at my first overnight shift of 2018 trying to write this piece about how AWESOME the past two and a half weeks of my life were. It almost feels like words don’t even do this experience justice you know? This is part 1/3 of my recaps for this trip. They will ALL likely be content heavy and filled with a bunch of pictures (just scroll through them at your leisure). Although most people would say I post a lot while traveling on Snapchat/IG story/Twitter – I wanted to make sure I captured every part of this trip because I knew nights like this, when it is -27 outside, I would need memories to just look back at and reminisce. 

Monday, Dec 18, 2017

So I go to work on the Monday and leave at 2pm to catch the subway to Dundas West station and then continue to the airport on the UP Express. I WISH someone had let me know that the UP Express was actually not inside the station. On a cold day with a bunch of luggage, lugging it two blocks was not awesome. At all! So I link up with my travel partner Sherry at the UP Express stop and we go to Pearson airport. It was pretty straightforward from there; we dropped off our luggage, hung out a little in the terminal and got on this massive Air Canada plane towards Frankfurt. Everything was timely and bless, minus that on the flight to Frankfurt they ran out of meals with meat so Sherry and I had to eat a vegetarian meal. Sadness. Once we landed in Frankfurt we felt pretty crummy but we boarded the next plane going from Frankfurt to Abu Dhabi with Etihad airlines and that was on time and smooth sailing as well. I should mention, I looked very fabulous in my Vybz Kartel tshirt and leggings. Choose comfort when traveling, always. 

Tuesday, Dec 19, 2017

Finally, at 8:45pm (local time) we land in Abu Dhabi. The first thing I did was get my SIM card at the airport because I knew I’d be posting a lot and didn’t want to always wait until Wi-Fi to be able to do so. I will say, the company I got my SIM card with (Etisalat) was perfect in their service between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. I never lost a signal and the upload speeds were quick even when we were deep in the desert. We took a taxi from the airport and finally got to our hotel, the Traders Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri.

The outdoor entrance to our hotel was a pleasant welcome with all the fancy cars, staff everywhere and big fountain in front. Even more pleasant was us finding out upon checking in that the gentleman at the front desk (SHOUT OUT TO FATHI) had given us a free upgrade to a sea view room. The bathroom was nice and big, as was the room itself. The view from our balcony was really nice, especially at sunset. Because we had been traveling for what felt like forever, we went down to the hotel restaurant which overlooked our private beach area. This actually looked like a beach club at night. There was cabanas, tables, a bar and people smoking shisha. Overall a really positive welcome into Abu Dhabi and this trip. 

Wednesday, Dec 20, 2017

I don’t think we slept much the night before because we were adjusting to the time change, so we were up early to get some breakfast and go check out the hotel grounds in daylight. It was a really big surprise when we went to pay for the breakfast buffet at our hotel that the price was the equivalent of $42 Canadian per person. I’m more accustomed to my $5.99 breakfast options, so Sherry and I were both taken aback by that. We followed up our wealthy breakfast with a long walk along the beach. The grounds of this hotel property were MASSIVE. I believe there were five or six hotels/residences all together there. It was so big that once we reached the other end of the property, taking a gondola was the option to return back to ours. Yes, they have a whole ass gondola at your service there. The gondolier told me that the canal is 700m long from one end to the other. Insane. Went from taking gondola’s in Venice to taking one in Abu Dhabi. Didn’t see that coming.

We returned back to our room and got ready to go to the famous Sheikh Zayed Mosque.  We had prepared our modest clothing and head wraps for this incredible place. This ended up being pointless because we had to throw on the modest dresses they had available at the mosque anyways. A note to you ladies (if you are particularly curvy) it does not matter how much is covered – they will have you put on their clothing so don’t bother buying anything extra except the head scarf to cover your hair. Sherry and I both had no issue with this because we were entering a religious site and the last thing we wanted to do was come off as disrespectful. (Sadly, other tourists didn’t get that message as we kept seeing them flashing their hair and security repeatedly telling them to cover it.) I thought the mosque I visited in Kuala Lumpur was the most beautiful and impressive, until I got to Sheikh Zayed Mosque. There is nothing in this world, no pictures, no descriptions that can prepare you for the sheer beauty and structure of this place. It is breathtaking and when you are walking through it an incredible feeling of peace comes over you. If there is any ‘must-see’ when you go to the United Arab Emirates, I would say this mosque would be it.

Following the mosque trip we went to some random mall nearby in search of food. I always find it odd when I go to foreign countries and they have this obsession with North American fast food joints. All we saw in this mall was Burger Kings, McDonalds etc. We didn’t come all the way to the UAE to eat that. Luckily, there was a shawarma spot nestled in a corner we were able to have a sit down meal at. Best shawarma I have ever had. That’s all you have to know.

Bet you thought this day was done?

Wrong.

At about 1:30pm we returned back to our hotel and changed into our comfy clothes. I had booked us an afternoon adventure of riding through sand dunes, camel riding, sand boarding and a buffet dinner in the middle of the desert with belly dancers. I booked the package through GetYourGuide and the tour guide was prompt and really nice. (SHOUT OUT TO SALIM!) There was a 45 minute ride until the desert that was calm and peaceful as we spoke to Salim and the two other tourists in the backseat doing this adventure with us. We first went to a camel farm and got to feed the oddly large animals. I had no idea camels were that big, but they were really gentle and just hungry. We then continued on another peaceful ride. until we touched sand. Insane. Salim had that Land Rover flying over and sideways in the sand. You ever been in a car drifting sideways on sand? Your life flashes before your eyes. I definitely was screaming the entire time. When we finally stopped, Sherry took advantage of the sand boarding and I just took a lot of pictures. We then arrived at our camp for the night and had the pleasure of actually riding a camel as the sun set. Pretty cool atmosphere to be in, didn’t even feel real. 

The camp itself had a lot going on; there was a falcon to hold, henna being done, a shisha area, a sitting area, a buffet area, a stage where the belly dancers performed and there was a spectacular spot to catch s view of the sun setting. At one point in the night they turned off all the lights in the camp so we could see the stars. I was there laying down in the pitch black, in the middle of the desert, looking up at the stars as I drank a rum and coke. Life is beautiful. 

Thursday, Dec 21, 2017

Our Wednesday was really busy and we thought that would maybe prompt a longer night of sleep but the jet lag was just kicking our asses. We were both up at 4:30am ordering spaghetti to our room. We really didn’t sleep longer than 4 hours a day in Abu Dhabi or Dubai. Tragic.

This was going to be another really busy day of planned activities, but since we were up so early we figured we’d go take a swim at the infinity pool on the property. When we got there we found out that there was a minimum spend to use the Shangri-La’s pool, which was fine with us. The pool was beautiful, quiet and looked directly at Sheikh Zayed Mosque across the water. Well worth the money. What we did not know was that they didn’t start serving food until noon. The reason this was an issue was our afternoon tea spot was reserved for 1pm at Emirates Palace. This wouldn’t give us much time to eat, however, their bar opened at 11am. Fantastic. Between 11am and 12pm we had the bartenders bring us a new drink every 15 minutes. By the time we left the pool I personally was quite tipsy and happy. Perfect mood to be in for afternoon tea in a fancy pants place right?

We got to Emirates Palace on time and somewhat drunken. The place is very luxurious and upon entering you definitely feel a little overwhelmed by the ambiance. The afternoon tea spread was cute and tasty. The best part of it was that it came with a 24k gold coffee or hot chocolate option. We both chose the hot chocolate option and were throwing those gold flakes DOWN! If you do choose to attend afternoon tea at Emirates Palace, I would suggest also making a reservation here. There was a lot of foot traffic through the property that I don’t think was all people staying in the hotel, so it is better to be safe than left hungry.  Sherry and I tried to go look at the beach grounds but were denied as it was only for patrons of the hotel, shame. We did manage to play in the fountains outside of the hotel and admire the plethora of expensive cars parked in front as well. Yeah, beach would have been better…..

From Emirates Palace we made our way to the newly opened Louvre, Abu Dhabi. It is kind of wild to me that I stepped foot into the Louvre in Abu Dhabi before the one in Paris, but that’s how life goes I guess. The tickets for the museum were booked as soon as they were made available online and they weren’t expensive at all. The inside was were clean and modern, but I quite fancied the outdoors much more. I did like the statues and historical artifacts inside, but, the outside architecture of this building was much more impressive. The rood and the way the structure was set on water was so perfectly planned and elegant. Make sure if you ever go that you take time to explore the outdoor grounds because it is mesmerizing.

Bet you thought this day was done as well?

Wrong.

Sherry and I decided it was time to finally go out and get our dancing shoes on. We read online that Thursday and Friday nights were actually the ‘club nights’ in the UAE and that specifically on Thursdays there were many ladies nights wherein women entered or drank for free. Sounded good to us! We had made a plan to go to this one large club at about 11:30pm, but as our taxi pulled up there, ghost town. Luckily, we were on YAS Island where most of the clubs were anyways, so we had options. As our taxi drove us to get some food – we heard dancehall blaring from one establishment. Easy decision. Stars ‘n’ Bars was the name of the place. We chose a damn sports bar. On one side there was food and TV’s showing NBA games but on the other side there was a bar with booths and a DJ. We found out it was about $250 Canadian minimum spend for a booth, so we opted to do that. Sherry enjoyed her shisha, we both got some food and proceeded to order many doubles of whiskey and rum. $250? Easy. We also managed to make two acquaintances from Texas and Georgia that were working for the US Army in Abu Dhabi, great people to talk NFL with. I will say this, the damn DJ tricked us! That one dancehall song got us to choose that place but for the rest of the night the DJ kept making everything into some weird EDM mix. Damn shame. However, being drunk twice in one day fixes most ailments. 

If you’re wondering the costs associated with this entire trip, make sure to click here. Gives a breakdown of what we paid for flight + stays.

– Mirna 

Maldives Budget Breakdown (2017)

I thought long and hard about writing this piece because I realize some aspects of travel can be TMI. But if I could do a price breakdown for going to Cropover in Barbados, why shouldn’t I explain the costs associated with going to the Maldives? 

The reason I wanted to post this is because I feel like the Maldives is a dream location for many that seems exceptionally pricey and almost impossible to travel to on a budget. 

Unlike Barbados, I won’t post the costs of activities, because what I will be doing is definitely not what everyone else would be doing. (Unlike Carnivals, where usually going to fetes is kind of the standard of attendance.) Also, my trip is not ONLY to the Maldives – I will be spending 3 nights in Abu Dhabi, 2 nights in Dubai and then 6 nights in the Maldives. 

Also, I should add, myself and my travel partner for this journey (@sherrydacosta) decided to have some luxury in our lives. This trip could have been much cheaper in regards to accommodations but once we saw how discounted these 4* and 5* hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai were, it was a unanimous vote to enjoy some of them. Let me tell you, I can’t even get a 4* hotel in Toronto for these prices so being fortunate enough to book them in warm locations was a bonus. 

Let us begin with the flight. 

When we were initially looking for flights to the Maldives it was about $2500 per person roundtrip.

STEEP.

I realized we were going during an expensive time of year, but still, no way that was an acceptable flight price. So I did the same thing I did for Barbados, I began looking at alternative airports for departure and working out what route would be cheaper. 

We got lucky.

Air Canada + Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi roundtrip with only a 3hr layover each way in Frankfurt popped up. $1389.00 per person. Perfect.

Following that, we found a flight to the Maldives from Dubai with Sri Lankan Air. $771.00 per person. Also, perfect. 

With choosing to readjust our route, it lowered our flight cost from a possible $2500 per person to $2160 per person. What is even MORE crazy is that exact flight to Abu Dhabi we booked back in September that we paid $1389 for is now $2700!! Yikes. Lower price and we get to see Abu Dhabi and Dubai? Win. Big big win. 

Moving on to accommodations.

Now that we knew our dates for Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Maldives it was just a matter of finding cheap places to rest our heads. However, once we began looking and seen the cheap prices for some very nice hotels, we decided to splurge a little. (still, well-priced though)

For Abu Dhabi we found this beautiful hotel ‘Traders Hotel Qaryat Al Beri, by Shangri-la‘. It is a 4* hotel on a beach, the Tripadvisor reviews were great and it even has a gondola that will taxi you via their own canals throughout the hotel. Incredible.

Cost: $182.50 per person, for three nights!

We wanted something glitzy for Dubai, but I think both of us NEVER pictured we would find a gem like the ‘Five Palm Jumeirah‘. This is a 5* hotel in the Palm Jumeirah area of Dubai. It is grandiose in its structure, has three outdoor swimming pools and a private beach. The second we saw this hotel we knew it was the one. Although this one is a bit more costly, I feel for it being a 5* and how gorgeous it is, well worth the money.

Cost:  $288.00 per person, for two nights! 

Finally, for the longest stay during this vacation we had to pick somewhere good for the Maldives. Here was the dilemma; 1) The resorts that are on private islands are INSANELY expensive 2) The hotels on islands with local occupants were not as ‘open’ because you couldn’t just walk around in a bathing suit.

So what to do?

Boom. We found the incredible ‘Arena Beach Hotel‘ on the island of Maafushi. This is a 4* hotel on a local island (not private) that has a bikini beach at its front doors. Therefore, we can frolic freely in our bathing suits without being offensive to the local population. This hotel is not only beautiful, well priced and well located – it also includes a buffet breakfast. I love food-inclusive pricing. Furthermore, it is also perfect for any scuba diving, fishing or island hopping excursions. Great find for us.

Cost: $495.50 per person, for six nights!

Could this trip have been cheaper? Absolutely. I think Sherry and I could have easily done this for under $2700 even. But, when you want to be fake bougee for a period of time, this is what happens. Also, I imagine when it isn’t Christmas/NYE it may also be much cheaper to travel to these destinations.

Total cost of flights and accommodations for Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Maldives is: $3126.00 per person. 

I think we did well with the nice places we are staying and going to. I really hope this price breakdown enlightens and perhaps even inspires people to travel to these luxurious places on a non-six-figure-a-year-earning-salary. 

– Mirna