At stupid o’clock (4.30am) we got up and headed to the airport to depart Sri Lanka. The process was slow going, we arrived 2 hours early but only got checked into our flight 50 minutes before it departed.

 

We were happy to arrive in Dubai and celebrated that we had come so far under budget in Sri Lanka by getting a taxi to our accommodation. We arrived too early to check in, so we took turns staying with our gear and taking a kid exploring around the area.

 

Once we actually got into the accommodation, we dump our gear and go for a walk to the beach. On the way back home we see a very talented hang drum player. A beats festival had just started so even though we are hungry and thirsty we stand and watch for a good 10 minutes. (I’ll put video up on Facebook). That night BK cooked dinner in our apartment.

 

The following day was a Friday, we head to the MRT, only to discover that at 9.45am the trains aren’t open yet…how do you operate a city with no trains before 10am we think??!! Turns out their weekend is Friday/Saturday! When the trains start running we head to one of the biggest malls in the world, the Mall of Emirates. After a look around we head back to our apartment to get ready for the Desert Safari.

 

We are picked up right on time, collect two more passengers then head out to the desert. After a pit stop to give us the opportunity to ride quad bikes which we decline we head to some dunes for ‘dune bashing’. I enjoyed it for approximately the first 2 minutes but after that it wasn’t fun for me, we got stuck in the sand a couple of times and by the end I’m completely over it. All the others enjoyed it though!

 

We headed to our ‘desert camp’ to have a snack and we get to hold a falcon and ride camels. (On a side note, since we were ethically opposed to riding elephants I wonder if we shouldn’t have ridden the camels…) We watched a dance show and ate dinner both of which were amazing. We got back to our apartment at 10pm, fall into bed for two hours, then get up and go to the airport at 1.30am!

 

Our flight was meant to leave at 4am but ends up leaving an hour late. We originally had 2 hours to connect to our next flight in which I had great ideas of eating a Turkish Delight in Turkey and having a lovely time but in reality we now only had one hour and we’re tired so we speed to our gate instead. Nice to see you quickly Turkey! We stepped on your ground outside so you are officially in the country count!

 

We have a quick flight to Athens, check in to our accommodation with no issues and sleep the afternoon away. The next day we wake up and are ready to explore! We head to the Acropolis, to see the ancient sights. Our kids can’t understand how old all this stuff is so BK gives a small history lesson.

Bk also leans over a rocky wall at the top of a cliff to take a photo, at that exact moment a gust of wind comes and blows his (very expensive) sunglasses off his shirt and they join the ruins.

To be honest it was a little underwhelming for us. We only spent 2 hours there and everything is fenced off. I think we were a bit spoilt by the ancient temples in Cambodia which you can clamber through.

 

After a nap for R we head out to Plaka, otherwise known as old town Athens, we wander through little streets with gelato in hand. It seems that every corner you turn reveals more ruins fenced off. Lots of stores were closed as it was a Sunday. Even the supermarket was closed!

 

The next day everything burst into life. We went to the Acropolis Museum, there are no photos allowed inside so I can’t show you but take my word for it, it was AMAZING. The actual building was beautiful too. (If you’re reading this Rose, you would have loved it.) It has won many awards. The floor was glass and we looked down to the excavated ruins. Some were quite far down so it is not for the faint hearted.

 

We found a baby store and purchased two car seats ready to put in our car which we are leasing from Peugeot. The afternoon is spent resting, in hindsight we probably should have explored the waterfront or something!

 

Countries 11/12/13✔

 

One more flight, and then we pick up our Peugeot and start exploring Europe on 4 wheels! Hope we remember how to drive after 3 months of not driving! 😄

 

Till next time,

 

Claire

 

Budget update :
Dubai/Istanbul/Athens – $146 over!! (This was purely the Desert Safari pushing us well over)
Total budget – $508 under (Thank goodness for that buffer I’ve built up!)