Travelling to UAE from Saudi Arabia

Being in Saudi Arabia is being in the center of the world, which means a great opportunity to travel great places and countries from East to West. Today i would like to guide you as how to travel to United Arab Emirates from Saudi Arabia. UAE is very popular and famous around the world, perhaps because of Dubai City, where most of the biggest, the tallest, grandest and luxurious thing on earth exist. 

Last June 2017, during the Eid Holidays after Ramadan, i had a chance to visit UAE from Saudi Arabia. I was very excited because it was my first time travelling to UAE and my first time travelling to another country for pleasure. As a residence here in the gulf travelling to UAE is not too difficult, perhaps we have residence card from the country where we are in. 

At first i was not planning to visit UAE, it wasn't really my intention. However, there was one travel agency that offered a very reasonable price which will tour you around Abu Dhabi and Dubai for five days. So i made my decision, went to the travel agency and book my reservation, question? am i allowed to travel to UAE as a filipino without visa? The answer is no, as a filipino even if i have residence card in Saudi Arabia, i have to pre-arrange or get the visa first prior going to UAE. 

In my case, it was very easy because the travel agency did all the preparations including visa arrangement. However, if you want to get the visa by yourself, you can either apply through UAE consulate personally or download your application on their website. Since UAE is not too far from Saudi Arabia, i went there by land trip. 

From Al-Khobar City to Abu Dhabi it took around 8 hours by bus including traffic jam and immigration checkpoint. Indeed it was very exhausting, all i wanted is to reach to our hotel and lay down on my bed. Abu Dhabi City is the capital city of United Arab Emirates, just like Dubai, Abu Dhabi is full of high skyscrapers and establishments. 

The city is lively and many tourists are roaming around the city, Abu Dhabi city is tolerant and foreigners are able to enjoy mostly of their usual activities in their homeland. While i was there, i have seen the difference between Abu Dhabi and the place where i lived in Saudi. UAE is very open, expat women are wearing whatever clothes they want to. Likewise, i have seen that liquor is being sold in Abu Dhabi. 

On our first day at Abu Dhabi we went to the beautiful cor-niche overlooking the entire marina bay of the city, it was very mesmerizing seeing the beautiful skyscrapers from afar and taking great shots. However, my excitement turned into chaos when i had suddenly lost my iPhone 7. I was frantic looking around the places where i had been and asking people whether they have seen it or not. Luckily, it was pickup by one of the tourists who were in the same bus where i was in. It was a sigh of relief after i got my iPhone back. 

I thought i have lost it forever, our next stop was in Marina Mall, others went to Ferrari World a very popular theme  park in Abu Dhabi. However, i did not go there due to the tension i have experienced almost losing my iPhone for good. So i decided to go to Marina mall and spent a couple of hours there. 

After going to Marina Mall, we headed to the extravagant Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi for picture taking, the hotel is among the most expensive hotels in the world, in fact one of the scenes of the Fast and Furious was taken in this hotel. The entrance of the hotel is like the structure usually seen in Paris, the hotel is so big and spacious. Though it was very hot and humid outside tourists got out from their vehicles to have a photo of this landmark. 

Indeed my visit in Abu Dhabi city was worth remembering, it was one of the most amazing experience in my life, being able to see the city full of greatness and wealth. A place full of memories and wonderful things to offer, I will be writing down shortly my trip and experience in Dubai, please watch out for it on my next blog; if you have ever been there, let me know in the comment box below.