4th to 8th March, 2025

So, here we are in Dubai on the last day of our holiday, as we will be setting off from the hotel at 6.30am tomorrow morning for the airport.

We said our goodbyes to those we had met in Thailand from the Indonesian housekeeping staff at the hotel, to Maxim at the Russian table tennis (who very kindly and completely out of the blue, gave us a little Russian spoon that traditionally is used for salt) and to Oi and Win, our erstwhile laundry wife and husband team from last year. We also said our farewells to Mr Chai, who supplied Val with the best daily coconut we have ever had as well as the sweetest mangoes you can imagine. He is 57, he told us, and refers to us as Mama and Papa and he is our son, which made us laugh. And then he told us (I think) that his parents had died last year, which nearly had us in tears. He was so lovely and always joking and laughing, despite working all hours.

We had a good trip from Koh Samui to Dubai, despite a message telling us that our Bangkok Airways flight to Bangkok was delayed by an hour, which would have made our transit time down to 30 minutes in the vast Bangkok airport, which would have been decidedly difficult. We got to Samui Airport nice and early (a largely Benn trait, I think) and we were immediately popped onto an earlier flight, so all went well in the end. And the perfect justification for getting to airports early!!

The distances at Bangkok airport are truly mind-boggling and we were very pleased that Val was given wheelchair assistance, not least as we would undoubtedly have got lost otherwise. We had the ease of leaving in the afternoon in Thailand, but that did mean that we arrived just before 1am in Dubai (Dubai time), but it was an OK flight, which helped. That said, I really MUST remember to take my restless legs meds in good time next time…

I know you are all DYING to know about our accommodation. We are staying at the Millennium Plaza Downtown hotel in Dubai and I had contacted them a long time ago regarding a room with disabled access, but had been advised that it would depend on availability at the time. Not sure why this is so difficult, but anyway. We were actually shown a room on the 7th floor with all the trappings for disabled access, except that you still had to climb into the bath to have a shower (?!), so we decided to stick with our original ‘Deluxe’ room with a nice view of the famous sculpture opposite the hotel. They actually moved us up to the 11th floor and said that may have something else suitable with a walk-in shower the next day.

Well, the next morning we had our usual hearty breakfast and walked over to reception to enquire about a possible room with a walk-in shower. A few clicks on their keyboard later and we were told that we could be shown what was available and we could decide if we wanted to move rooms. So off we went to the 18th floor (the top one) with young Nay, a lovely Burmese lad, who had only joined the hotel 5 days before. At first he couldn’t find room 1835 until the housekeeping lady pointed to the Royal Suite!!! So in we went…

It did not take us long to decide to move rooms……

To be honest, I don’t think anyone, regal or otherwise, has stayed in the room for a while, but it is certainly very plush and spacious and has a walk-in shower!

The first afternoon, we decided to try out the Jacuzzi, so I started filling it with water until it was just over the level of the jets (see photo above). It was still filling, but I thought I would test the jets, so switched on the switch located on the wall by the basins.

Well, that certainly proved to be exciting. It seems that you can adjust the strength of the jets with some switches on the other side of the bath, (left-hand side), which as you can see is some distance away. It also seems that you need to have quite a full bath first before turning on anything… The end result was about 16 jets blasting water to a height of about 8 feet in all directions. And another thing I learned was that for some reason, the switch on the wall refused to cut the power to the Jacuzzi no matter how many times I desperately pushed it. So with water shooting all the bathroom, I clambered through the maelstrom and tackled the switches by the bath itself until finally I found a combination that did the trick. The Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas were nothing compared with this display!!

We used a lot of towels mopping up, though Val did comment that the bathroom looked sparkling afterwards. We gave up on the idea of a Jacuzzi after that..

We had decided to try a couple of the attractions listed on TripAdvisor, one of which we went to last evening called the Global Village. This is a (decidedly) artificial collection of ‘pavilions’ from about 25 odd countries in which were shops selling goods and food from the different countries. It was all very Kitsch, a bit like Las Vegas, but good fun, if decidedly expensive, especially after Thailand. A few photos to give you an idea….

We popped in and out of various pavilions and it was certainly fascinating seeing the different wares on sale. In the Yemen pavilion it would seem that honey is a very big thing, for instance. You also got a great feel for the different fashions in the different countries. A lot of it was a variation on a theme, but interesting nevertheless.

We had a look at the main stage where they have live acts – we were able to witness two harpists perform… We some snacks from the many, many food stalls, inevitably from all over the world. Who knew that Turkish ice cream was so popular – or pricey. It ranked alongside some I inadvertently bought in Florence once….. We liked the Korean and Japanese pavilions and we bought some interesting sandals for Val that are supposed to be particularly good for your feet. The lady was so pleased that we had bought two pairs she gave us a free pair of flip-flops for me!

It was very warm and our late arrival in Dubai the night before was catching up with us, so we departed for home, a shower and bed in out palatial suite.

Today we set off for another attraction, this time the Miracle Garden. Again, not exactly National Trust or RHS, but considering where we are (I believe it has yet to rain in Dubai this year), it is actually something of a miracle. The logistics must be staggering. Oh, and if you like petunias, this is the place for you…

OK, that probably does it, but I can supply a LOT more photos if you so desire. It was HOT, so we headed back to a taxi after a refreshing drink of watermelon juice and I am writing this from the comfort of our air-conditioned suite (did i mention the ROYAL Suite????).

Well this is it, folks, the final entry. It has been a great trip and we have kept warm and fit and cold-free (in every sense) and relaxed. So all-in-all it has fulfilled its purpose. We are looking forward to being home and seeing those of you we can. Thank you for being a Faithful Follower and I hope you have enjoyed our travels, albeit vicariously.

Much love. ❤️