Abu Dhabi - dubai - India - srilanka

[henleybeach]

Abu Dhabi - Dubai - India - Sri Lanka
My first trip report so here it goes.
Let me say if I've been a long time reader and only just starting to post, I've grab some invaluable tips for you guys and have flown J class to USA in 2013 and Europe 2014 for next to nothing thanks to you people!! And
Now it continues ....


We flew over to sydney from adelaide the day before with virgin , standard Y fare .
Stayed at amora jamison hotel which was fine .
We had booked J class with velocity points for 4 people to Abu Dhabi, there is me and miss Henley beach and another couple , the other couple and miss Henley beach have never been business so they were quite excited.

FLIGHT EY 451 SYD - AUH 1415dep
We got the chauffeur service , we both got audis , very nice . We arrived at checkin , very easy and soon we were on our way to the Etihad lounge .
We had some drinks and decided to sit down for lunch. We all had the king George whiting . We are from country SA orginally and fisherman and we all grew all up catching and eating king George whiting so we were keen to taste how the
Chef cooked. It was very nice , crumbed beautifully although small, I don't think it was a king George whiting , I think it was a silver whiting. Then we al had the pear and caramel tart ... Delish, the cream was that thick we all thought it was Ice cream. A few more crownies later and it was boarding time .
Priority boarding worked fine , and we were sitting down in no time with a glass of champagne . (5e & 5f)
I love Etihad business class , I flew last year to Europe and it was great, virgin 777 just doesn't compete .
I ordered the tuna for entree and lamb for main and apple crumble for dessert.
The tuna was so tender and cooked med-rare with a sesame crust and avocado mousse . 8/10
The main course of Arabic spiced lamb with pumpkin braised freekah.
Cooked lovely and pink inside , although one piece was more over cooked then the other. Had a lovely South African 2006 merlot. I don't know the name sorry, being from SA if it's not from the barossa or mclaren vale I don't pay interest. Lamb was a 7/10
Next up apple crumble with a vanilla bean custard . This was magnificent, I have a sweet tooth and this was delish, moist and crumbling on top and the vanilla bean ..... Well I could've eaten 2L of it! 9.5/10
The overall service was above average , had to ask for pjs and got a funny look when I did. Never really seen anyone after meal service (which was great). I felt bad having to press the button every time I wanted a drink.
I got peckish into the flight so I had the Etihad steak sandwich. I wish I could get that at the local takeaway in adelaide, it was superb!
I had a glass of port and went to sleep for 4-5 hours
Woke up and it was only 90min to landing so a quick cuppa and brush the teeth and prepare for landing.
Overall I love Etihad business class, the service compared to last year when I went to Europe was a bit different, I'm not sure, they seemed more friendly last year then this year.
We are staying at the rosewood Abu Dhabi hotel so more to follow soon...

 

[RooFlyer]

Sounds like an interesting itinerary, looking forward to hearing more.

 

[RB]

Looking forward to reading more. I have really enjoyed India & Sri Lanka so hoping to see a report about parts we haven't covered.

 

[henleybeach]

We arrived into AUH 15 min late and we were off the plane through customs and in our chauffeur car in 20/25 min.
We check into the rosewood hotel and the lady said we will up grade you guys to the 2b suite . We had booked 2 deluxe rooms. The 2b suite was amazing,located top floor, floor to ceiling windows, everything controlled by the iPad ( tv , curtains, lights, music, air con.) everything was superb, each room had nespresso machine and the bathrooms with floor to ceiling window a and free sanding bath.
1st day in Abu Dhabi we visited the mosque. Very impressive , I'm not religious and wasn't really interested in seeing it but I'm glad it did. Inside is the worlds largest chandelier and rug , the detail and workmanship inside and the marble was incredible. It is huge .
We then went to corniche for a look and some lunch and then back to our room in the arvo for a swim. We went for dinner and a couple beers later and we were in bed at 9pm due to a lack of sleep.
Day 2 is check out emirates palace and the desert safari...

 

[henleybeach]

We did the desert safari which was ok, dune bashing was good, and sand boarding was good fun. Didn't ride the camel as it was a 5 min ride around in a 30m circle..... For some reason I had in my head it would be like a half hour camel ride . Had a buffet dinner and headed back to our hotel around 930.
The next day we decided to do the yas waterworld, it was 35 degrees , we loved it, it brings the inner child inside of you out. There is hardly anyone there And you don't have to line up for any rides. People who bought the fast pass must be feeling ripped off! Great day and recommend it.
We had dinner at pregos at beach rotana, Italian wood fire pizza overlooking the water, lovely view and nice pizza.
We checked out the next day and caught a cab to dubai, we are staying at park regis kris kin, nice 4 star hotel. Lovely rooftop pool and bar.
We check in and head straight for lunch at the BURJ Khaflia , geez that building is huge ! Lunch was nice, I had a steak and a creme brûlée. Nice views. We walked around Dubai mall, done the usual stuff and headed back to the hotel for happy hour . Beers and a great view and some canapés and a sore head in the morning.....

 

[henleybeach]

We went skiing at the emirates mall, which was good fun and checked out Atlantis Palm, didn't last long there, it was packed with tourists . We then headed off to the gold souk and the misses bought a ring. A early night as we had a Etihad flight AUH to DEL the next day around lunch time.
It's a business class Etihad flight operated by JET airways 777 plane so I'll be interested to see what it is like....

 

[RooFlyer]

Liking it so far. Any pics?

 

[henleybeach]

My food on board Etihad flight to Abu Dhabi from Sydney and the stunning mosque

 

[henleybeach]

 

[henleybeach]

Flight AUH-DEL. EY 224
Jet airways aircraft 777


Checked in at the dedicated business class section, very quick and we made our way to the lounge.
(T3 lounge) gosh it was so quiet compared to last year when I transited through to Europe. We had some lunch , a back massage and a Barber shave. Excellent.
A few fosters and rose champs for the lovely and we headed to gate 33 for boarding.
The lay out was 1-2-1 I was 15a and face towards the aisle and tea missus 15d in the middle facing the aisle towards me . I actually quite liked the layout just not the jet airways dark maroon colors.
Everything was Etihad except the interior and exterior of the plane. The service was so slow. The lady took my order before take off and I received It 5 mins before the capt had his spiel and announced the descent into DEL. (It was a 3 hour flight)
I had a chicken biryani for the main, a glass of red and watched the doc on the mosque in Abu Dhabi which was very interesting and Im glad I visited it. I had dessert and it was caramel choc tart , 10/10 , I'm a sucker for sweets. I just felt a bit rushed as I didn't have much time to eat it .
We Landed on time and now awaited our Indian adventure. We have hired a driver for 5 days. We have 2N Delhi , 2N Jaipur and 1N Agra and then fly to Colombo .

 

[henleybeach]

Jet airways experience

 

[smit0847]

Great TR! Any chance you could put pics the right way up?

 

[henleybeach]

Sorry I couldn't work out how to do it. I'm on my old iphone 4 , I'll play around and see how I go.

 

[henleybeach]

We arrived in Delhi and was greeted by our driver. We paid $400 for a driver and car for 5 nights / 6 days, to do the golden triangle. That included petrol , his accom, his food, all tolls and taxes. Only thing extra is camera fees or monument fees.
Rowa was his name and he was very nice , he dropped us off at the lalit delhi hotel, it's ok hotel. Very big , 5 star but I thought it was average, excellent location, right in the middle of Delhi.
We wake up and have brekky downstairs and get ready for our tour of Delhi. We get picked up at 9 and off we go. I loved delhi , it had the old delhi (real india) and the New Delhi which I found very nice with lots of greenery. We went to a spice market and got some spices and then to the largest mosque in India( I forgot what it's called ) then off to india gate and Parliament House , humayuns tomb. Then it was off to the IPL to watch the cricket , I love cricket but Indians it's like religion, they go crazy , it was the best atmosphere I Been out. They danced and cheered every ball. Amazing scenes
We departed the next day for
Jaipur at 11, seeing the true india. Dodging camels,
Elephants , goats , monkeys , cows all main roads , it was hilarious . We stayed at the Jaipur fairmont , very very nice , defiantly recommend it. It's about 15 min out of Jaipur but it's very nice. Quiet night in and ready for exploring tomorrow.

 

[henleybeach]

 

[henleybeach]

We woke up at 7am and had some breakfast in the dining room. Buffet style. It was the best buffet style I've ever had, it was so fresh and clean and there was so much to chose from. I went for the freshly made pancakes and then added maple and apple compote with a little cream. It was the best pancake of ever had!
We start our sightseeing at Amber fort with a elephant ride, can't say I enjoyed seeing the bloke whack the elephant, I said to him whack the elephant again and I'll grab that stick and put it down your throat, he stopped but snuck a couple whacks and prods. The poor thing had a cut behind the ear where they continually prod it. Anyway we reached the top and some lovely views and history , we did all three forts in Jaipur and seen the floating palace . We went back and had a swim as it was 40 degrees. Some dinner at a Indian restaurant in town and back to our room for a early night as we were leaving at 730.


We left and headed for Agra to see the main attraction there .... Agra fort and quickly have a look at the Taj Mahal ...
We checked into the hilton double tree Agra, it's only been opened 4 months so it was very nice and clean, good location and we had a Taj Mahal facing view room. Rooms were good and it was a nice hotel. Got the warm cookie on arrival as standard and they had a shop there selling them so I bought a tin. The warm cookies were so delish.
We went to the Agra fort for a hour look. Very nice but I just wanted to see the big girl.
And the Taj Mahal didn't disappoint , it was amazing , we got there at 4pm and stayed til sunset. I could've sat there all day looking at. It was incredible how big it was and the beauty. If you havnt visited it, put it down on your to do list!
We fly out the next day to colombo on srilankan airlines in business class so I'll do a little report

 

[henleybeach]

We arrived at Delhi airport 3 hours before departure , check in was smooth and we were given a invitation to the priority pass lounge as we were in business class.
It was a small but clean lounge and there was only 3 other people in there. Small selection of food and drinks. Defiantly nothing to write home about.
Our flight is UL196 DEL-CMB A320
Dept 1840hrs Arr 2215
Boarding was smooth through the priority lane and we sat down an offered juice and water. Before take off the lady took our dinner order. I opted for the fish steak and fruit salad for dessert. A cold beer and nuts were served after takeoff , the crew were excellent and so nice and polite, always smiling and wanting to help. We had one male and a female attendant in the J cabin of 12. There were 6 pax in total
The meal was nice, the fish was
Moist and looked and tasted like a tuna steak ( I didn't say what fish it was on the menu) served with buttered pasta and veggies. Side salad and garlic bread . All very nice.
After dinner we had a cuppa tea and settled into a bed. IFE is like virgins with a tablet and the seating is standard 2-2 with blue cloth.
We stayed near the airport as we had a early flight in the morning on cinnamon air.
Our next flight was CMB- DIW (dikwella) on a sea plane. I was excited and so was the missus as we havnt been on a sea plane before. Smooth take off from CMB airport and 50 min and some lovely views of Sri Lanka and it's beaches and we were leading in dikwella lagoon , it was surprisingly smooth the landed and we both loved it . We grabbed a cab and were on our way to laya safari hotel in yala. 2 nights and a safari tomorrow at 530am.

 

[henleybeach]

 

[Demon_fan]

Great TR. Really want to visit Sri Lanka one day.

 

[smit0847]

Were the Sri Lankan fares paid J?