From Abu Dhabi to Dubai

Dubai is only around 2 hours drive from Abu Dhabi. Thus, an excursion to Dubai is a must if you fly to Abu Dhabi or vice versa.

If you want an economical way cheapskate like me to travel, taking a bus is your option.

And, it will cost you only AED15 (but from Dubai I was charged AED20 I dunno why.. ). It's either we got cheated by the bus driver or it's just that everything is more expensive traveling out of Dubai because it's the same case for taxi. Taxi fare from Dubai to Abu Dhabi is AED250 while the other way round will only cost you AED200.

main bus terminal @ Hazza bin Zayed Road (near Al Wahda Mall)

Anyway, I highly recommend you taking the bus. Better save that extra money for shopping y'all.. hehehe...

The buses run regularly, about 30 minutes interval between each buses. We arrived at the main bus terminal only to see a bus just departed, and were told to wait for the next one. Within minutes, another bus came and filled up pretty fast.

Dubai here I come

comfortable and reasonably priced

The bus will stop at Al Ghubaiba bus station in Bur Dubai area.

Al Ghubaiba bus station

We were so excited to spot Shawarma kiosks at the bus station, after failing to spot any in Abu Dhabi (weird right?).

So, had our lunch

cheap Shawarma (AED4)

 and bought the Nol Card,

AED20 including AED14 e-purse value (reloadable)

for easier traveling around the city. You can use it for Metro, bus or waterbus.

From the bus station we took taxi to the hotel. Cost us AED17. This time, we stayed at another Accor hotel chain, Ibis Deira City Centre.

It's located in front of Deira City Centre Mall, and a short walk to Dubai Metro (Deira City Centre station).

pose wajib dalan toilet.. hahaha

For USD68 per night (rates depend on season), the room is small and doesn't include breakfast. And you have to pay to get connected to the Internet. There are Wifi hotspots at the mall but you have to have Etisalat (their telecommunication service provider) account in order to use it. So I had no choice but paid AED25 per hour as I desperately needed an Internet connection to book my flight to Muscat the next day. That's freaking expensive!

But convenience is the reason we chose this hotel. With a mall directly in front of the hotel, Metro and public bus station only a few minutes walk from the main road, and if you're flying, the metro is only 2 stations away from the airport; the location is more than perfect!