stiscooby

We (me and the g/f) are looking for some holiday ideas for later in the year.

The g/f has seen one holiday which is in Sri Lanka but also includes 3 nights in Dubai..... Just wondering if anyone on here has been too either place and could pass on any comments? If we go the right time might be able to squeeze in a f1 gp over in Abu dhabi too ;-)

Or any other recommendations?

We have been to a few places in the states so don't really want to go back there for a while. Last hol was in Mexico in 2008. We was also thinking of Canada but both our parents been there and although it was nice they did mention you are on the go the whole time travelling early starts etc so you might want a holiday to get over the 'holiday' lol.

tony de wonderful

Dubai is a plastic paradise but is great if you are the type that wears £2k watches.

davegtt

Just do Asia or South America if you are looking for action, fun, food and adventure. English speaking Continents are pretty boring I find, on the basis theyre filled with Brits, or Brit type people.

Whats the point going to places filled with the same people other than the fact it has sun?

Hope you enjoy wherever you go regardless

dpb

Will be transiting through on the way to Joburg middle of the month
We won't see a thing


Hey so there you go. Try Africa, probably not a beach resort near the Somali border tho
,

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

Only ever stayed over in the airport in SriLanka, wasnt a fan of the place
Dubai is nice if very dry and hot. There are reasonable hotels and there are fantastically expensive palaces. The Atlantis at the Palm Hotel/resort is brilliant, you could spend a few days discovering it and its water parks alone. You can lose a day in the airport too when shopping around, it is larger than any shopping mall over here and some of the stuff is well, tres expensive!
I would recommend Singapore for at least a week too. Sentosa island is pretty good as is the Zoo and night safari. Chinatown has the cheapest booze and best food there too. Then you have the riverside cafes/eateries which stretch as far as you can see down the singapore river too. It is also hot there but humid too which to me is better than hot and dry like Dubai.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

You really haven't got a clue have you.


They wouldn't even spit on you wearing a watch that only cost £2k

Steve vRS

Dubai - The Trafford Centre in a sand pit.

Very expensive beer - £7 a pint in the Hilton and dry in the restaurants by the beach in Jumeirah.

I was there with work so the cost didn't matter however it is guaranteed sunshine!

A walk around the gold souk and the old town was interesting!

Steve

dpb

I always hear people recommending dry because if its humid your sweat cant escape

but im really not sure myself

"It is also hot there but humid too which to me is better than hot and dry like Dubai "

stiscooby

We aint the type of people who just want to sit on the beach/around a pool for 2 weeks so having a nice balance of things to do without the need to be rusing around every day would be good. We also don't go searching for an english pub wherever we go either, lol, further away from the UK the better

Hhmmm, more searching required me think.

urban

iTrader: (1)

Never been to either, but I do like Sri-lankan food

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

Me and the wife went to kenya for our honeymoon, included 3 nights safari (amazing) and then a week in zanzibar (well it was our honeymoon)

Depends if you like animals or not, was the most amazing experience of my life, staring into the eye of an elephant in his own environment is something else.

kenya is a really good place, we stayed near mombasa, plenty of guided trips and depsite what you might think the african people and hospitality is really, really good. Food was very nice, helps if you like curry type food. I wouldn't go walking around nariobi or mombasa on my own though, but ok with a tour. Definitely not going to find an english pub anywhere out there! We also went to a masai tribe on our way back from safari, that was an eye opener as to how people live 'of the earth'

Plus the indian ocean is amazing and so warm it's like getting into a bath!

DisoDisp

iTrader: (1)

Dubai isnt dry, its humid. Average humidity is around 80%.
Lived there from 94 to 04. Go back every once in a while.

Be warned traffic is insane during rush hour.

Leslie

We staged through Dubai once in the VC10.

I was told that the airport had the best duty free shop of the lot. The evidence seemed ti indicate that what I was told was correct.

Les

Dr Hu

Went to Sri Lanka a few years ago - we did a 'tour' (had a week or 10 days in sri lanka, then a week in maldives) - it was a stunning.... deffo do a tour - dont just stay in a beachside resort, Sri lanka was a very interesting place, opens the eyes to the way other humans live, didn't get sick or anything, saw some great sights like the elephant sanctuary, loads of temples, budda's tooth etc but they eat HOT (damn hot) curries ..... for breakfast!

then a nice relaxing week snorkling in the maldives... didnt need to dive, its like stepping into a tropical fish tank off the jetty stunning!

dpb

Apart from summer/autumn its seems to be between 50-65 % ( INTERNET )
But you should know !


and who in thier right minds would visit during summer

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

We were there in August, it was hot and dry, incredibly dry compared to Singapore.

stiscooby

This was one thing we have said we would quite like (Safari) but the stories you here about the place tends to put you off a bit. Would be something different though as we have never done anything like a safari etc before.

stiscooby

Yep, the g/f has already spotted the elephant sanctuary!! Don't mind a curry, but not for me breakfast!!! lol

We wouldn't mind a tour, be nice to have a few 'chill out' days before you head home though so you don't get back and feel you need another holiday to get over the holiday you just had as you have been on the go the whole time (like when you go to the states and your walking around parks/cities all day every day).

Dingdongler

I stopped over in Dubai for three days on the way back from the Maldives about five years ago. Horrible horrible place, I would never return.

It appeals to a certain kind of person who sees a holiday as being all about flash hotels.

john banks

Been to both. Dubai was indeed quite plastic. Water park and dune bashing was fun as hadn't done anything like that before, but not really a novelty nowadays? Old town was interesting to spend a day in. Not memorable, wouldn't plan to return. Dubai airport is massive, busy and you can walk a mile to look for a seat to sit on and then you find someone is sleeping on the floor under your chair. Best to go for a lounge.

Sri Lanka was interesting, but way too hot and humid for me, returned with a few nice bits and pieces of art. I was quite ill, just escaped needing a drip. Sigyria and the historical sites were interesting, but after a while the tour became gruelling, probably because I was ill. We got flown back a day early with a hell on wheels schedule with a 6 hour stop in Qatar airport at the worst possible time of day. This was because the Tamil tigers had tried to blow up the airport at Colombo, but now that is all supposedly over it might be a better visit, especially if more of the island can safely be explored. I wouldn't return though.

brendy76

iTrader: (6)

When we landed there the walkway and around the plane got an armed guard, tried explaining why to me eldest daughter but all she was hearing was "tigers" haha.

Don Clark

Stayed here a few years ago.............

http://www.elephantcorridor.com/

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Interesting fact of the day...


...Dubai airport has the highest density of Kit Kat sales anywhere in the world. They sell a ton of KitKats a day. Go figure!

Ray T

curve ball, have you looked at Taiwan before it gets "busy" Taipai capital in the north has the 2nd highest building in the world after Dubai! very fast trains (96 mins for 300Km and only £30 business class) down west coast to Tianan the old capital, for the beaches the east coast looks good. Felt very safe was walking down street markets did'nt see another euro face for ages.
EVA do a flight from heathrow via Bangkok which is good value (even business class is around £2k return).

IainMilford

iTrader: (15)

it's a shame what has happened there recently, wouldn't put me off going back though, danai beach was stunning.

Adidas

I loved Sri Lanka. As already stated you need to do a tour as there is so much to see but mix it with a few 'down' days too.

Recommended

Funkii Munkii

Depends what you want out of a holiday, if it's just lying on a beach eating and drinking then anywhere with sunshine will do.

But if you're the sort of people that like to chuck a back pack on and disapear in a mini van exploring your surroundings Sri Lanka is awesome, so much to see and do and such a beautiful country, It's in my top 3 best holidays taken ever. I'd agree with Tdw's comments on Dubai, it's a no brtainer imho.

chet123

iTrader: (7)

Personally I been to both Dubari and Sri Lanka on 2 seperate trips. They are ofcourse completely different so you get to see 2 different styles of living. We went to Sri Lanka 5years ago staying in a lovely hotel near the sigria rock. It was for our honeymoon so as part of the package we had a driver who took us to various locations from what I can remember, tea making factory, sigria rock, buddist temples, elephant orphange and the city centre. Now I was thinking Sri Lanka as being a 3rd world country, dirty, poor etc...well its far from that and a very lovely country if you like visiting sightings. For us Sri Lanka was the first stop before heading for the Maldives which was the beach, relaxing part of our entire holiday. Sri Lanka was a city break and Maldives was the beach holiday.

Dubai is also lovely, Jemeriah beach, Madinate hotel, malls, indoor ski slope, sand dunes, quad biking, Burj al arab, water parks, eating and drinking. Palm island was still being built as was the theme park/aquarium they have opened now i think. The metro system was also being built but now complete.

If your both open minded then you will appreciate different countries and cultures - especially with the weather being as it is here.

Hope this helps.....reading what we got up to makes me wanted to go back.

Leslie

We also used to stage through Sri Lanka and once had an overnight stay. It seems a very attractive place from the point of view of the scenery but we were being ferried by a bus from the airport to the hotel and were stopped by the Tamils. The bus driver did exactly what he was told after they made him get up from under the driver's seat! We sat there and kept our mouths shut.

They let us continue but it was disturbing for a while!

Les

fitzscoob

I personally hated Dubai, dusty horrible building site. If you're staying in any of the big hotels you wont really need to venture out. Extremely hot, and you take your life into your hands every time you step into a taxi.