Day One - Sightseeing

After not having much sleep the night before, we dragged ourselves out of the tent and into the sea to get the sand off of our bodies and cool off. After breakfast we packed up as quickly as possible before we lost the shade from the mountain. We made our way into a hotel bathroom where Nicky washed the oil off her feet and then headed to Wadi Bih. This trip was supposed to involve a hike called the Jungle Book Hike but we opted to continue to drive and sightsee from the inside of the cool Pajero. Who knew goats could climb trees? After successfully convincing the machine gun carrying Omani border guard that we should be allowed through the gate, we were turned away at the UAE gate which meant we had to go back where we came from. Having to make some last minute changes to our trip, we stopped to lunch on the beach under the largest palm tree we could find and consulted the off-road book which detailed many other options for the night.

Dibba Beach - Night One

We chose a secluded location at the far end of the beach and took a quick dip in the sea which reminded us that there was a thoughtless and inconsiderate tanker who cleaned its tanks in the water off the beach and Barry, Neil and Nicky got black, sticky oil on the bottoms of their feet. We had to change locations of the tents three times due to the wind. After our tents were almost blown up the mountain, we weighed them down with large rocks. Sitting around the fire in our bathing suits we ate our hot dinner, drank cold beer and soon were bracing ourselves for walls of sand. What was supposed to be a cool and refreshing breeze coming off the water ended up being an merciless, warm wind carrying beach sand along the side of the mountain and pummelling us approximately once every 10 minutes. We would first hear the sound of billions of grains of sand being carried along the side of the mountain and then looking up you could see it coming our way. The sand was sticking to every inch of us and all we could do was hold our breath and cover our faces until it passed. We decided to take cover in our tents. Between attacks I was brushing the sand off my feet before getting into the tent and Barry yelled “Get in, get in! It’s coming!” I lunged into the tent and quickly reached for the zipper which was supposed to stop any chance of sand getting in. I soon discovered the tent was not the sand-free sanctuary I thought it was. The humidity was off the charts and because of the heat Barry and I laid on the air mattress in such a way that no part of our skin was touching and as we laid there we wished to fall asleep before the next wall of sand.

Camping with Nicky and Neil

Nicky and Neil would tell you that they are not campers but not wanting to say “I wish I had done that.” decided they would give camping in the Middle East a try. Both Nicky and Neil are big music fans and I reminded them that this would be different from music festival “camping”. The next few weeks were very busy but finally we secured a date, albeit a little past the ideal camping time and close to the summer heat. We piled into the 4x4 Thursday night after work, grabbed some Zaatar w Zeit, and made our way through the Sharjah traffic for the open road towards Dibba Beach – who doesn’t want to camp on the beach?

Construction near the Mall of the Emirates

Remember the upside-down yield sign?

Look again; this is NOT a stop sign.

Let us talk real estate

This is a great shot of the metro construction along Sheikh Zayed Road. In the background is an area called Business Bay. The handfull of towers which look mostly alike (Executive Towers) were for sale with no money down but for just over a million dirhams for a one bedroom in early 2007. Today, looking back, that price was a steal! That same apartment is now going for over 2.2 million Dirhams.

Dubai Explore 4x4 event

For a guy who said he would never buy an SUV, Barry certainly signed up for the Explore Dubai event quickly. For AED250 Barry and Todd signed up for a day of 4x4ing which included breakfast at Hatta Fort Hotel, lunch in the desert, dinner and show at Jumana. Not going to get a better deal than that! Fire twirling and belly dancing too. Above are a few pictures of our truck in action and the last one is not our SUV but an example of desert driving gone bad.

Plots for sale

Dubai is for sale! This is a picture I took from the car while driving down Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR). Typical views - the metro being built, ads for property, construction cranes and cones.

Rent cap!

Our one-year apartment lease was up for renewal and was subject to the new rent cap laws put in place by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed. Contrary to what we thought, our landlord did not sell his property or move into it which meant we got to renew for one more year. This is very good news because a one-bedroom similar to ours is now going for AED110,000/year!

Metro construction and Burj Dubai

This is a picture taken along Sheikh Zayed Road which shows the machine being used to build the metro tracks. In the background is the tallest building in the world - the Burj Dubai.

Ras Al Jinz

Ras Al Jinz was stunning and is known for turtle watching. Barry and I found a cave to prepare a BBQ lunch and afterwards went for a walk down the beach. There was a camping area further up from the water where we stopped into the restroom before heading back to the road. The floor, which was titled, was totally caved in. Regardless I tip-toed into a stall and back out to wash my hands without being engulfed by the floor. There was a girl, early-mid twenties, and her mother in the restroom both dressed in Abayas and had only their faces showing. The mother only spoke Arabic but the girl was translating for me. She said that I was very beautiful but no Omani man would want me because I was showing too much of my body. I thought I was being discreet because my long shorts only showed my leg below the knee and my arms were totally covered. In regards to my being beautiful, in this part of the world pale skin is beautiful so I didn't let this remark go to my head. I explained that I thought her daughter was more beautiful than me - she was. The ladies were very friendly and invited me to their camp. I regretfully declined and got back into the truck with my Fiancé who thought I was way too covered up for this heat.

Sights between here and there

The first photo is looking back at our campground from the night before - a memorable moment. The second photo was taken while driving through a town; at the time we were looking for a dealership because we went reverse down a mountain before our 4x4 kicked in and this made a distrubing red blinking light go off. I suggest you read instructions to all your toys before you use them. The third picture was taken after we had snaked our way through this very small town using narrow unmarked streets to find the mountain. The sun was going down and as we were winding up the mountain I caught the view of the town in the valley. The fourth is a fort in one of the towns we drove though. Barry took the fifth while I was sleeping - this is how you exercise camels. The sixth picture was taken in a very small roadside town - the board says "Sale of Foodstuff".