Archives for 2010

Or something like that.

Back to our sojourn to Ras Al-Khaimah for the new year…

After exploring the museum for as long as possible, Molly and I were ready to check out the hikes in the area. However, true to UAE form, it couldn’t be that easy. We wanted to explore in Wadi Bih, which is noted as “the Grand Canyon of the UAE”. We were mentally preparing for grueling hikes crossing us over into Oman and back again. That’s when I noticed one key piece of information. Officials closed this particular UAE/Oman border to non-Nationals 2 years ago! Oops. Guess not!

See… the information printed online by the tourism authority didn’t mention the lack of passage for foreigners. Luckily, the off-road guide (Thanks Frances!) had several highlighted warnings sprinkled through the pages. I just didn’t see them…

Alors, we needed to find something else to do. After a bit of deliberation we decided to check out Jazirat Al Hamra. This is how the tourism authority described it:

Jazirat al-Hamra (Red Island) is the last authentic and traditional town still standing in the UAE. Once a small island, its inhabitants subsisted on maritime and pearling trading before they abandoned their houses in the middle of the 20th Century, when the rush to modernize started. An undisturbed picture of life before the discovery of oil is left behind and preserved until today. This whole area is unique for Ras Al Khaimah and for UAE, its shows all the elements of a traditional town, including fortress for the defense purposes, several mosques and a variety of house types. It is one of the best places to study traditional coral stone architecture used along the coast of the Arabian Gulf.

It’s funny that Molly and I both read the same description and developed vastly different preconceived ideas of what the village would be like. I latched onto the word “preserved” and expected to find something a bit touristy and museum like… Molly latched onto the word “abandoned” and therefore had much more accurate expectations.

Either way, it was fun to go traisping about through ruins under very dark and angry clouds that would soon chase us back to Abu Dhabi in favor of a roof over our heads instead of a tent (sans rainflap).

xo, jill

Fruit and veg. Fruit and veg.

I came across photos the other day from an outing that never made the blog. Back in October, Molly, Frances, and I headed down to the fruit and vegetable souk.

Located at the port, vendors set up shop selling fresh fruit and vegetables. It lacks the charm of a farmers market (the produce comes from the world over), but it’s certainly more exciting than buying your produce at the supermarket.

A few of the vendors let us sample the fruit we were especially curious about.

Our favorite was the mangosteen. Not much to actually eat (just the inner white bit), but pretty delicious.

xo, jill

No offense, seashell collection.

After waking in a field of goats, Molly and I piled back in the car heading towards the town. We found a nice little spot on a pristine beach (ahem, if you can’t see the litter in the photo then it wasn’t really there!) to indulge in a little New Year’s breakfast. Well, our oatmeal was lacking hot water so it really was just a New Year’s clementine… but still. Sitting on logs near water seems to be the perfect place to be at notable moments… like a new decade, or a new school year, or the glassy beach after a breakup.

Post breakfast we found ourselves at the National Museum of Ras Al-Khaimah. It’s strange. I’m squatting in a part of the world with a rich and unknown (to me) history… but Abu Dhabi almost strains to hide it. RAK has been a bit more pro-active in promoting heritage of the area. That being said, Molly and I were the only visitors to the museum that day.

The structure was once a fort and later a palace for the early ruling family in the region.

Today several of it’s rooms display artifacts ranging from crude tools, fine pottery, and relics from the pearl diving days. Much of the collection was donated to the museum by Western hobbyists, such as the seashell collection donated by an elderly Englishwoman. (Well, I imagine her to be elderly at least…)

Comparatively, the museum wasn’t much to behold… but considering the lack of heritage/historical learning opportunities, I was a bit glued in. Reading the placards it was almost amusing to read lines similar to, “This ancient village survived from ancient times until the 1970s when we decided to put a highway through it instead.” I’m not going to say that history isn’t valued here… but, sometimes it feels that way. (This is coming from a very nostalgic person, mind you).

One of the highlights of the museum was the windtower.

Windtowers were common in the Middle East before the advent of air conditioning. Some clever person long ago figured out that if you divide the area of the chamber like so…

The winds will be caught and lowered down into the house, creating a natural air conditioner. It works.

The museum was a nice little bit of respite. We lingered there as long as we could, stealing little naps on the bench in the courtyard before heading out on our wild and challenging hiking expedition.

xo, jill

“Maybe they sacrificed a goat?”

After school on New Year’s Eve, Molly and I headed out to Ras Al-Khaimah for a some camping and exploring. Our information said RAK was about 45 minutes north of Dubai… so naturally it took us 6 hours to get there! (Estimated time: 2 hours).

We encountered our first problem when we hit a detour in Sharjah. Our amazing navigator, Molly, finally got us back on track to reconnect with the highway. Trouble was… the highway was incomplete! It was literally like that scene from Speed. Eventually, we worked our way back to the main road and landed in RAK… well after dark.

Now the trouble was finding a place to camp. Like many places in the UAE, campers are free to pitch a tent just about anywhere they like. All is asked is that campers respect the environment, keep it quiet and peaceful, and avoid private property. With the intent of hiking the next day, we drove out towards the mountains UAE shares with Oman. Stopping just short of the border checkpoint, we pulled over and set up our tent under a tree.

With just a few minutes to spare, we settled into our tent to ring in the New Year!

Unfortunately, we were not treated to a sound night’s sleep. Between the goats’ bleating every few moments, an alarming bird’s cry or animal’s scream, and some men speaking Arabic on the road at 4 in the morning, we woke up quite bleary eyed. Fortunately, when we unzipped the tent we were faced with a glorious new morning at the base of craggy mountains.

In the morning it also became clear why we heard goats all night. We were surrounded by them!

What a wonderful way to welcome the new year.

xo, jill

(Thanks to Molly for the midnight and goat photo!)