Today, we have mostly been visiting some of the other Emirates and driving part way up a huge mountain!
This morning we left the flat and headed out into scrubby desert in a north-easterly direction. Our destination was Jebel Jais, the tallest mountain in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is over 2000 metres high and over the past few years they have been constructing a road up to the top of it. It still isn't finished, but it is possible to drive a long way up before the road is closed.
Our route this morning took us out of Dubai and into another Emirate, Ras-al-Khaimah, the most northerly of the Emirates. The mountains here form the border with Oman. It is quite a drive and gave us a chance to see some scenery other than cityscapes. We certainly saw several herds of camels grazing by the side of the road as we drove.
Eventually, the mountains cane into view as we crossed a stony desert plain. As we got closer, the road initially took us into a gorge with unstable looking cliffs of loose rock towering above us. Gradually, the road started wriggling upwards as we started to climb into the mountains. There wasn't much signs of life with the exception of a few goats and hoards of ravens.
Finally, we reached a point where the road was barred although we could see it continuing upwards, but construction is still ongoing. I'm told the plan is to build a hotel up there eventually.
We parked at this point and took some photos, sadly, there was quite a sand haze, so the photos weren't good. We also bought a cup of coffee, with evaporated milk in. That's something I haven't tasted since I last ate compo rations! It was also noticeably cooler up there, but lots of locals had erected tents and had small fires burning as they spend their day picnicking with their families.
After a while, we headed back down to go and find some lunch as the only food on offer from the coffee stall was banana chips and hard boiled eggs!
Back in the middle of Ras-al-Khaimah, we chanced upon a snack bar claiming to be a Canadian Pizzeria! This piqued our interest enough to stop and investigate. There were a wide range of pizzas on offer including some very strange options including fries and gravy as a topping. Those who know our distrust of food advertised in North America as coming with 'gravy' will understand we didn't try these.
After lunch we headed back to Dubai passing through several more tiny Emirates, Umm-al-Quwain, Ajman and Sharjah. The roads are so full of cars zipping along at high speed, it's difficult to differentiate between Emirates.
Back at the flat, three of us set off to stretch our legs with a walk to Carrefour. The building work going on around here actually makes it quite difficult to reach the supermarket without walking through building sites.
Now, I'm sitting on the balcony supping a bottle of Dos Equis Mexican beer and eating olives stuffed with peppers, what could be better!
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