Blogs from Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, Middle East

The weather has finally started to turn nice, so that means lots of outdoor activities. Lately, that means hiking. Usually, I'm not a huge fan - it's just not my thing - but it has been nice to see all these different areas of the UAE from this perspective. It is so quiet and peaceful, with a little bit of history thrown in. Not to mention, it is pretty much automatically social distanced, especially since we tend to take the less popular hikes. And yes, we have mountains here in the UAE. A pretty large Hajar Mountain range actually, highest point being around 6,000 ft. So, here are three of my most recent hikes and a camping trip. Wadi Shawka I was asked if I wanted to go for a hike on a Friday, Joevet set ... read more

As recently published in the April 1, 2019 edition of Footprints - The Newsletter of the Howard County Striders submitted by Larry Stern, Strider UAE Chief Correspondent Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) is the northern most emirates in the UAE. Each winter in the month of February, runners from all around gather for its annual half marathon. This year, over 2500 runners toed the line in what is touted as “the fastest half marathon in the world”. I was one of these runners taking on a course that from an aerial view appears to be right out of the 90s adventure puzzle computer game of Myst. Run on Al Marjan Island in RAK, this series of 4 connected man-made islands extends 4.5 kilometers (Everything is metric in this country and it’s hard to get used to) into ... read more

“Stairway to heaven” is a dangerous mountain trail which was an old shepherd’s route that links Oman mountain village with Ras al khaimah coast of UAE. Alan stark, author of UAE rock climber’s guide described it as being "a five-star expedition with over 2,000 metres of ascent and descent”. He refers this route is not for the unfit, inexperienced or the fainthearted .The length and difficulty of the hike combined with challenging navigation has led to the necessity for rescue by RAK police on several occasions. All these googled info made us excited to try out this famous mountain hike. We have started gathering more information from internet, friends, travel books, tour guides. The worst thing for our hike was no one in our team had professional mountaineering experience and we didn’t know the actual route ... read more

Day 1 - Mark today we arrived in Dubai at 8 o'clock in the morning at the airport. As usual everyone started to rush off as soon as the light went on to say that we could take our seat belt off. We on the other hand just relaxed and waited for everyone to go off the plane (airbus 380.) we moved through the passport checks and controls like lightning and before we new it we had bumped into my uncle Colin (not literally.) Then after all that he took us to a shopping mall! (boring.) But to be fair we did go and get nice food and nice drink so I started to fell human again after that horrible flight! Next we went to another shopping centre but this time there was this absolutely huge! ... read more

Day 1 - Tuesday, April 1 2008 I brought a biography of Nelson to while away the idle hours. In retrospect, maybe not such a good idea. This ship is French, not Italian as we’d supposed. Recherchez du Trafalgar? Non, non, mais oui, l’Admiral d’Villeneuve est un matelot magnifique, ne c’est pas! So that’s Horatio confined to the cabin for the rest of the voyage. His presence in the wardroom appears to be un petit non diplomatique. As you see, my French is coming on splendidly as a result of such fraternite with the master and the officers whose English is on a par with my Franglais. I’ve even managed to pick up the motto of the French navy. Apparently, the English translation is “To the water - it is time.” In French, it’s “A l’eau, ... read more