The Ade Tour – Day 5

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Well today saw the Ade family circus leave Khasab to venture back into the wilds of the UAE. We counted our blessing as we left Khasab that we had done the dhow cruise the day before as a rather stiff wind had blown up overnight and one thinks that the people on today’s dhow cruises would not have had as enjoyable time as we did the day before. Quite frankly the wind was more than a little stiff and cold.

So tucked up in our nice, warm little jeep we started our journey back towards RAK. The trip down to RAK was rather uneventful with the only exciting event being the waves crashing on the beach. This was remarkably different to when we came up as the beaches were completely still then. It was exciting enough to warrant a stop and a photo, which perhaps indicates the lack of other exciting events that happened during this part of the day.

We had intended on doing Wadi Bih from RAK to Dibba rather than taking the highways to Dibba, however as we were driving down from khasab the sky was looking very ominous and I was actually beginning to wonder to myself if it wasn’t actually going to rain, and if maybe the wadi would be a little bit dangerous.

However we decided to give it a go and boy and I glad that we did. The weather was fantastic and the Wadi was super. After driving down the road from Khasab with the crazy guy who tried to overtake a truck in my lane, on a blind corner, up a hill (boy did I give him some hornage!!!!!) and all the trucks who were cutting up the one lane road between Shams and RAK, we were most pleased to find ourselves on the peaceful, somewhat sleepy wadi.

We were searched at each border crossing this time, which was interesting. I think that the border guards were just looking for something to do rather than actually wanting to search the cars as they certainly didn’t make much of an effort to look through the things that were in the car. Although everyone of them was interested in what was in the Heineken cooler bag that we had bought along from the house ( I guess they thought that we had a whole stash of Heineken in there!). Sadly for them we only had milk and fruit in the bags, and they didn’t get to add more alcohol to their confiscation stash.

From RAK we drove through the town to the start of Wadi Bih (and more border crossings!). This border crossing was a lot more straightforward with the guards merely writing down our passport details rather than us having to get out of the car and pay money to cross the border.

The wadi itself is amazing. You start off at the bottom of the wadi and meander your way up the river bed. When you get to the Omani check point you start to climb the hills and basically climb vertically for the next little while. When we got to the top I was a little dismayed to realise that the engine symbol had lit up on the dashboard. Of course being a girl I had absolutely no idea what this could possibly mean so a quick hunt for the jeep manual ensued. Unfortunately the manual for the jeep was nowhere to be found in the car, and a quick phone call to Jeremy ( who was in Jordan) revealed that the manual was actually in the apartment in Dubai. He had forgotten to put it back in the car when he gave me the jeep to use over the xmas break. So with the engine light unaccounted for we lifted the hood to check the oil and water, and after making sure that these were ok decided to travel on down from the summit of the wadi and take our chances with the Car gods.

Luckily the car pulled through for us…… Good Jeep!

The other side of the wadi is just amazing. The cliffs start to come together until the road is actually cutting under the rock walls. We had our second crazy car incident on the way out of the wadi when a suicidal madman came barrelling around a blind corner on my side of the road. It was so fast, and I had to take evasive action so quickly, that I didn’t even have a chance to use my horn. And my reflexs are pretty fast after driving in Dubai for 9 months!

We made it out of the Wadi in one piece and made our way to the Al Aqqa beach resort which is to be our home for the night. The resort is amazing! Fresh cold towels and a glass of juice greeted us at reception, along with a nice man who took our car away for a valet clean (which is desperately needed after the wadi!). The rooms are gorgeous with a beautiful view of the sea as well as having a separate shower and bath. But the very best thing of all was the swim up pool bar! That was open, and serving alcohol!!!!! Every time I have tried to use a swim up pool bar either it has been closed for maintenance, it has been Ramadan, or Eid and they won’t serve alcohol, or it has been too busy and the staff wouldn’t serve me. However today I am pleased to announce to the world that I used the swim up bar, it was open, the staff served me and I had a capirinha (I wanted a mojito but they didn’t have any mint - I guess you can’t have everything all at once 

Tomorrow we leave this heavenly resort and head off to the wonders of Sohar!

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Photos

Lunch at the top
The dry buns weren't much fun

The mighty jeep
coming out of the wadi

The pool
at the Al Aqqa beach resort

The bath
It was heavenly!

Comments

[R & S]

Merry Christmas
Enjoying reading your tour info - what a wonderful trip ! thanks Graham for ringing us yesterday - sounded like you were having a great time. We celebrated Christmas yesterday as Tani and Andrew are off in their camper up north today. Everyone happy and well here. Love Rod