Wadi Bih.....I end up at the hill ruins of Oman.

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A hot and humid evening, by the pool of Le Meridien a bunch of friends sipping beer and chatting. Out of blue, we find ourselves talking about taking a hiking Trip to the "Wadi Bih" of the neighbouring Oman. Next thing I know, we are in a Nissan 4X4 racing towards the border, along the long long deserted highway of the desert.

I moved to the UAE last year, and it has been a wonderful few months. UAE is an Union of seven small states, each being ruled by its own Emir (hence the name United Arab Emirates). Lined along the Persian Gulf, this place is a warm, cosy, small city. Clean as it is, and almost crime-free.

The trip to the border was long and comfy, we stopped along for a couple of pee-breaks, and smoke. The gang was truely international, Roman(German), Torrey (American), Chris(filipino), Me(Indian), Kafil(Pakistani)....sounds neat ..eh ?

We sang and jumped along, sometimes our German friend boosting the music out very loud.

We reached the spot, and started our hike...it was pitch dark, and rocky (well as it should be), a few locals advised us to drop the idea of hiking in the night, and camp somewhere safe, and start in the morning. We hiked along, and reached the summit late at night, a Wide WADI (valley) surrounded by rocky hills. The sky was beautifully decorated with millions of sparkling stars. With the place being in the middle of a deserted chain of hills, and being dark....the Star gazing was real fun.

We started a fire, and in no time hot steaming, spicy (and burnt 😉 ) BBQ meat and fish was ready.

Torrey managed to prepare her, all American sweet snacks.....Marshmellows, and crackers, and melted chocolate.

We ate and drank and houled as loud as we could, and then we sat down talking and telling ourselves that the sunrise will be worth the wait.

This was the first ever hike, and camping I have been to in the dark :D
We all had an awesome time, and managed to be alive through the night in the valley.

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