Escaping Dubai through Desert to East Coast

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The big escape..... It has been a long , tough year... and a drive through the desert to the East Coast has become our pilgrimage of refuge & respite. To have space around us... driving across barren, mountainous, quarry like, landscapes and sand dunes dotted with ghaff trees and low scrub. Seeing groups of camels hanging about in the sand dunes... munching away, not bothered by anything.. a slower pace... Our eyes and senses can rest and we can take in a 360 degree view and vast horizon line... something I miss living in built up Dubai.

It doesn't take long to leave the high rises and manicured street scapes of Dubai... a quick exit behind our place takes us directly on the route out to the desert at our back door.. and across the the east coast... about a 2 hour drive.

I find it very refreshing to leave behind the tall glass towers, the bubble of Dubai, and see something that resembles real life. I am drawn to the old towns, the rundown sheds,shops & homes... people making do with the best they have got, being resourceful...the struggle of life... trying to make a living and support themselves in a harsh environment... There are no doubt many hardships of living on the land, yet as with my own farm upbringing, you are close to nature... and all the richer for that.

Give me a run down shed any day and I am more at home than a glitzy designer shop... I can find a lot more inspiration in an old shed with hand made / make do tools and equipment. Anyway, this is part of the reason I like to escape from Dubai and have some space to reflect.

This all seems a bit contradictory when we finally pull in to a resort on the East coast though!... but hey, I don't mind a bit of comfort too... but all the better when it is next to rugged craggy mountains and the sound of the ocean... Desperate for a nature fix after the streets of Dubai!

Lots of photos as usual to browse through....

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