At 5 am we start from Divača towards Brnik. At Brnik we endwaters over all check-in . The flight to Istanbul (where we are connecting) is a bit delayed, but we don't care too much because we have a long flight ahead of us anyway. layover . Time flies in Istanbul. It's a really big airport, the kids are having fun on the playground, we use the free wi-fi, we do a little window shopping in between and spend almost 60 euros on bad burgers at Burger King. Then we walk around this huge airport again and board the plane to Dubai. We arrive a little after four in the morning.
After a long journey we sleep there until about 10am. Then straight to the pool and leisurely on. For a walk around the area. We are staying with my friend Nina and her husband Cormac and their dog Kai. We look around the beautiful area where they live. Everything is so beautifully arranged: a green park and huge and varied children's playgrounds, that soft Dubai running track. And of course shops, restaurants and last but not least a shopping mall . They live in a beautiful area. Really, really, really nice. Then we chat and pack. In the evening we jump to Kite beach , a beach from which you can see the hotel's sail. Burj Al Arab . Vasko is taken over by a rent-a-car . A real adventure awaits us. This is our third time in the United Arab Emirates. So it's only right that we visit another Emirate besides Dubai. We pack camping equipment into the car (we brought a tent, sleeping bags , and a mat in suitcases ), some food, a burner, and dishes. And a whole bunch of wet wipes. But at this point you're wondering " can you camp in Dubai? "
Yes, yes! Camping, that is. Let's try it out today.
We agree to get up early the next day. The alarm clock rings at 5:30 a.m. At 6:30 a.m. we leave and drive towards Hatta. Hatta It still belongs to Dubai, but it lies on the border with Oman and is such a cute mountain range. Let's go to hike against Hatta sign , it's a sign like Hollywood. The path is not well marked, but we find our way. The view is beautiful. The descent is easy and we are back in Hatta Wadi Hub (the starting point of our hajka , otherwise like a kind of sports center) where we have lunch and drink crazy good mango juice. Luckily, Nina taught me on the first day that in Dubai you can find fruit from everywhere and because Dubai is closer to Thailand than Slovenia, the fruit is really tasty and good. So mango and papaya every day for me.
After lunch, we head to another very popular location in Hatta, and that is Hatta Dam , a dam and lake trapped between rocks. Wow. We rent a pedolinote and have a really good time. We sail for an hour, the kids (yes, both of them) fall asleep right on the pedolinote. Then we say goodbye to Nina and Cormac and go our separate ways.
Our plan: camping in Hatta .
Vasko had researched the matter in advance, so we just drove to the (artificial) lake. Sahaila Lake . This will be our camp. A camp without toilets and showers. Just before dark we set up the tent, eat and get ready for bed. When we crawl into the tent, our neighbor, who has been sitting on the red carpets until now, lights a fire. Okay, something is going to happen here. And indeed, a group of people soon joins him (I would say men, but honestly, I didn't look) and of course they are loud. But we, on the other hand, are They're all tired , so it's no big deal... But they wake us up around 9pm with " Hello sir, you want steak" . What?! Well, thank you. and we sleep on. The night is then quiet and at 4 am I start to pee. Great, it's dark, I can go. When I get up at 6 am in the morning, “ hello madame ” from Bangladesh is already there. She's picking up the trash. I can't pee in peace behind a bush anymore. Shit no . Then even more of them gather. They water, clean the lake, sweep, etc. We pack up the tent, eat breakfast and go pee in Hatta Wadi Hub, where we peeed yesterday.
I'm still washing the dishes there and we think we're ready for the path towards another mountain range: Jebel Jais . From here comes the panic! At the airport, they give all tourists 1GB of data for free. But it's only valid for 24 hours. Nina gives us 5 of these cards. Can you guess how many of them work?! 1. One that we've already used up. Yesterday. We're left without data, which means without a map. For the rest of the day, we first look for a prepaid SIM card in a very traditional Arab town. They don't have any. Keep in mind that we've already reached this town with a GPS set to Hatta, God forbid we lose our way. No, they don't sell these SIM cards at every gas station, as we expected. They help us with the hotspot and the address and we go to Ras Al Khaimah , which is on our way to Jebel anyway and we can arrange mobile data there. But I can mention that we had another hour's drive and God willing We lose our way. We succeed, we find a branch in a huge shopping mall. We get organized, we rent, we buy a new supply of fruit and we drive to the Jebel Jais mountains.
Let's catch some more rays on Jebel Jais viewing platform . We will spend the night in the lower part of the Jebel Jais mountain range, because we plan to go there tomorrow. hike .
Let's find one macadam , which is not right next to the road, although it is next to the road . But the others set up tents right in the parking lots next to concrete fences and oxygen tanks. We are a little more picky and need a nice view. If there is none, it's out. The darkness catches us so we set up our bedroom, kitchen and bathroom with the help of car lights and headlamps. Vasko walks around our parking lot and finds some boards, so we light a fire for the first time. So beautiful. Being in the middle of nowhere, in a remote mountain range (although there is a wide road leading to it, which could be an example for us for Vršič and Mangart). We turn on the shower again. But we can pee at will, because we are alone. We go to bed a little after 8:00 p.m. The kids just fall down.