UAE Region Hunting

After a beautiful trip in the Caucasus I landed into Dubai Al Maktoum (DWC) Airport at around 8pm from Grozny, Russia (Chechnya). My flight the next night was leaving from Abu Dhabi (AUH). Unfortunately I could not find any car rentals that would allow me to pick up at DWC and drop off at AUH. So, I took an Uber to Dubai International Airport (DXB) and picked up a car from there. I then spent the night at the DoubleTree Waterfront in Sharjah. This was a beautiful hotel for under $100 and had free parking. The room was very spacious and bathroom was excellent, which allowed me to take a very comfortable shower and shave (which was needed after the adventure in South Ossetia).

In the morning, I headed towards the East of the country. Here lie a few fascinating geographical features. First, I headed to the Al Manama exclave. This is a part of Ajman Emirate, but it lies separated from the main part of the emirate and instead in between Fujairah, Sharjah, and Ras al-Khaimah Emirates. Imagine a Tennessee town nestled between Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina: that’s essentially what Al Manama is! I was impressed by the number of new houses being constructed, most very luxurious. This looks like the place to be!

Then, I headed to the east of the country to a very special part of the country.  Here, next to Fujairah, there is an enclave of Oman called Madha. This is a beautiful mountainous area that is worth visiting in its own right. However, it gets more interesting than that. Within the Madha enclave lies the Emirati enclave of Nahwa, which is a part of Sharjah Emirate. I woke up this morning in Sharjah, and now I am hours away and in the same Emirate!

After leaving Fujairah Emirate the road in Madha from the East is unpaved and very minimally trafficked. There is a main access road to Nahwa Hamlet from the west of the country close to the city of Khor Fakkan. I was having such a nice time driving by myself through the nature so I pulled off the road by a small stream and just sat on a rock for an hour or so. It was magical— there were no other people and not a sound besides the water and some birds. Was a perfect place to do some reflecting and planning for the time ahead.

Eventually, I crossed into the UAE again to Nahwa. Here there is a small town and an archaeological center. Unfortunately, it was closed, presumably due to Ramadan. So, I just enjoyed the views and walked around a bit.

I continued through Nahwa then to the Omani border on the other side of the enclave. Here there is a sign honoring the border (but there is no control) on the Omani and Emirati sides. However, since the route on this road would be longer to drive back to Abu Dhabi, I went back the way I came on the unpaved road.

In about 2 and a half hours I made it back to Abu Dhabi. I came early to the airport and got some work done. Now it was onto Spain for a special adventure.