Today’s alarm came way too early, but as the sun began to stream in I decided to finally stop hitting snooze. My previous visit to the UAE only included Abu Dhabi and Dubai so while we had a top notch breakfast at the Park Hyatt, we discussed renting a car and driving out to Fujairah for the day. A rental was really cheap so we booked and headed to the airport to pick up the car.
Plate one of unknown
Halal eggs benedict
Nothing says Ramadan Kareem like drinking your morning coffee behind giant partitions
Along the mostly desolate sand dusted highway outside of Dubai we came across our first camel crossing. Lots of scattered construction dotted the landscape, but just about an hour later we reached the outskirts of the city.
Why did the camel cross the road?
Courthouse
Trying to show up Jerry World
Fujairah is a complete contrast to Dubai (and Abu Dhabi/Sharjah), which felt more like neighboring Oman. It was the last of the seven emirates to join the Trucial States that eventually became the UAE. We new hardly anything about this part of the country so just drove around taking it in. Our first sight was what turned out to be a brand new mosque.
Opened for Eid in 2015, the 210 Million AED mosque was named after Sheikh Zayed (yes that very same Sheikh Zayed of the Abu Dhabi Mosque and father of the UAE). It is now the second largest mosque in the Emirates with six 100-meter minarets and over 65 domes. It can handle 28,000 worshipers and on this particular first Friday of Ramadan the parking lot was packed. It is not open to non-Muslims.
Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Fujairah
One of the 65 domes
Second largest mosque in the UAE
We continued down the main street toward the Gulf of Oman and you can notice development of the city is beginning, but has a long way to go to lump itself with the glitz and glamor of the UAE most tourists see. One of the main projects is a resort near the border with Oman to attract beach goers. The sun was baking hot at this point and when we reached the small beach we couldn’t stand more than five minutes before retreating back to the car and cranking up the AC.
Fujairah Beach
And its deserted corniche along the Gulf of Oman
Fujairah does have some fun roundabouts though
On the outskirts of the city was the Fujairah museum and fort. The fort wasn’t yet open since it was a Friday and we didn’t feel like waiting so we explored the outside before continuing our tour of the Emirates.
Fujairah Fort
Fujairah skyline highlighted by the new Sheikh Zayed Mosque
We began by driving north toward Ras Al Khaimah and just before reaching the enclave of Oman with the counter-enclave of UAE we stopped to check out the town of Al Bithnah. The route from the highway to the fort was a bit challenging to find and navigate but once we arrived we were greeted with another desolate and seemingly closed fort. We did a quick walk around and as we were returning to the car the ‘keeper of the fort’ came out and offered to take us in. Was nice to see since we were in the neighborhood, but was nothing special compared to Nakhal and Nizwa in Oman. It was thought to have been built in the late 18th Century.
Bithnah Fort
Private tour inside
View from atop the fort
Back on the road we saw
rural UAE as we made our way to the coast along the Persian Gulf in Ras Al Khaimah. Since it was Ramadan not many restaurants were open (some blackout the windows for the non Muslim migrants to eat) and we decided to forgoe eating while we traversed the remaining emirates, including Umm Al Quwain, Sharjah and finally Ajman before getting back to Dubai. It was a shame we didn’t stop in EFC; Emirates Fried Chicken. In just a few hours we briefly hit six of the seven (not Abu Dhabi) and saw a much more authentic window of traditional Emirate and Arab life. Lots of small roadside shops in Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain. Sharjah and Ajman (being so close to Dubai) are much more advanced.
Ras Al Khaimah’s newest and largest mosque: Sultan bin Saqr Al Qasimi Mosque
This is the UAE?
All sorts of Ramadan retail offers
After a bit of a rest at the hotel, we took advantage of our rental and drove to the New Gold Souk for some Uzbek cuisine. We arrived just before Iftar (the meal that breaks the fast) and had to actually wait a few minutes before they would serve us. The food was fantastic and cheap. We stuffed ourselves, after our nearly all day fast, for just 112 AED. Traditional dates and water (for iftar) were served while starting off with chuchvara (fried dumplings) and dolma. We shared plov Tashkent and Gijduvans kofte (kebabs).
Uzbegim, a hidden gem in the new gold souk
Breaking the fast with dates and water
Dolma
Chuchvara
Plov Tashkent
Gijduvans kofte
On the ride home we had to make a detour for a souvenir at the Hard Rock Café before finally raiding each of our rooms minibars one last time. A live tv broadcast from Mecca kept us entertained until it was time to finally call it a night.
Free portable car wash in the parking garage
Dubai skyline under the haze
Burj Khalifa