On Friday a group of us did the drive through Wadi Bih, 6 cars, all 4x4s. We started the day by meeting at the mall in RAK (Ras al Khaimah) for coffee then headed out. The route which is shown in the map at the top, was from Dubai to Dibba in the emirate of Fujairah on the East Coast. The photos are here.
The drive through the wadi from one side to the other takes about 3 and a half hours. There are some steep climbs which give spectacular views and the highest point is around 1200m. Some parts of the wadi are really narrow with high cliffs towering over the road. When it floods the water rushes down the wadi carrying everything away with it.
There's a UAE checkpoint on the way into the wadi. As usual we all had to hand over our passports and our names were written into a book that's kept in the little office building. This is ok and we all sat in our air-con cars (it was 40 outside) and admired the barricade arm across the road which is weighed down with rocks. In a new twist however each car was searched. The 'educated guess' is that they were looking for contraband being taken out of the UAE, or maybe the jewellery that was stolen in The Great Wafi Mall Gem Heist. We all had to get out of the cars while the checkpoint guys made a very cursery search and looked in the glovebox of each car. The irony was that at the Omani checkpoint only Colin had to show his passport which apparently was good enough for all 5 cars and they let us through.
After the drive through Wadi Bih we arrived at Dibba on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. While to the passing tourist it looks like one small town, Dibba is in fact three separate villages; Dibba Bayah, ruled by the Sultanate of Oman, Dibba Muhallab, ruled by the Emirate of Fujairah and Hisn Dibba, ruled by the Emirate of Sharjah. Dibba is famous as the site of one of the biggest battles in the Ridda Wars. The Ridda or Apostacy Wars were a series of military campaigns to ensure the reconquest of Arabia by Muslim armies in the generation after the death of the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Many tribes that had converted to Islam during the Prophet's lifetime did not feel bound to the new religion following his death. Tribes in the Dibba area along with many in Oman had even decided to follow another prophet named Laqit (which oddly enough means 'bastard' in Arabic). In 632AD, Caliph Abu Baker who was the elected successor to the Prophet (pbuh) sent armies from Mecca to return the entire Arabian peninsula to the Muslim fold. The Muslim army reached Dibba in 633AD and a great battle ensued. There is a cemetery in the plain behind Dibba which local legend says contains the graves of up to 10,000 dead from that battle.
We had lunch at the new Rotana hotel in Fujairah, very nice. There was a motorcycle club having their anniversary run there. In Dubai even bikies stay in 5 star hotels.
In the afternoon we went for a swim at the beach at Fujairah and saw schools of tiny yellow and black striped fish, later watching the men pulling in the fishing net on to the beach, only a few fish so there wasn't much return for such a lot of work. There is a fish market in Fujairah which opens about 4pm and for a few dirhams the stall owners will fillet your choice of fish for you.
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