We have stayed in UAE for 3 years now but little did we know that there is actually a little Oman doughnut inside UAE that does not have border control! So, it is easy to understand why we must head there this very weekend after learning about it. Based on the information I have gathered online via a hiking group in Facebook, coupled with Wikiloc drop pin location and a couple of photos, we decided to give it a try.
Luckily the weather is still cool enough early morning for us to do some hiking. We depart home at 7am that morning so that we could start our hike latest by 9am. The hiking trail is really inside Oman and with that, it means that no network coverage unless you are using roaming.
The coordinate which is accessible via sedan car: 25.299566506010237, 56.29734177890819 and then, if you would like go to the start of the trail (little bit off-road required, AWD preferred) is at this coordinate: 25.30453317862541, 56.287650339368284
The place is about 2 hours away from Dubai and to our surprise, it is actually just a right turn from a highway we always use when we are headed to Khorfakkan, meaning we have passed by this turn to Oman umpteen times, not knowing we can actually go “overseas” so easily.
The parking spot at the start of the trail are actually quite limited as it is quite narrow, and that works to our advantage meaning there is not much hikers around the area. We met a couple of locals and hopefully it stays this way and hikers will keep the place clean and untouched unlike Wadi Abadilah which has become quite a dumping spot.
I would rate the trail easy except a few areas which you may need a push as it is climbing the rocks on the rocks next to a water source which can be quite slippery at times. Other than that, most of the trails are flat. I would say 40% of the trail is shaded from the morning sun which can be quite brutal in the summer months.
Highlight of the trail would be an abandoned car which we still can’t figure out how it ended there, some mini ponds which is good for a dip (ankle deep), and some trees, flowers and frogs. We also spotted a snake sleeping in a mini cave so be careful and not disturb them.
Overall, it was a good hike and probably we can re-visit them again when winter hits end of the year!
