Hayat Plaza Hotel Ras Al Khaimah

... there were no road signs. We hadn't booked a boat tour in advance, choosing to simply go to the harbor and ask around. So we tried to stay along the coast road in the hopes of coming across that kind of harbor. The road curled around away from the water, and on a whim we decided to follow a line of cars as it turned through the town, which was fortuitous since we stumbled across the Khasab fort (or Khasab Castle as it styles itself). This ...

We left home around 6 am, and made a short stop at a local bakery for mana'eesh (flatbread baked with cheese, meat, and/or za'tar) before heading to the UAE/Oman border. It was a short drive (about 20 minutes) and the crossing was straightforward. I was surprised that it took as long as it did, the largest delay coming at the office where we had to buy Omani car insurance. I stayed in the car with the kids ...

... in daylight, and early enough in the day that the sand wasn't blistering hot. With kids sleeping, I hopped out, ditched my sandles, and ran around a bit in the dunes. It's interesting how you can be walking along on firm sand then suddenly your feet sink and it becomes tough going. I was fascinated by the animal footprints... I don't know enough about them to tell what they were, although I assumed birds, but maybe not. It's like after a heavy ...

... the Saudi Embassy for initial approval. Once you get that, you then submit your passports, vaccination cards and pictures and wait. We had submitted ours over a week ago; predictions were mixed at the travel agency -- some assured us it would be a week, others said it would be at least two weeks. We decided to take the risk, packed everything and headed to Abu Dhabi hopeful that the passports would ...

Flight seemed to take a long time, but only arfound 40% full, so plenty of extra seats to spread out across to get a nights sleep.....we thought! Not much sleep though, but enough, just! We hired a car to drive upto Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), our new home. By sheer luck, we managed to avoid the cars coming from all directions and find our way onto the ...

... between the Emirates and Oman. Fishermen on the beach, having their lunch, under a blazing sun. The temperature of the air was so high, even under a shade you could feel your skin heating up. I discovered that, as I had feared and anticipated, a videocamera in hand is not the best tool to make new friends. There is a strange thing with filming, that you are entering the intimity of people, instead of just taking a still picture of one ...

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Essentially all tour operators in the Mussandam fjords do the same sort of thing. First a cruise with the resident dolphins coming alongside to ride the bow wave , then a snorkel stop at Telegraph Island and then a lunch stop at somewhere like Seebi Island. We've done this type of day cruise here before but were impressed with Ahmed's plentiful 'little extras' like local tea, dates, Arabic coffee, fruit selection ...

This was probably the coolest tour I have done in the Emirates. We started with duning in the desert. Then stopping for an Arabian sunset. After the sunset we got to ride camels, smoke shisha, eat bbq and watch a belly dancer. It was pretty sweet

... compare? Don't think I've stressed how early we begin each day. Never any later than 8:00 out the door. And, often it's 6:30 out the door when we are flying. So, today, breakfast was from 6:30 on the patio (private patio for us).... as usual, omelets, all pastries, cereals, juices, meats, cheeses. Have been so good at breakfast because it's the only meal I can control. Have been true to granola (museli ...

... alone. Then headed for shade and awaited them. We were there only 90 minutes, but it is easy to see why this is a wonder of the world. I realize my guess-ti-mates of the size of the pagadoas yesterday were way too small. These temples are HUGE. Most were so impressed with the Taj, but I must say, I saw little difference between its many pictures and the real thing. The surprise was the setting, the size ...