In 2020 I left Rio de Janeiro, my hometown, to go to the Middle East for the first time. I had never experienced a true Arabian environment. I knew I had an adventure ahead of me. Since I was young, I have had a passion for discovering different places and cultures, so I was determined to find the country’s real roots.
As soon as my plane touched the ground, the first thing I did, and everyone should, in my view, was book a tour to see the desert, which I had never been to before. But I was willing to do something more adventurously, so I rented a quad bike tour in the open desert. When I arrived at the camp, I asked my tour guide, which was a real character, if we would have any class before doing it since I had never driven a quad bike in the sand before. He looked at me, had a small laugh, and told me with a strong Arabian accent, “Yes, of course, my friend, lesson one, don’t fall….” And that was pretty much it. Gladly I found my way on the bike, and going over dunes that felt like mountains made of sand was a hell of an experience. And when we found a big one, I even had the opportunity to do sandboarding, which I thought would be easier, to be honest… It wasn’t.
After that experience full of adrenaline, I went to a Bedouin camp. I feel that everyone could learn a bit from these people. They were desert people. They lived a hard life; even so, they are known for their incredible hospitality. At the camp, I had the chance to ride camels, which were uncomfortable, and even tried their meat, which I felt terrible about and didn’t eat. I also smoked some famous Arabian Shisha with typical Arabian clothes. But the high point was the sunset, I’ve heard that seeing it in the desert is unique, and it was much more than I expected. I just sat down and looked ahead. The sky was burning into my eyes with all the red, At that moment, I felt like I was in a movie, and when night came, the stars were so bright, and you could listen to the wind driving the sand to one place to another, those moments are the ones why I look when traveling. I was happy to find one in the middle of nowhere, which I highly recommend.
When I returned to Dubai, I was even more determined to continue to see this beautiful country that I was in, so I looked for some non-ordinary tourist options.
Well, let’s be honest, if you ask someone what you know about the United Arab Emirates, in my opinion, most of them will answer, “what is that?” The truth is, Dubai, even if it is not the capital, is worldwide known for its giant skyscrapers, like the famous Burj Khalifa to the biggest mall in the world, the Dubai Mall, and all the luxury brands on it. But the country before oil had a fantastic history with so much more culture in an environment where it is hard to live, and you can have some fun while discovering it.
Abu Dhabi is the capital, and Dubai is the most famous city. Still, the country is made of 5 other emirates, with each one of them with a ruler.
I planned a trip renting a car to see what this country had to offer besides the big cities, so I went to those 5 other emirates: Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and Fujairah.
I know that getting off the famous tourist stuff in a place with lots of people can be worth it. But, even though these places are not that famous for tourism, I was completely impressed. The Mosques in all of them were stunningly beautiful, and the devotion that people had to religion and family was something else, and listening to their singing prayers at sundown was incredible.
Besides that, you can see some Arabian-style forts in Fujairah that used to be a vital part of the city against invaders. Go to the markets in the region of Sharjah that are known for their highly skilled negotiation ability. You can visit the incredible ghost town in Ras Al Khaimah.
If you ever dreamed about going to Pripyat on the Ukraine territory to see a real ghost town, now for sure is not the time for it, so I give you a second option, the abandoned village of Al Jazirat Al Hamra. The ghost town is nowadays the remaining symbol of the once flourishing pearl fishing village, whose name translates into ‘Red Island’ because of the sand we found there. You can see all the structure of a village like yesterday people left their houses in a hurry. My time there was crazy because the place was wide open and had no one there, it was completely abandoned, and it appears not a typical tourist attraction. When I was inside a house, one of the day’s prayers started playing, but so loud, and I gotta admit, when I was in there, with all the ghost stories I heard with the locals, I was a bit scared. But the most known version of why the village was left was because of the discovery of oil, so people went to the big cities.
I hope I could pass a little of my experience on this text, I feel that nowadays, people are often blind to see the true beauty of a place and care more about their Instagram feed, and that is a shame because, as you can see, you can find some incredible adventures when you seek for it.
