ADO2404 Dubai & Oman
I am about to leave the winter wonderland in Germany behind me to start another tour of the Emirates and Oman over the next two weeks. There is already so much to see in Dubai alone that, after my first tour, I decided to choose a different sight each time I am in Dubai. After my visits of the Expo, the Dubai Frame, the Museum of the Future, and others, I'm finally taking the elevator up to the top of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, this time. My combined ticket also includes a visit to the aquarium within the gigantic Dubai Mall. Of course, in the city of superlatives, this can't just be a simple aquarium. Of course, it's an underwater zoo of no less than a 10 million liter water tank with over 140 different animal species! I'm already looking forward to it and will post more pictures soon!
Our international mix of riders (Canada, USA, Switzerland, UAE, Germany) ventured out from our desert hotel near Dubai this morning, and together we made our way to the highest pass road, Jebel Jais, in the United Arab Emirates. We covered the distance on faster roads. Riding up the impressively winding road was great fun for everyone. In the evening, we arrived in the Emirate of Fujeira and enjoyed our fantastic luxurious hotel.
What a relaxing morning this was in our beautiful hotel right on the beach! After the morning briefing, we were headed straight for our first highlight - the small Al Bidya Mosque. Built around 1446, it is the oldest mosque in the Emirates that is still regularly used for prayer today. Soon after, we continue on unpaved paths for the first time on this tour. Without exception, everyone in the group really enjoys this. After our visit to the water and electricity park in Hatta, we continue directly to the Omani border. Today we are changing countries, i.e. there are border formalities to complete. Normally this is relatively easy. However, a somewhat more time-consuming version of our border crossing suddenly arose when we realized at the Omani border post that the UAE border official had accidentally inserted the ID of a complete stranger into one of our passports when we left the country. In the end, however, everything was fine and we made the rest of the journey to Sohar.
Today we have a long riding day ahead of us. For a large part of the day, we ride through the foothills of the Hajar Mountains, which stretch from the north-east to the south-east here in Oman. It is unbelievable - yesterday it had rained in this area. So we had to ride particularly careful through the dips in the road, which potentially collect the water. But the tour guides Angela and Ibrahim had everything under control. Markus (Switzerland) likes to take photos and Mike (USA) enjoys every kilometer of this beautiful route. Towards the afternoon it gets very warm, so we gladly accept every shady spot for a short water break. We will spend the next two nights in Muscat and will of course also take a look around the beautiful city. At our luxurious hotel, we were warmly welcomed with Omani tea.
Our rest day offers a tour of the most important sights by motorcycle. Jolanta, Laureen and Markus went on a tour together with Angela and Ibrahim. First we visited the famous Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, then the Royal Opera House Muscat and then the Muthra Souk. We rode past the government district, along the Corniche and finally back to the hotel via Muscat's first paved road.