UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Clockwise from right: The arrival platform of the ‘Jais Flight’ — the world’s longest zipline at 1.75 miles; sunrise on a cactus in the grounds of Bear Grylls Camp; guide and mountaineer Fadi Hachicho stands at a stone marker indicating the border between the UAE and Oman
extended for the race to even be feasible. “People came expecting porters,” says Fadi, who also manages Highlander events in the region, with an amused smile. But the emirate was quick to catch up on lost time. Today, there are 58 miles of paths soon to be mapped and signposted — and the number’s increasing. In the same few years, the whole of Jebel Jais has been developed
into something of an adventure playground, much of it living up to the superlatives the UAE prides itself on; this is, after all, the country with the world’s highest buildings, its deepest swimming pool. In Jebel Jais, there’s the world’s longest zip-line and the country’s highest restaurant, which serves international dishes and plays western pop. Revving up its single mountain road — 20 miles of perfect tarmac and wide hairpin bends — are low-lying yellow sportscars and oversized purple SUVs. Glamping and luxury lodges are in the works, set to cater to what the emirate hopes will be an influx of thrill-seeking visitors. But elsewhere, the vision is more subdued. On the drive up to Camp
1770, Fadi stopped at roadside viewpoints to show me distant farms in the folds of the Hajars, the ancient homes of the emirate’s age-old mountain tribes. They’re simple settlements, where houses are built with stacked-up stones and buckwheat is grown on terraces the way it’s been done here for thousands of years. Most remain only accessible via walking trails. “We’re fixing some of them up to welcome hikers for local snacks and beverages,” explained Fadi. “These tribespeople — the way they talk, their handshake, their facial expressions — it’s all harsh like these mountains, but they’re generous and welcoming.” Harsh is a good adjective to describe this environment, I muse as I
walk on along the trail of scattered stones, hugging myself in my jacket and massaging down the goosebumps. It’s early spring, the afternoon edging towards sundown, and the temperature has fallen below 5C this high up in the mountains — a dry chill that reaches the bones. But as we hit the end of our uphill trek, a stone slab marking the border with the Omani exclave of Musandam, I realise why Fadi chose to head out so late in the day. I turn to face the path we’ve taken to get up here. The sky’s still blue,
but the haze has turned the sea greige, so that the reflection of the low sun is already a smudged orange; it’s a scene out of time. This, Fadi tells me, is the only place in the country where you can see the sun rise above the Indian Ocean and set in the Persian Gulf. “Even today, there are people who’ve been in the UAE 20 years and don’t know this exists,” he says. “But we have what makes us unique. And the beauty about these mountains is that they’re a blank page. We’re writing history.”
The desert The question of writing — or in this case, rewriting — history comes up
again the next day, on a desert drive through Al Wadi Nature Reserve, 1,200 acres of protected dunes in Ras Al Khaimah’s Wadi Khadeja. “That one was born yesterday,” whispers ranger-ambassador Sisira Ranjan Panda from behind the wheel of our open-sided vehicle. Near the path of old tyre treads is an Arabian oryx calf, curled up tight with its head on its slight hind legs. Sleeping under a rimth, the local name for an almost-leafless shrub, it’s the image of proverbial innocence. “We’ve had 17 births so far this year. It’s a great number for us.”
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