#  >  > Non Asia Travel Forums >  >  > Travel the World Travellers Tales Forum >  >  UAE + Oman

## hick

As some of you may recall from the "Saudi Sites" thread (which is probably farked now thanks to fluckbucket), my friend, wife and I did this over Ramadan:



with the highlights definitely being:

Edge of the world



and


Madain Saleh




Now, (for the Hajj break) wife and I are doing this road trip:




Mostly looking forward to camping/hiking in Oman over the exuberant (gaudy) splendor of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

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## hick

Teasers:







Check back later - should be a good one.   :Wink:

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## Bogon

Happy travels. Look forward to the thread.


If you bump into these 2, they are some droids that I'm looking for.

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## hick

I shall keep my binocs and telescope within reach...   :Wink:

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## David48atTD

What is driving like in those countries?

Other drivers?

Driving conditions?

 I'm used to dodging Roos and RoadTrains.

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## hick

Well David, in the very beginning, it's a complete mind-fuck, though it's not as bad as it used to be.

Saudi requires a healthy mix of offensive and defensive driving skills to survive.

There are portions where repetitive honking and light flashing is required to keep one's presence known to those sidelining into traffic.

You MUST learn to anticipate other drivers' movements.

I'd say that I avoid at least one major accident per month and have come upon/witnessed nearly a dozen fresh accidents, but I drive a lot.

Many expats (over the course of several years) never elect to take the wheel.

UAE is not bad at all (comparatively) as there's a stronger police presence, a greater western population and is just generally not as fast (or "cowboy") as the others.  That said, you'll still encounter all of the typically unsafe driving practices that you see elsewhere in the ME/Asia such as; changing lanes w/o indication, cut offs, weaving, drifting lanes, extreme tailgating, speeding into roundabouts, sudden braking/stopping, phone distractions, etc.

The region is plagued by young drivers.  The story goes that an Arab will marry 1-4 women and then be unavailable to escort them to the grocery store, for one example. So, one of the sons is elected and 'boom,' you've got a 12 year old driving a 4x4 death machine packed full of family members.

One issue is how road signs will change their transliteration within a kilometer.  For example, the exit for "Athaibah," may have the spelling altered in the next sign to: "Udaihbah."

Generally speaking, the further you are from the city limits, the faster, harder and more ridiculous the drivers' become.  However, Jeddah taxis have a well-deserved reputation for driving like lunatics.

Driving alongside Omanis will be new for me, but I have it on good authority that the driving there is: "_Nothing compared to Riyadh's outer ring road_."

Once you accomplish the above, (I drove it for 3 years before it welcomed its first speed camera) you're ready to take on Pakistan and Northern India.   :Razz:

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## hick

Someone wrote in reputation:

"_sounds like good training for Thailand_"

yeah, ya know....after having driven in Riyadh for several years w/o incident (firmly knocks on wood),... 

...I returned to Thailand and shortly thereafter joined the infamous "Por Tek Tung" Emergency response team operating out of _Huachiew_ Hospital.  

3 months in I showed interest in taking the driving course (in order to operate the ambo.) and after taking the practical portion of the test, the board said: "_We don't have a score high enough for your driving performance_."   :Razz:

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## raycarey

looking at your route...

try to make it to salalah if you can... it's the tail end of the khareef season.

looks like a great trip....but if it were me, i'd add doha and drop duqm.

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## hick

Doha?  Ughh.  I don't believe that road border is open at the moment, given the political climate.  

Duqm?  You mean Dubai?

I was showing my wife Salalah last night and explaining how we probably won't make it this time.  It'd just turn a long drive into an excruciatingly long one, unfortunately.

EDIT:  Oh, Duqm in Oman, sorry.  Well, that's where my route kind of opens up.  Once we pass Muscat/Nizwa, actually - we're just gonna' let it ride.  ;P

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## raycarey

forgot about the border closing....but IMO doha is a very interesting place to visit for a couple of days.

if you do ever decide to go back to salalah, make sure it's during khareef.

enjoy your trip!

looking forward to the photos.

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## hick

Thanks Ray!

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## Mex

> doha is a very interesting place


Doha has two interesting things...Souq Waqif and the Islamic Museum ( a building that rivals the Sydney Opera House IMO).

The rest is Dubai wannabee....

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## Mex

> Driving alongside Omanis will be new for me


Same as the UAE..

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## hick

For me, it's just....I've been to Doha and got out around Qatar a bit....a little ho hum for me, to be honest.  I quit drinking & whorin' so the watering holes can't even draw me in any longer which basically ends my Bahrain visits as well - tho we might do a pearl dive one of these years...

Without some serious topographical excitement (I hate to type it out loud, but...) it's hard to beat Saudi, really.  It's such a big country, there's actually quite a bit to see.

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## hick

This thread will be shorter than first planned as Oman got scrapped.  Long story.

Next time we'll fly to Salalah, rent a car and drive to Muscat.

This has turned into a serious road trip through Saudi for about a week in UAE.  
It's been really good with a few hiccups.

We stayed here...



...and here thus far:


Intercon Dubai Marina

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## hick

And today we arrived at our highlight accom.



Long drive in:

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## hick

Getting there:

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## hick

Main Gate:

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## hick

View from room:



(Cluster to the top left are the "royal villas" i.e.: where the richies stay...Depp was here blowin' his wad not long ago.)

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## hick



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## misskit

Wow.Beautiful place.

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## hick

It really is a nice getaway tucked away in the desert...my Iphone's not doing it justice I'm afraid and other cameras are better off uploading with PC at home, so....I'll steal a few.  :Razz:

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## chassamui

> forgot about the border closing....but IMO doha is a very interesting place to visit for a couple of days.
> 
> if you do ever decide to go back to salalah, make sure it's during khareef.
> 
> enjoy your trip!
> 
> looking forward to the photos.


In my humble opinion, Doha is a pretty awful place. I have to agree with the summation by Mex.



> The rest is Dubai wannabee....


Unless you really like malls every Kilometre.

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## david44

Ar Riyadh are they still 'drifiting' for fun? Ir was an autocull for the really dumbest 11 boys in family




Did same trips in 2004-11 when less cars but worse rds some pkace 4x4 in Oman

If you can get beyond old RAF base keep going to Salalah and the frankincense green deserts near Haudramat border, Of course after Yemen and Socotra all other driving is relaxing tho I recall N125 in Portugla had similar death rates in the boozy era of GNR who clocked off to dine and watch soccer

I'd say even speed fuelled young Arbs are no worse than the yabba dabba do Red Bull and Lhao Khao mob after their dusk 25cl of hooch and no lights

One place O would avoid is old town lanes of Nizwa


The city is spectacular probably best in the sandpot where my mate wrote of an Al Thani  car in the Wadi which is remarkably slow to get out out with a crowd of locals Paki shopleepers and herd of goats ll giving varying encouragement, Oh how he laughed until bill was knocked of salary
Theres a p[lace north of Sohar nr Al Ain closed rd called beer Jam 

Sounds like my kind of town - Beer Jam, Oman photo - Brian McMorrow photos at pbase.com

not to be confused with

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_jam

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## Neverna

Lovely, hick!

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## hick

^ Cheers Nev  :Smile: 




> Ar Riyadh are they still 'drifiting' for fun?


Arrrr  (that's pirate for 'yes')

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## hick

Here's s'more...

(see Pg.1 as to why there are no Oman pix):



Wife's got the lead there.  They left a spare ride in the back in case I got tired of footin' it.  Must've clocked me for a puss.   :Razz:

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## hick

Bit of attitude.  

The 2nd one in line (above post) cried and moaned for quite awhile and the ....fairly obese Oirish gal kept apologizing to the poor feller for the xtra-load.

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## hick



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## hick



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## hick

Friends again.  Just needed a little time apart...

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## hick

Dude had a sizable harem back in those bushes.

7-8 breeders as far as I could tell.

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## hick



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## hick

Young (uae) Sand Gazelle buck, (i.e. ^ his soon-to-be competition).



Mostly I just thought about ways to catch one if I got lost in the desert.


_Abu Dhabi: The Environment Agency — Abu Dhabi (EAD) has completed the implementation of a pioneer project aimed at assessing the genetic diversity of the sand gazelle population in EAD-managed forests.

Al Mubarak said that 34 forests have been developed as reproduction sites for wildlife populations. Today, these forests shelter around 54,000 individual species of antelopes and sand gazelle._

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## hick

It's nice out there....before the heat gets overwhelming.  We were in the reception area about 5am for the camel ride.

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## hick

Back at the ranch...

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## hick



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## hick



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## hick



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## hick



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## hick



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