Changing Lanes

Friday, 1st of August

Second part of Day 3

1) After our lunch from Burj Dubai fast food restaurant, we headed off to the east towards a spot me and my sister were really excited about. It's called Wadi Darbat that seemed to boast of so many scenic views of waterfalls, mountains etc. This was taken while we made our ascent up the mountain...
2) As usual, as we went deeper into the mountains, the number of trees around us would increase.
3) They are converting the area around the Wadi into something of a picnic spot. This worries me seeing how much damage people have already done. In this picture, I love the way these trees grow all together.
4) The Wadi Darbad was kinda disappointing as I couldn't see any waterfalls. Supposedly we have to trek deeper which was not possible at that time as we were not well equipped.
5) Another shot of the Wadi.
6) The tire marks in the greenery is the damage I was talking about earlier. People in 4WDs seemed to go anywhere and everywhere, never following the already created tracks. I don't know what pleasure they got from acting like complete idiots especially those who had turbo engined 4WDs.
7) We now headed back outside to make our way to another spot called Tawi Atayr.
8) On our way to Tawi Atayr. The fog was really thick on the way and we crawled forward at a maximum speed of 40kmph. Here is yet another 'tree in fog' picture
9) Somewhere below is Tawi Atayr. Unfortunately we couldn't go down a little further for a better view due to construction of the steps nor see anything from where we were, due to the thick fog. Tawi Atayr is a huge sink hole that is home for thousands of birds away from human contact. Don't know how long it will take humans to spoil that especially with the steps being made.
10) A cow grazing near Tawi Atayr.
11) A camel grazing near Tawi Atayr. It was so common to see camels in the mountains among the green which is such a huge contrast from the camels we get to see here.
12) I don't know why they use 'food stuff & luxuries' for shops that are literary groceries. I get the food stuff part but luxuries. What's that about??
13) This is a view of the Tayq cave/sink hole. The view was very cool and so was the echo created by it. I was really curious about those spots of green at the mouth of a few caves which meant there must be some water source somewhere though I didn't see a drop anywhere. The surrounding area was very dry and there was hardly any greenery to be seen. Only dried up bushes and cactus were scattered all over the place.
14) I like this shot due to the thorns in the back ground. Even in this dry weather, these plants managed to bear fruits. Very cool!!!
15) Our mode of transport. We put the poor Prado through a lot though the Trajet had its share of tough times too.
16) Another view of the Tayq Caves and Sink hole. I saw a bunch of people and a goat down there.
17) These trees made perfect picture shots...
18) Khawr Rawri archaeological site requires you to pay AED10 for entrance as it's a U.N.E.S.C.O protected site. Its importance lies in it being a important sea port about 2000 year ago. They have uncovered a few houses on the edge of the cliff that overlooked the water. Quite boring and I completely preferred the other archaeological site we visited (pictures later).
19) What was more interesting was Khawr Rawri itself. By that I mean the water and cliffs we could see from the archaeological site. We wondered if we could get down there but it was too late for any exploration as the sun had already gone down.
20) We headed back to where we were staying. We then made our way to the Heritage Village which is the centre for cultural and heritage activities during the Khareef season. Lots of stalls set up serving food, clothes, jewelry etc. I found it quite boring and reminded me of Global village which I prefer not visiting.