Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Zigi Beach and East Coast


Travel Month:

April 2010

Country:

Oman and UAE

Area:

 Zigi Beach, Wadi Khab Al Shamis, Dibba, Dibba Al Hisn, Dibba Al Fujairah, Fujairah, Khor Fakhan, Kalba, Wadi Warrayha


Attractions:

Wadi and Sea

Total Distance Covered:

500

Total Days

4

Travelogue:
We had an exploration trip of the east coast of UAE that was long over due. In these four days we explored quite a few areas. Usually anybody going to the east coast takes a loop driving trip covering Kalba, Fujeirah, Khor Fakhan, Dibba and Dabba, however we in addition to this loop explored a few wadis and hiked up to reach Zigi Beach. Zigi beach is a small hide away and one has to climb a mountain trek to reach there. The public access to this beach has been closed since the opening of Six Senses resort a couple of years back. Due to this reason we planned a boys trip to hike to the beach, spend the night and then come back the next day.

We including myself, my brother Sohail, my son Sajeel and my nephews Rohail, Raheel and Fazeel left a day earlier than our families to explore and complete the Zigi Beach adventure and they joined us a day later at the hotel.

We left in the morning and reached Dibba in time to catch the Friday prayer. After the prayer we explored a few hotels and drove on the shore to see the areas that we never saw before. The east coast must have been a wonderful place but due to excessive construction on the whole of coast most of the areas have become filthy trucks. We were not at all impressed with it. Interestingly we found out that there are a number of Sheikhs houses (big farm like places) right on the sea and they have planted a number of fruits on the sea side which are usually not grown on the shores. It was amazing to see mangoes being grown there. We also used those small paths behind these big villas to reach closer to the sea and these streets were very dirty and not maintained at all.

Another interested thing we found out was the distribution of the city named Dibba. It has three parts, one is Dibba Fujeirah that falls in the Emirate of Fujeirah, second part is Dibba Al Hisn that falls in the Emirate of Sharjah and the thrid one is Dabba which falls in Sultanate of Oman. Despite three names they remain one city with adjacent parts, surprising these all look different due to the maintenance level and construction done in each one of them.

Here we had lunch with a nice biryani and moved further towards Wadi Bih and Wadi Khab Al Shamis. Not to forget we got our dinner in doggy bags as we planned to sleep at the Zigi.

The paved road ended and the dirt track started for the next few kilometers. We stopped at the barrier setup by the Six Senses Resort to block any traffic going up the mountains to reach Zigi. We packed our small back packs and started our hike just before the evening. There are two tracks going to Zigi, one is old and the broken one and the other is the new and maintained one. We took the old one as the distance is less through this one, about 6 kms to be precise. Our decision for taking the shortest route didnt turn out to be be best as the track was totally broken that really took toll from our lazy and unexercised bodies.We thought going up would be difficult and the remaining would be easier which turned out to be even harder due to its steepness and no maintenance. We made it to the beach after the sunset and we headed straight to the Masjid to freshen up and to say our prayer.

It was dark already and we couldnt see much on the beach side, the sound of water hitting the shore was heard from very close though. We were right on the beach and there were about 21 houses being built right there. The local people seem to have given up their main trade i.e. fishing as we could make it from their broken boats etc. It all looked like due to the prosperity the resort had brought there. This place is like a hidden beach from the world as there are mountains between the beach and the main track. Therefore it is secluded and was picked up as a spot for Six Senses resort.

We picked up a spot on the beach for the night but then came back closer to the Masjid for diner. We opened up the biryani we took with us and everyone ate in the dim light coming from a light pole not too far from where we were sitting. A couple of cats just appeared from somewhere and had a treat from us in the shape of bones and leftover chicken. Once we were done with our food we came back to the beach and everyone spread their sleeping bags to take some rest. The weather suddenly became hot and we kept getting breeze with mixed temperatures but it was more inclined towards warmer air. The boys listened to some music before sleeping and we enjoyed a bit of the beach as well. There was moon out in the sky and that made the place romantic. However this romantic feeling didnt last for long cause we noticed too many bugs started to bug us and made our life miserable for the rest of the night. I was bitten more than anyone else and am still recovering from those bites.

The night got passed somehow and we got up early morning, we didnt sleep most of the night anyways. The weather condition was telling us that the day is going to be a real hot one, so we decided to quickly wrap up our sleeping bags and start our walk back to the other side of the mountains where our car was parked. The beach really did not look cool to us and we left this place even without having a dip. The walk became difficult in no time due to sun already looking into our eyes. We made slow progress but this time through the track with an intention of getting a lift if need be. We were not too far from the top when we saw an open truck approaching us, the driver gave us lift without any reluctance. This made our hike back easier and with in no time we were standing next to our car.

We drove back to Dibba and crossed into UAE . We had a hearty meal on the way to Kalba near Fujeirah and joined our families in Kalba where we had booked a hotel for the next few days.

We spent next few days by visiting Fujeirah, Khor Fakhan, Kalba, and other smaller towns on the East Coast. We saw fishing done in its traditional manner and also got fish as a gift from the local fisherman. The highlight of the trip was our cooking as we cooked a number of things and had a lot of fun and relaxed ourselves. We also visited Wadi Warayha and saw a nice waterfall there. But the place has become so filthy due to irresponsible behavior by the visitors and lack of municipality interest. There is a lot of trash in this area although this area has been declared protected area by the state. We drove in the wadi bed for a few kilometers to reach the falls and later discovered that there is a road that ends not far from the falls if someone wants to visit this place by a saloon car. Indeed there will be a bit of walk to reach the falls after parking your vehicle.

Wadi Warrayha despite being  declared as a protected area is not really respected by the visitors and they keep throwing their garbage out there. The walls next to the falls are all painted with spray paint with visitors names and the dates. I would not visit the falls again rather will hike further to reach a couple of pools which are not visited by many. Though the drive was exciting on the rocky wadi bed, and we had to drive on a very slow pace to avoid any damage to the vehicles. On the way back we stopped at the famous Mandi place in Khor Fakhan to have dinner before setting off for home.

Over all it was a relaxing trip except the first day. We reached home around 9ish to have a long night sleep. Until next time.....

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