We planned to celebrate the festive day of Makar – Sankranti in style by going on a camping trip the following day (Friday -15th Jan 2016) . Me and my four friends (Amit, Kanishk, Saurav & Rakesh) decided to finally head to the tallest mountain of UAE - Jebel Jais at about 1910 meters. The initial tour of the mountain, a week before the actual camping date convinced us perfectly that it was sure-shot adventure thing to do in UAE. The weather was quite chilling as per UAE standards which made us even more eager for the trip.
Since we had the feel of atmosphere at the mountain with our trip a week before, we started to plan the camping and do the necessary shopping. We started this by making a list of the things that we needed to buy throughout the weekdays and finally going to the supermarket on the weekend. Once we were in the supermarket our basket kept on getting heavy due to the addition of the 'probable' use items.
The next day which was a Friday, we started early from Dubai to reach Ras Al Khaimah and pick a friend. He was the one responsible for getting important cooking equipments. Finally we started from RAK for Jebel Jais around 4 pm and were able to reach the mountain top in an hour or so. The 38 km stretch of road from the base leading to the mountain top was sheer beauty and a very smooth drive. The road reminded me of the Grand Canyon as it was a bit similar with gigantic rocks all around.
After reaching the top we had to find a nice place for setting up the camp. Being a weekend and the weather only adding to the beauty of the place, people were in plenty. It took us some time to find a place and we started unfolding our stuffs (the tent mainly).
My friends were able to setup the camp quickly with little help from me :), since I was already lazy after driving for long.
Once we reached the top, the views all around was simply breath-taking. We were enamoured to see the Orange rays during Sun-set.
The nightfall started and we began to setup the barbeque. One of my friend who happens to be an excellent cook took the charge and we helped him to make us a sumptuous meal as we were very hungry :). One more friend was busy setting up the Shisha.
As it started getting darker, our vicinity was left to us as the handful no. of people started driving back. This made us even more thrilled as we were sure that the echo will comprise only of us. Finally the weather started turning very cold (temp. close to -3 degrees Celsius) with winds gushing and the sky clear than we would have ever seen before. The stars were in plenty and the fresh winds were making us happier than shiver. It was just the beginning of the happiness that we were in search for long. We were truly in the nature's lap away from our city life. We wanted to enjoy each and every moment and leave all our stress behind. Soon we were lost in the 'Solitude of darkness'.
The delicious chicken was getting cooked and we were all set to savour the same accompanied by other snacks in the background. Within two hours we were able to finish cooking and were free to enjoy the night. The heat generated from the barbeque was good enough to make us at ease with the cold weather. We were busy talking and relishing the nature's beauty. It was almost 3 am in the morning and we decided to finally sleep as we had to wake up early and head back to Dubai.
We woke up around 7 am as we had to reach Dubai by 9 am. The view right after coming out of the camp was mesmerizing to the core and made us believe that the place has so much to offer everytime.
The Jebal Jais is an awesome place for weekend gateways. If camping is not something which interests you, a visit to the place must be in your list as this takes hardly a day from any of the Emirate in UAE. Once you are near the place, you will definitely be amazed by this hidden beauty deep down the city. The road is very smooth so any car would do and not necessarily a SUV is required (We were able to drive in our Peugeot 206 hatchback which was fully loaded up without any empty space inside the car). Also the place is nicely built with the basic necessities like Washrooms in plenty throughout the mountain. But you need to carry your food and snacks as there is just a small grocery shop which is very unpredictable in terms of the things you will require.
For us the experience was very exuberating and definitely ‘once in life-time thing’ as we aren’t sure if everything would fall in so perfectly as in this trip.
With lots of love,
Kshitij