Hiking the Hajar Mountains: Wonderwall and Wonderland in Ras Al Khaimah

[Enchanting music] look at this it is absolutely epic [Dumming Music] To the mountains we go for another adventure [Theme Music] If you thought the UAE was just a sand pit, you were mistaken The Hajjar mountains are my playground and have some epic hiking trails from Ras Al Khaimah to Fujairah Today we're going canyoning with my pals over at Adventurati [Eerie Arabic Sounds] [Vibrant Arabic Music] So we've come down to Ras Al Khaimah today because it is a hub for adventure. It's home to the Hajjar mountain range and we're meeting with Fadi from Adventurati who runs guided tours and he's gonna take us on a trek today. It should be about a five-hour trek but has a little bit of abseiling and even has a via ferrata, so it should be an interesting adventure [Sound of

car on rough ground] [Door Slam] How's it going Fadi. All good man. Good to see you again. Good to see you too. Welcome to Ras Al Khaimah Thank you. So what are we doing today what's the plan? all right so we have an exciting trip planned for us today. We're going to start off with what we call the wonderwall and the reason we call it wonder wall because Oasis is there? No that's a different that's a that's a different hike. My name is Fadi and I am the founder and one of the lead guides at Adventurati Outdoor So roughly how long is this going to take us? So this will take us approximately between five to six hours, depending on the group pace and depending on the stops Right and who else we got coming

with us today? So today we have our lovely team Paige and Shoug, who will be assisting us throughout the trail and will be here to guide us through the wadi super well it's getting warm so I guess we better get started all right let's go! [Dramatic Action Music] So today we have planned an exciting trail that's known as Wonderwall and a combination add-on which is called Wonderland. Wonderwall is a trail that goes a lot of bouldering and climbing Natural formation of rocks that form like a playground and Wonderwall is a place where we reach the top of the mountain and start descending down ubseiling and navigating our way out of the wadi, back to the seaside in Rams [Drumming music] All of these, like buildings here, all these walls, people have been living here? There

are quite an incredible amount of old settlements located in Ras Al Khaimah Can we go take a look at them? There's a there's an amazing one right up. Yalla let's go Hi I'm Paige and I'm one of the lead guides for Adventurati Outdoors This one specifically is a really intact nice settlement, and it's pretty amazing the way that they've built it under the overhang over here So do you have any idea who built this or how old it is? So these are the Bedouin who used to live in these areas I have been with Adventurati now for almost three years. For me it all started when I went on a trek with Fadi the founder and joined as one of the guests. From there I absolutely fell in love with it and it just progressed

further and further Some of the areas they have been dated back to around 700 AD, which is quite a long time and some of the settlements as well it's incredible the way that they have been intact or that they actually stay intact with weather and all seeing that this is built down in a wadi there's a lot of water coming up and down the wadi So they've obviously built this under a, really clever because it's going to protect them from the sun and so exactly So I can hear goats around everywhere it's like goat mania it's plenty so what other animals are found specifically in these mountains? You have the odd hedgehog here and there, which we'll find at night time, we see mostly the trails on the tracks and then we've got some good

snakes some dangerous some not dangerous I was gonna ask what is there that's dangerous? They hide in the day it's too hot for anything to come out What about scorpions? Scorpions plenty. You're not going to see them with your eyes unless you're really lucky we usually go hunting for them at night with a UV light where they shine bright green, along with camel spiders as well, so very easy to spot Right so you have to watch yourself at nighttime So if i didn't kill myself falling down this canyon, I had to worry about poisonous snakes, scorpions and camel spiders. Well they didn't say it was going to be easy [Action music] It means the world to me to be able to be in a place where I get to see people and I get to

see people challenge themselves, as well as I challenge myself as well, and I get to learn so much about them and they learn about me and that's my favorite thing So you love the whole community? yeah yeah definitely So you're you're actually from the UAE? I am, born and raised From Ras Al Khaimah? No based in Dubai My name is Shoug Al Sayegh. I'm an assistant guide here with Adventurati Outdoors. I'm a huge advocate for women hiking, I love seeing women feeling empowered doing things that they thought that they might not be able to Do you have a favorite hike? Definitely. This one, Wonderwall. There's always a surprise around the corner, every time you pass a rock obstacle there's another one waiting for you and i think for me that's super challenging and super fun

because i get to i get to know that i can do this Why is it called Wonderwall? I mean it's it's a surprise after a surprise you know you keep wondering what's coming next and you keep wondering yeah exactly I'm here and I'm doing incredible things and I'm seeing amazing things and I would love to see more women here [Action music] You've come a long way since I came with you on your first trek as Adventurati five years was it four years ago? Four years, almost four years ago yeah you've come a long way and you've got coffee now one of those thank you very much So this is Emirati gahwa? Gahwa yeah So tell me how has adventure tourism developed since then? People realize that there's much more that the UAE has to offer

they started to want something more to explore. Those who are not more fond of being healthy in a gym, wanted to do something that gets them fit but in a way where it's more active outdoors, connecting with others, connecting with nature and with that we had to cope by coming up with more sustainable ways to offer our experiences to be more than just a hike to be more about raising awareness understand the nature of UAE the mountains the culture and the local tribes that used to be here the adventure tourism sustainability program is a way of us, creating a bridge between the expats living in UAE and tourists and travelers coming in and the local mountain people and for us it's a really big thing because now when people join us on our camps, we

provide them with local Emirati food cooked in local Emirati houses in the mountains using ingredients from their own farm We don't go out to bring food from cafeterias or try to make our own food, instead we try to support the local mountain people because the more they grow we grow and the more the mountain is looked after it's a win-win situation for everybody and that is the way of adventure tourism around the world and we're trying to adapt these international standards right here in UAE Well that's enough talking because the hardest part of the canyon still awaits us and is going to require some serious abseiling So what are these ropes for? So as we push higher and higher from the wadi to the top of the mountain, we're going to reach a point where

we're going to set up an anchor and start abseiling our way on the opposite side. So this is our our lifeline You're having a laugh Ready to jump off a cliff? Oh my goodness oh Let's go [Drumming music] You're the guy to ask and a lot of people want to know this, so i'm sure your expert opinion will be well received. What are your top five hikes in the UAE? I would say White Wadi is really one of my favorites White Wadi number five Number four would be scaling Jabel Jais South side Number three would be Wonderwall. There's a lot of scrambling a lot of bouldering. It's wall after wall and that's kind of the type of things that i like to do Number two would be leopard canyon. It's really really nice. That's also

on Jebal Jais? Yes it's a just just close to the Wadi Bih dam and I think number one right now would be Wonderland and the reason I love this so much is because it's the right amount of excitement for those who are more on a medium level so as a guide I enjoy taking people on this trail because it's a great introduction a lot of people who do this trail come back wanting more But wanting more is what I was left with and I can guarantee I'll be back to these beautiful mountains for some more epic adventures but for now that's over and out from me come hiking i'll be waiting the next hike you better be there [Theme Music]