Every now and then I come across a destination that refuses to be visited as part of a day trip. While I admit that most locations could be enjoyed better by actually spending a night or two there if you have the means for it, this is especially the case in the UAE, given how lively Emirati cities can become once the sun sets down. However, usually, one can see most of what a town has to offer in a single day trip, and considering that, it is often more economical and at times even more comfortable to visit multiple cities with successive day trips way while staying in a hub town with the most amenities, rather than packing up and moving around every day. Unfortunately, this method has its limits, it can (and did) fail from time to time.
Case in point, Ras Al Khaimah was the only emirate that did not play well with this method of travel in the UAE. If you look at a map of this emirate, you may realize that it is almost as long as Dubai if you consider its separate urban areas together, and you should, as each contain a destination or two to be visited. Moreover, the best thing to do in Ras Al Khaimah is to enjoy its nature, notably by hiking around the Hajar mountains, where you can find the UAE’s highest peak. Last but not least, reportedly, this emirate offers some of the best beaches in the entire country, so enjoying a dip in them is a must do as well. Now combine all of this with Ras Al Khaimah’s modest public transport network, and you have yourself an emirate that outright denies to treated as a day trip destination. Nevertheless, in this article, I will try my best to show you just how you can somewhat defy the odds and have a rather enjoyable day in this gorgeous and expansive emirate.
You can often find one of Dubai Transport Authority’s buses plying the route between Dubai and any other emirate within the UAE, but that was not the case for Ras Al Khaimah at the time I was visiting the country. Instead, I took a bus from their own transport authority, RAKTA. After an almost two-hour journey we arrived at Al Hamra Bus Station, which was admittedly still pretty far away from any interesting site you may want to visit in this vast emirate, such as the Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village or Dhayah Fort. Reportedly, there were some buses that I could use, but seeing how every other fellow passenger scrambled to find buddies so that they could split the taxi fares, I did the same without risking my precious time in this emirate by waiting a bus that may or may not come anytime soon. After taking a cab to city center with three others, I started to explore the historic peninsula on which Ras Al Khaimah was founded by wondering around its corniche. During this highly enjoyable morning walk, I could admire the local mangroves, and the modern Ras Al Khaimah just beyond them, with the Hajar mountains peeking their tops invitingly yet further away.
Due to its bustling pearling industry, Ras Al Khaimah was certainly one of the most affluent emirates in this region for a long time. Locals knew how to trade and live well and the emirate itself enjoyed a more prominent geographic position since it reaches out into the Strait of Hormuz. Perhaps this already more established position of it was one of the reasons why Ras Al Khaimah did not actually join the UAE in the first place, declining the initial call for unification. It did join the federation eventually, on 10 February 1972 to be specific, rather than on 2 December 1971 when the country was officially founded. Furthermore, apparently, the first ever casino in the UAE will open here in a few years, which just might differentiate this part of the country from the rest once again soon enough. With that being said, it is as much of a part of the UAE as any other emirate today. As a fun fact, it even shares a ruling dynasty, the Al Qasimi, with the Emirate of Sharjah. It just happens that you can see the photo of Ras Al Khaimah’s heir apparent Mohammed bin Saud Al Qasimi on a random building that I passed by as I was walking along the city’s corniche.
Eventually, I came across a few seaside cafes and restaurants from which you can enjoy the view of the local mangroves. A few people, both locals and tourists alike, were running around in this part of the corniche as well. Admittedly, this was a rather lovely day so far. While I was clearly not going to be able to see all that Ras Al Khaimah had to offer in one short day, at this point I came to peace with that simple fact, and more importantly, I was now convinced that the day was far from being lost!
As I came closer to the city’s marina, the mangroves started to come nearer into my view. I never really saw them this up and close, which was certainly a much welcome change.
In fact, in certain parts of the corniche, the mangroves can be only a hundred meters or so away from you, making it possible to see individual birds that consider this ecosystem home, as well as some decaying dhows that are remainders of the simpler times this entire region once went through just a few decades ago.
Thankfully, not all dhows I saw in this journey were abandoned to their fate. The actual port itself was significantly livelier, though admittedly I did not venture into it properly. There were signs that clearly said that photography was restricted all around me after a certain while, so I decided not to be too nosy. It is a maritime border after all.
On a somewhat related note, one of the more interesting things I saw on this trip was none other than a dying cruise ship. I remember checking out its name and seeing that it has been moored in this port for well over a few weeks according to Marine Traffic, but I forgot what this ship was called now. It did not seem to be active in any way, and it sure is an old ship. I am not sure what it was doing there for all that time, but its future did not seem so bright to me.
At this point, the lunch time was just around the corner. I did not have breakfast as usual, and I was on the road for a long time by now. My Google Maps search brought me to a certain Al Hatee Restaurant, where I could reportedly enjoy a cosy, cheap, and delicious meal. I ordered a pasta with shrimps and an om ali for dessert and got pretty cosy on my seat. You can imagine my surprise when I was immediately given a soup and some pickles on the house. I was told that they wanted to prepare my meal from scratch, which could take some time. I was more than happy to enjoy these freebies as I waited for my food. While the soup was good, these pickled vegetables were next level. I do love pickled carrots so I may be biased in this case.
After a short time, my freshly cooked pasta arrived, and I was in for a surprise. While it was unknown to me at the time I took this photograph, this thin layer of pasta covered an almost ridiculous number of shrimps right beneath it, and much to my amusement, even some added calamari. I was expecting maybe three plump shrimps in a dish that sells for 20 AED, but I was completely blown away by well over ten shrimps and ten pieces of calamari that slowly made their way to my stomach. This plate likely had more seafood than pasta, and the tomato sauce they used was not some store brought crap as far as I could tell, as it too tasted quite amazing.
While I was already extremely full at this point with a much bigger plate of pasta than I anticipated, and an entire bowl of soup that I certainly did not see coming mixing in my belly, I was nevertheless happy to see my om ali arrive at the table. It was very different than the one I had before in Dubai, which was refrigerated and on the sweeter side. This one was freshly baked, and barely had any sugar in it, which is exactly how I love my desserts.
After this absurdly satisfying meal, I went outside and saw Nena Tea looking a bit too inviting on the other side of the street. Supposedly, this place had the best karak chai in the entire country. Well, I think that is an understatement. This must be the best tea I had in my entire life. This tea was so good, it was outright life changing. When I went back home after this trip, I bought a few necessary items to get into the real culture of drinking tea and put karak chai on the list of things I want to master in kitchen right away. I always loved this milky concoction dearly, but this iteration of it was just something else entirely. A trip Ras Al Khaimah is not complete without visiting Nena Tea, and I am pretty confident that most of you will thank me for this recommendation.
With my appetite thoroughly sated with an hour long eating and drinking session, I set out to visit some other parts of this emirate, before going back to my hostel. I eventually made my way to the beach where I saw some locals enjoying the sun and the sea. This beach with its fine sand seemed to go on forever, so I moved inland instead to see what else could I see on this part of the town. That is when I saw the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Salim Al Qasimi Mosque, a new mosque that was built atop a rather old one. I did not venture inside, and did not even find anyone around to ask any questions, so I left the premises after a few minutes to visit the nearby museum.
Well, “visit” is a strong word. I suppose I could have actually visited the museum if it was not a Monday. You see, in a sixteen-night trip, the moment you change your original itinerary even in the slightest, things are bound to go wrong. I postponed original visit to Ras Al Khaimah by a few days as I was getting tired of day trips physically. Well, that was a mistake. One thing led to another, and eventually, I could only visit Ras Al Khaimah on my second to last day, which happened to be a Monday. The last day would be spent buying some souvenirs and the like, so I could not visit it then. This meant that almost all the attractions in this emirate were closed.
This was not the end of the world for me. I talked to the security officer briefly, who was an exceptionally friendly feller that seemed genuinely sad that I picked Monday (of all days) to visit Ras Al Khaimah. He told me to at least enjoy the few exhibits found outside the museum, which is what I did.
After some more walking, I decided to call it quits, and took a cab back to the bus station. Frankly speaking, on my way back to Dubai, all I could think about was just how I only scratched the surface of Ras Al Khaimah, oh, and just how tasty that karak chai from Nena Tea was… I would like to come back to Ras Al Khaimah one day and spend some quality time here, possibly enjoy its beaches and mountains at length, do it some justice, and maybe even rewrite this article as necessary. Until that day, I can conclude this article by stating a simple fact: one can certainly take a day trip to Ras Al Khaimah and expect to have a good time, however, to enjoy it fully, I humbly suggest staying there for a few nights, renting a car for the day, or at the very least, joining a tour to see the best bits of the emirate comfortably.