Jebel Jais Mountain, Ras Al Khaimah

Shot on iPhone 6, VSCO processed

Eid Al Adha Mubarak everyone! A few weeks back, I have listed a few short trip ideas from Dubai for the long weekend. As flights got a little bit pricey 4 weeks before the holiday, my roomies and I decided to 'stay-cation' instead. I have much to explore in the UAE anyways so I think now is the best time to do a little exploring.

If you have been following my instagram account, you might have seen a few photos I took for the Dubai Longboarding Community. One of my friends is an active member and whenever they go out, he always make sure I get an invitation because he knows that I love taking photos. The perks of being a snapper and an all time 'kaladkarin', ha!

Sept. 9 that was, we left Dubai as early as 3:00am to catch the sunrise at the top of the tallest mountain in the UAE - we travelled to Ras Al Khaimah. How amazing it is that this community always get the best views of the country! Even earlier this year, I also joined them in Al Ain and I quite loved the view.

It took us about 2.5 hours to get there with a 15-minute pee break, we were running at 60-80kph. I was in the front seat and was the driver's assistant guiding him via Google maps (which is odd because it was my first time going to RAK), I had to make sure he's awake while he drives so I kept on blabbing even if talked non-sense already. There were about 10 of us and we shared AED60 each for the return transfers - amazingly cheap, I know!

First note when we arrived at the peak, the wind was a little bit chilly already and we're halfway to winter so if you are planning to visit anytime soon, make sure to bring a jacket. Each camp has their own toilet, no tissue rolls unfortunately so bring one. The nearest store could probably be 20-30minutes away, bring as much food or water as you can. The road also has several sharp turns and goats are everywhere so be extra careful with driving. The higher you go up, the better you enjoy the view but the road to the highest peak is still in the works. And lastly, the local community there is trying to keep the area clean, can I just ask for a simple request to bring garbage bags for your trash? Even the Dubai Long Boarding Community and AUH Crew did their part and maintained a clean area so I hope travellers and visitors do this too.

The crew will be back at RAK on Dec. 9 for the Emirates Downhill Challenge 2016 so just in case you'd be interested in capturing the fun-filled action and meet this community, feel free to do so and they'd be more than happy to meet lots of people. They are also looking for sponsorships on their event and if you are interested, do reach out to them and they'd be very thankful for it.

Here's a video of how our day went (edited by one of my college besties Dan Christian Toledo) and the photos I took of the mountains, enjoy!