Trip to Liwa From Dubai

LIWA: A Road Less Travelled

Having lived in the UAE for 10 years I have been pretty much everywhere there is to go but one place had eluded me and that was Liwa Oasis. I finally got the chance to go this year and it was well worth the wait!

The words “Rub Al Khali” have always sounded like magic to me and when seen on the travel map on many flight have inspired visions of rolling dunes and English Patient-esque floaty curtains!

I was so happy to be on our way at last. The drive from Dubai is very simple- head straight down Sheikh Zayed Road, in the Abu Dhabi direction and keep going- for about 3 and a half hours. You don’t actually go to central Abu Dhabi- rather follow signs for Al Ghweifat and Madinat Zayed. I didn’t know that the Sheikh Zayed Road, well the E11 Road anyway, actually goes all the way to the Saudi border!

There are two exits off the E11 to Liwa- it is most common to take the second exit to Madinat Zayed and come back via the other route- so don’t freak out when you see signs to the hotels at the first exit! By going this way in to Liwa, you do have to travel through the oil fields- there will be an official check point- just show them your ID and the hotel booking and there is no problem. Don’t take photos in the restricted areas though!

We were staying at the Tilal Liwa Hotel but there are two other hotels there, Qasr Al Sarab and the Liwa Hotel. Our hotel was lovely and we soon settled in for the night knowing we had a big day of exploring ahead of us the next day.

The hotel provided a short cultural tour in the morning, so we decided to go on this to get our bearings- unfortunately there were no camels racing, the date farms were shut due to secrecy prior to the up and coming Date Festival and the weather kept being mentioned to our bemusement.

We soon found out what was meant- the sands steadily shift and encroach upon the roads and drifts appear from nowhere. This meant our attempt to get to the largest dune The Moreeb Dune was also scuppered. We were in a little minivan at this point so we knew if we got back to the hotel we could try it in the 4x4! It was good that we had had a little taster and had got our bearings- so after a trip to an old house and a camel farm we returned back to the hotel and jumped straight into the 4x4 and off we went again.

The driving was great fun trying to get over mini dunes on the road was an experience I’d never had before and thoroughly enjoyed. This time we made it through the drifting sands to the Moreeb Dune which is next to, of all things, a childrens’ playground!

Apparently they have big endurance races up the dune once a year and the camps and play grounds are there for that time of year.

We posed for some great shots in the largest sand desert in the world and ate salt from the sabkas (salt flats). The majesty of the dunes was incredible and the feeling of isolation, solitude and baking heat made you wonder how anyone could have survived in these conditions.

We made our way back to the main town and decided to go look for something we had heard about but couldn’t quote believe in- a fish farm in the desert! Our guide book was a bit of a date so we didn’t have the GPS co-ordinates but the directions seemed pretty clear- follow them, find the villa with the red roof and ask for Ahmed and he’ll give you a tour of the fish farm- easy! Or so we thought- we had such fun driving round the most isolated villages we had ever seen- and all the villas seemed to have red roofs and we never found Ahmed.

We made our way back to the hotel after having had a really fun day, for some sun bathing swimming and relaxation. We had decided to go back the other way out of Liwa the next morning for a change of scenery. The roads undulate with the dunes revealing some amazing vistas along the way and a really easy drive.

As we were getting nearer to the E11 again we spied something we didn’t think we would find either- what was that giant pyramid doing in the middle of nowhere? What was that giant oversized Jeep doing hanging over the road? Why, it was the Emirates National Automobile Museum!  This museum is an amazing private car collection of H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan.

So off we went- it cost 50 Dhs to get in and have a wander round this amazing collection of cars- the highlight of which is the massive- and I mean massive- Dodge truck complete with apartment inside. There also an old plane outside as well as another giant army jeep, the largest trailer in the world and the largest caravan in the world! It was fascinating! It certainly gave us a lot to talk about on the way back to Dubai.

We really enjoyed our trip to Liwa and would highly recommend everyone to go- on what other trip do you get to see the largest sand desert in the world as well as the world’s largest Dodge Power Wagon!
 

About Liwa

Liwa is situated south west of Abu Dhabi on the edge of the great Empty Quarter desert, the Rub Al Khali. The distance from Dubai is 380 km and from Abu Dhabi is 220 km. Liwa is the name of the vast, almost barren desert region, that extends from the southern part of Abu Dhabi, all the way to the border with Saudi Arabia.

The Liwa Oasis was the place of birth of the ruling families of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In 1793, the ruling family, Al Nahyan, moved their residence from Liwa to the city of Abu Dhabi.

Useful Information:

Emirates National Auto Museum- www.enam.ae (and also google Jeremy Clarkson and the Rainbow Sheikh for a great interview.)

Hotels:

www.tilalliwa.danathotels.com

www.liwahotel.net

www.qasralsarab.anantara.com

Liwa Festivals:

The Liwa Date festival is held at the end of June each year. There is also a camel festival and a drag racing festival to scale the Moreeb Dune. The UAE Desert Challenge is held in parts here too. Check press for exact dates each year.

Things to see and do:

Date farms, camel farms and racing, sabkas (salt flats), the Moreeb Dune, off roading, ancient houses, the elusive fish farm (GPS 39Q 2,555,176N 762,386E), the car museum- more than enough to keep your weekend busy and interesting.