Ghost Town 

The buildings were built from coral stones, supported together by mud and covered by a roof of woven date palms. It is said that years of blazing sun, harsh sandstorms and tribal conflicts caused the villagers to leave their homes in the 60s.

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Rumours have made their rounds that it was the promise of riches, wealth and security that led the locals of Al Jazirah Al Hamra to move to  Abu Dhabi. Others argue that it was a tribal dispute with the leader of Ras Al Khaimah that forced the villagers to seek safety in the neighbouring land. Still, some strongly believe that it was ghosts haunting the red island that drove the inhabitants away.

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As you walk around the village, you notice piles of brick, concrete and waste clumped up along the way. There are no guards. However, you see a few locals, their families and quite recently, some unofficial guided tours around the place from time to time. We did manage to spot a fox on the way which is rare and also came across a very fascinating tree which looked like it had fallen over. It seemed to have revived itself by growing all of its branches vertically from the dead parts on the ground, almost like bamboo but it wasn’t bamboo and this added more to the eeriness of the place.

 

Our journey to Jazirat Al Hamra was mainly to check out the place, document our adventure and of course to experience and capture any spooky / supernatural events that we would encounter.

 

We took off from Dubai and it was by far, one of them, let's say “not very comfortable” journeys. Our AC had broken down and it was summer over here. With an outside temperature of 50 degrees celsius and the interior environment of the car feeling super stuffy, we had the windows of our car down throughout the journey. Yes, the life of a thirsty adventurer! We also invited our friend John and his lovely dog Rylie to come along with us which made our adventure even more interesting and fun. It was the four of us squashed in a small car (Mini Cooper), with no AC and tons of camera and camping gear!

 

It’s indeed a blessing that this destination was just a 45 min drive from us and we didn’t have to suffer the brunt of the heat for a long time. Adventures being on your own doorstep are truly underestimated. We expected the evenings to get a bit cooler but we were out of luck. As you know, “COOL” in the UAE during summer months is a good 45 degrees celsius…and we  decided to camp the night in the open. Yes, we were in it for the entire experience, expecting to hear cries of the “ghostly children” during night time. Around 10 pm, we found ourselves at the village mosque which is widely believed locally to be haunted and managed to see a few bats flying around us.

 

 

 

The mornings tend to get super hot very fast. We were up and ready to go by 7 am and this was the perfect time to check out the entire place again. It was pleasantly cool by this time and allowed us to walk around and capture some great photo and video footage. We visited the abandoned village mosque and this time, Karl managed to climb all the way up to the topmost point of the mosque. I have no clue in the world how he managed to climb all the way through those cranky, rusted, half-broken stairs!

 

Plus, how EPIC is flying the drone from the top of the squat tower peering over the remains of what might just be Ras Al Khaimah’s most enchanting and mysterious destination. Check out this super cool video.

 

This ancient gem of a place is definitely worth checking out!

 

Top 5 Tips for heading to Jazirat Al Hamra:

 

• Bring all the possible camera gear you have because at the end of your trip you will realise you had tons to capture but very less time ( story of our lives)

• Bring your own food as the supermarkets and restaurants are quite far out. We usually stock up on eggs, bread, noodles and some snacks.

• You can travel in a normal road car as well. It's not necessary for a 4x4.

• Visit this place during wintertime as summers can get super hot and uncomfortable. If you do decide to go during summertime, make sure the air conditioner in your car is functioning very well else it could result in tragedy (we learnt it the hard way!)

• Best not to bring your pets along as the grounds are filled with spiky little seeds which could be very comfortable for your little one to walk on.

• If you decide to camp overnight, make sure to bring along butane lamps and torches for light supply as it gets pitch dark by 6pm

• If you plan on sleeping in your tent during night time, be mindful about where the sun will rise and have your tent in the shade.

• Waking up around 5-6 am is your best bet if you’re looking to tour the place and get some good footage and there is PLENTY OF GREAT FOOTAGE to be captured here.