It is still rather early, despite all the time waisted while lost this morning, and I still have time to advance some more before setting up for camp. But I’m getting close to Hatta and the Oman border. I don’t wish to sleep too close to a fence patrolled by military police. Instead I see a large abandoned field by the side of a narrow wadi that will do just fine. The only disturbing aspect is the number of bones lying all around. As if this place had been used as an animal cemetery, or a sacred ground, where villagers come to perform some religious sacrifice. I couldn’t care less, and as I never thought Micheal Jackson credible in Thriller, I’m not the kind to have any nightmares over it. I just don’t want to be disturbed in the middle of the night by someone cutting a poor goat’s throat. I’m vegan for crying out loud !
Tomorrow morning I will wake up as early as possible and cross the border before it gets busy. Because the rules have changed again last year, I can only cross at Al Wajajah, and head on towards the Batinah plains before finding a wadi bringing me back to a connecting trail in the mountains. It’s a bit of a detour and I do not want to spend a night on that plain. It’s one of the hottest areas in the Peninsula. A perfect place to bake ! I’m a bit disappointed by that option, knowing I could have gone through the star fish dunes route leading to Al Ain on the other side of the Al Hajar chain instead. A technical, yet beautiful trail I have wanted to do for a quite sometimes. But with the new regulations, it’s no longer accessible for non GCC’s from where I stand. Too bad.