A King's Castle?

"If I was king for just one day
I would give it all away..." - Thompson Twins

Last weekend we went with some good friends to explore a little more of the UAE.  This time we headed toward the East Coast and the Indian Ocean.  We left the sandy dessert and entered the rocky mountainous areas on our way to Fujairah.

Our first stop, just outside of Fujairah, was up a scenic wadi that ended at the Al-Hayl Castle.  I'm not so sure that the word Castle is the best description... maybe the word Fort would have been more applicable.  I guess at one point the castle/fort was home to the local ruling leader/king... hence it was a "castle"

When we arrived, we were dismayed to read a sign indicating that we had just missed the hours that the fort was open to the public.  Fortunately, one of the catetakers/guides/locals offered to let us in the back door.... I'm sure anticipating a tip that we did indeed give him.  It was great.  We had the whole place to ourselves, a personal guide, and the kids could have free reign.  And boy did the kids take advantage.  They were loving all the cool places to hide and explore.  Talon was the king and none of us could slow him down.  The girls kept excitedly asking if we would see princesses in the castle.  We finally helped them realize that the princesses were long gone, so they spent the rest of their time pretending to be a princess, or that they were Rapunzel locked in the tower and asked to "let down your hair"

After we visited the castle/fort, we drove to the coast to take a swim in the Indian Ocean.... I guess more specifically the Gulf of Oman.  The sand was dark.  There were tons of seashells. The kids dug a lot of holes.  The water was refreshing.  We had a good day.