Just about everyone who has ever visited has their ‘welcome to Dubai’ moment.
Mine was watching the 500ft-high fountains dancing beneath the Burj Khalifa, which soared skywards like the Tower of Babel, while standing cheek-by-jowl with what felt like a thousand smartphones held aloft catching the action.
Or maybe it was seeing as many stray cats as I did Lamborghinis or Bugattis (on my first morning).
Either way, Dubai is a curious and initially overwhelming destination – at any time of year.
However, for those who would prefer a less glittery and garish taste of the endlessly curious emirate (one of seven within the United Arab Emirates), there is an alternative to all the skyscrapers and bling.
Around 80 miles southeast of Dubai’s flashy centre, surrounded by serrated mountain peaks and dotted with orderly palms, you come to Hatta.
This is a small town near the Omani border that has quietly been transformed from an agricultural community, based around date farming, into something of an adventure nirvana.
You won’t see shopping malls or private beaches here – and it’s liberating to find yourself amid swelling sand dunes, where camels roam with not a Lamborghini in sight.
Despite the popularity of Dubai, James March was seeking a less glitzy travel experience – unlike the views here of the Burj Khalifa
James enjoyed an afternoon mountain bike trail through the scenery at Wadi Hub
Perched neatly on a craggy hilltop, the compact cabins of the Damani Lodges Resort are my resting spot for the next few nights, and the buggy ride to the front door feels like a miniature off-road adventure in itself.
Yet while the cabins’ sleek Scandi-style interiors are pleasant – and somewhat surprising in the scorching surroundings – the pièce de résistance is my lodge’s spacious sun deck.
The cool warmth and stillness after sunset are intoxicating. Just resting and imagining the desert surroundings are the most visceral reminders that you’re nowhere near the ‘other’ Dubai anymore.
With its 25-plus activities, Wadi Hub is the go-to spot for Hatta’s outdoor hijinks. Conveniently, the Damani Lodges Resort is on site.
In fact, from my deck I can watch intrepid souls glide (and occasionally scream) over the rocky hillside attached to the site’s 350-metre zipline as I sip a morning espresso.
A hike is first on my list of adventure activities. The goal is to reach the gaudy Hollywood-esque sign that spells ‘HATTA’ in 19-metre-high letters in the Hajar Mountains.
Yet, despite the imposing-looking landscape and rising temperatures, my scramble to the summit – through red-soiled, Mars-like hills and past the dense olive-green sidr trees – goes without complication.
After obligatory poses for pictures by the sign, it is impossible not to be blown away by the view. Panoramas stretch in all directions – you are at around 1,500ft above sea level – revealing unexpectedly green landscape in places.
After obligatory poses for pictures by the sign, it is impossible not to be blown away by the view
James during his visit to Hatta Honey Farm
A kayaking hotspot, it’s a great destination for watersport fans
My afternoon mountain bike trail involves greenery too. For a bumbling off-road novice like me, the breezy and occasionally bouncy 45-minute loop around the oasis-style terrain of a nearby creek is enough of a challenge.
There are tougher trails if you are a serious biker but this flat dirt track was ideal for soaking up the scenery while exerting a bit of effort and building up a sweat. Beware, though, filming as you go along is not a good idea (I almost hurtle into a bush).
To escape skyscraper-Dubai entirely, I head five miles south of Wadi Hub. Completed in the 1990s to supply the village with electricity and water, Hatta Dam operates these days as a kayaking idyll.
Since the only thing approaching a current is the wake of another passing kayak, I find myself wafting around the emerald waters in a happy and peaceful stupor, lying almost horizontal while gazing at the striking mountain terrain all around. It’s remarkably relaxing.
Next up in this serene corner of the UAE? Planting strawberries at Hatta Strawberry Farm, of course, before putting on a beekeeper’s outfit at Hatta Honeybee Garden, said to be the first specialised bee sanctuary in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Yet nothing compares to being back on my cabin deck. At night, when the mountain bikes and kayaks have been packed away, the blanket of flickering stars above – impossible to see in the light-polluted city of Dubai – is as captivating as any excursion.
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