Wadi Al Helo Sharjah

Wadi Al Helo means 'Sweet Valley' and it is located in the Hajar Mountains in the Kalba region. The valley lies on the old caravan trade route and has applied to be listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site. In this area is an important archeological site, that we were very curious about. The route to this part of the UAE is always beautiful and we can't stop making pictures of these sceneries. 

Once off the main paved route, we followed a bumpy dirt road that should lead us to the wadi. The sweet water in the area made the land very fertile and good for growing fruits. We passed through some small villages with farms, where different fruits and dates are grown. In one village, the goats ran to meet us, and we had to open and close a village gate ourselves. These gate needs to keep to goats in the village, we supposed. 

At first we saw an Islamic watchtower, which is restored. There are three of these towers in this area apparently (we saw two of them). We park the car here and did some sightseeing. 

We drive further to the beginning of the Wadi (there was no water in the wadi), park our car here and put on our walking shoes. The walk through the wadi is fairly easy, the terrain was a combination of gravel and bigger rocks. 

Archeological site

After about 1,5 km we found the archeological site of an old village. We saw ruins, graves and other remains from several periods as far back as the Neolithic Period (8000 BC). 

Awhala Fort Fujairah

We finished the day by bringing a visit to Awhala Fort, located further down the river from Wadi Al Helo. Unfortunately it was closed, but we could do some sightseeing on the outside of the fort, which is about 250 years old. The fort is built on the site of a much older building dating back to the Iran Age. And another story is, that sherds have been found dated further back to the Wadi Suq period, which suggests that the site itself has been inhabited for at least 3000 years. Near the fort was a little grocery shop where we bought some lunch snacks.