• The Dhofar Mountains shrouded in mist, west of Salalah, Oman. Stephen Lock for The National
    The Dhofar Mountains shrouded in mist, west of Salalah, Oman. Stephen Lock for The National
  • The waterfalls in Ayn Khor, Salalah. Photo: Aqil Al-Hamdani
    The waterfalls in Ayn Khor, Salalah. Photo: Aqil Al-Hamdani
  • People swim in a natural spring at Ayn Razat, east of Salalah. Stephen Lock for The National
    People swim in a natural spring at Ayn Razat, east of Salalah. Stephen Lock for The National
  • A couple take a stroll along the lush green Wadi Darbat, east of Salalah. Stephen Lock for The National
    A couple take a stroll along the lush green Wadi Darbat, east of Salalah. Stephen Lock for The National
  • The cliffs of Fazayah. Anna Zacharias for The National
    The cliffs of Fazayah. Anna Zacharias for The National
  • Fazayah, east of Salalah, is known for its greenery and pristine beaches. Anna Zacharias for The National
    Fazayah, east of Salalah, is known for its greenery and pristine beaches. Anna Zacharias for The National
  • The rugged coastline west of Samalah at the Al Mughsayl blow holes. Stephen Lock for The National
    The rugged coastline west of Samalah at the Al Mughsayl blow holes. Stephen Lock for The National
  • The waterfalls at Ayn Athum in Salalah, Dhofar province. Reuters
    The waterfalls at Ayn Athum in Salalah, Dhofar province. Reuters
  • Taqah Castle, east of Salalah. Stephen Lock for The National
    Taqah Castle, east of Salalah. Stephen Lock for The National

Stunning Salalah is best explored by road during the khareef


Sulaiman Hakemy
  • English
  • Arabic

Mohammed and his friends, a jolly and boisterous crowd of more than a dozen teenagers, are sitting on a picnic blanket, digging into a tray of kabsa the size of an entire lamb. Each of them are from across the Arabian Peninsula, from as far as Jeddah to the Northern Emirates, and they have been looking forward to this reunion for months.

It could only happen now, here, in this very spot. As he pauses to check on the tea, Mohammed looks up and his eyes get caught in the vista that surrounds him — seemingly endless kilometres of rolling hills, carpeted by gentle green grass and windswept trees.

The place I encounter this group, near Wadi Darbat, a valley in Oman’s south-western Dhofar region, isn’t usually like this. Every other time of year, it is much like the rest of Oman — a coarse landscape of jagged rocks. But this is the khareef, or monsoon season, which transforms this part of the country between July and September.

Khareef in Salalah

The green cliffs of Fazayah, east of Salalah. Anna Zacharias / The National
The green cliffs of Fazayah, east of Salalah. Anna Zacharias / The National

“A single gentle rain,” the American novelist Henry David Thoreau once wrote, “makes the grass many shades greener.” That is very much the hope in the region, where governments have invested millions of dollars into cloud-seeding technology in order to coax even the gentlest rains from an unyielding desert sky.

But this corner of Oman, a few hundred kilometres of coastline extending eastward from the Yemeni border, doesn’t need it. It’s a two-hour flight from Abu Dhabi, and during the khareef, monsoon clouds from the Indian Ocean blanket the region in a constant rolling mist. The gentle rain comes every day, and in the low mountains surrounding Dhofar’s main city, Salalah, shiny emerald-coloured grass sprouts up from the ground.

As the water accumulates on the landscape, it starts to flow. The wadis, usually dry riverbeds that famously scar the Omani landscape, become flush, and rivers carve their way through the mountains until they ease into babbling brooks or plummet into lower valleys in the form of waterfalls.

Ayn Khor waterfall

The Ayn Khor waterfalls in Salalah. Photo: Aqil Al-Hamdani
The Ayn Khor waterfalls in Salalah. Photo: Aqil Al-Hamdani

One such waterfall is Ayn Khor, about 25 kilometres north-west of Salalah’s airport. The water cascades over the slope of a mossy cliff face a few storeys high and lands in a rock pool so perfectly turquoise, you would think its contents were transported from an alpine lake. Going early in the day is a good idea — when there are no crowds, approaching Ayn Khor feels like coming across an old secret.

It isn’t easy to get there. The waterfall, along with many other gems of the khareef, is away from any paved road, and at the end of a semi-flooded riverbed. I make the journey in a 4x4 vehicle built for the task — a Nissan Patrol Super Safari. This high-end workhorse may be more commonly associated with dune-bashing in Liwa, but in Dhofar, it turns the river into a road, cutting through it like a knife through butter, even in places where the water level is a metre high. Crawling over small boulders and skating through the mud really feels more like playtime than a necessary chore. It only hits me what an adventure I've had when I reach the foot of the waterfall, step out and see the car is completely caked in mud.

A traditional tour of coastal Dhofar during the khareef season is grouped into two itineraries, West Salalah and East Salalah. Each deserves a separate day to traverse. Ayn Khor lies to the West, along with Mughsayl Beach and the region’s notorious “zigzag road”. To the East is Wadi Darbat and the waterfalls at Ayn Athum and Ayn Tobruk.

A luxurious base camp

Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara. Photo: Anantara
Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara. Photo: Anantara

Bifurcated journeys such as these require a good base camp. During the khareef, Salalah becomes an oasis. But it needs its own oasis. And there are few better in the region than the Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara, a sprawling yet intimate beachside complex.

I stay in a one-bedroom villa. Its layout is a masterpiece in compact luxury — a large bedroom flanked by a bathroom on one side and a kitchen and lounge on the other, all wrapped around a private pool. High walls ensure total privacy, and a gorgeous array of flowers, bushes and trees evoke the experience of bathing in one of Dhofar’s secluded rock pools.

Every morning, I wake to see the khareef’s mist hovering over the pool outside the bedroom’s floor-to-ceiling windows, as colourful birds balance on its stone edges to take a drink. The bathroom, paved with intricate stone, has a door leading straight into the pool. You can spend an entire weekend at the Anantara moving through this villa, from bath to pool to bed, with short breaks to enjoy a tray of traditional Omani deserts in the lounge.

One of the risks any hotel takes in investing so much in its sleeping quarters is that the common areas can never compete. In the Anantara, it’s clear they’re not meant to take up any more of your time than is strictly necessary. The hotel’s lobby, in the style of a sunken majlis, is only a restful place to take a beat and catch the eye of a staff member, who will promptly conjure a tray of dates and Omani coffee, or a cup of sweet, frankincense-infused water. You can also arrange with one of these staff members to prepare a full picnic that you can take on to the road with you when you venture out into the mountains.

Outside an infinity pool looks out over the beach. At other times of the year, it would be a retro-minimalist beach holiday setting, and the infinity pool would be the obvious centrepiece. But in these months, even here, the khareef demands all your attention. The seawater is turbulent with rage; waves that can sometimes reach double your height swell up and crash down on to the beach with such a fury that the hotel staff constantly implore everyone now to venture more than a few metres on to the sand.

The West Salalah tour

The Dhofar Mountains shrouded in mist at Al Mughsayl Beach, west of Salalah, Oman. Stephen Lock / The National
The Dhofar Mountains shrouded in mist at Al Mughsayl Beach, west of Salalah, Oman. Stephen Lock / The National

The khareef is not all rolling mists and gentle rains. The West Salalah tour, better suited to the more intrepid traveller, reveals its savage side. The roads that take you from Salalah towards Al Mughsayl Beach are winding, hilly and occasionally reduced to a single functional lane. Your windscreen wipers will get good exercise; intermittently throughout the day, the mist will become fog, and it fights you every step of the way. A few days before I visit Al Mughsayl Beach, a long stretch of sand abutted by towering cliffs, its currents had swept an Indian family on holiday into the water, killing three of its members.

About 15km past the beach, in the direction of Yemen, the road heads into the Dhofar Mountains. For those who have driven in the northern parts of Oman, this part of the journey will seem familiar: it’s all hairpin turns and steep ascents. There is no specific destination here. The road this time of year is a test of mental stamina, though you are rewarded by extraordinary viewpoints along the way, where you can watch the drama of the monsoon-ridden coast as if you are sitting in the sky.

I failed the test a little over an hour in, when, after one particularly mind-bending ascent in low gear, I reached a narrowing of the road between two mountain peaks, the gap between them taken over completely by the khareef’s fog. Even the Super Safari’s piercing fog lights could not allow me to see more than two metres ahead. I had to manoeuvre myself into a three-point turn to turn around and head back the way I came, honking the horn at two-second intervals to alert any surprise traffic.

Exploring East Salalah

Salalah in Khareef season. Photo: Mary Paulose / The National
Salalah in Khareef season. Photo: Mary Paulose / The National

The East Salalah leg is more forgiving. It starts with a journey through some of Salalah’s charming walled streets. The city can, at first, seem underwhelming. Although Salalah holds a special place in Omani lore as the country’s one-time seat of power — the sultanate had its seat there from the 1930s until 1970 — today its royal trappings are obscured by its evolution into a dusty, largely industrial port city. But some of its environs are seeing a renewal, and the low walls that line a few of the newly paved roads revive some of its old prestige.

Driving through these parts of the city, you pass by palatial government complexes and fertile date and banana plantations. These local banana varieties are worth trying; they’re smaller and more bitter than their supermarket cousins, but along with the fresh kebab grilled in tents on the side of the motorway, they’re the perfect road-trip snack.

Waterfalls and wadis

The waterfalls at Ayn Athum in Salalah, Dhofar province. Reuters
The waterfalls at Ayn Athum in Salalah, Dhofar province. Reuters

After getting on to the motorway — where I frequently had to slow down to ease my way around a series of camel trains — and reaching the town of Taqah, a fishing village built around an old castle, I headed north into the hills towards Wadi Darbat, with diversions into Ayn Athum and Ayn Tobruk. These two waterfalls have all the immediate splendour of their western cousin Ayn Khor, but are more established tourist sites, with makeshift parking areas and food stalls.

There are, however, ways to get out of the crowd and discover something new. At Ayn Athum, I was attracted by strange sounds off to one side of the path, and climbed over a small rock wall and through a small cave to discover a serene, clear pool with a small waterfall that was a paradise for hundreds of local frogs.

For centuries, people have come from around the Gulf and beyond to see what the khareef makes of Wadi Darbat. In the pre-modern era, they did so using celestial navigation and the directions of kind strangers. Unfortunately, the latter remains the best option. Following Google Maps to Wadi Darbat takes you along a very scenic path of pastoral green country roads to the top of a low, flat mountain until you reach someone’s isolated private home, where you will see other cars parked in their driveway, surrounded by herds of cattle, frustrated at having made the same error. It can be a happy mistake, however, as the hills surrounding Wadi Darbat offer much more in the way of vistas than the wadi itself.

This is where I encountered Mohammed and his friends. I was reluctant to fall into the trap of describing it by way of comparison to other parts of the world, so I decided to trick someone else into making it for me. As I finished my own fistful of kabsa, courtesy of Mohammed’s hospitality, I walked back to the car and stopped to take a photo of the grass and the trees and the cattle blanketing the valley, and I sent it to a friend of mine from Ireland. “I’m in your home country,” I wrote. “Green hills and wet skies,” he wrote back. “Yep, that’s Ireland.”

“I’m sorry to break it to you,” I replied, “but I lied. I’m still in the Gulf, and this is Oman.”

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COMPANY PROFILE

Company name: Letstango.com

Started: June 2013

Founder: Alex Tchablakian

Based: Dubai

Industry: e-commerce

Initial investment: Dh10 million

Investors: Self-funded

Total customers: 300,000 unique customers every month

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

The Case For Trump

By Victor Davis Hanson
 

How to wear a kandura

Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
RESULTS

Women:

55kg brown-black belt: Amal Amjahid (BEL) bt Amanda Monteiro (BRA) via choke
62kg brown-black belt: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Ffion Davies (GBR) via referee’s decision (0-0, 2-2 adv)
70kg brown-black belt: Ana Carolina Vieira (BRA) bt Jessica Swanson (USA), 9-0
90kg brown-black belt: Angelica Galvao (USA) bt Marta Szarecka (POL) 8-2

Men:

62kg black belt: Joao Miyao (BRA) bt Wan Ki-chae (KOR), 7-2
69kg black belt: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Gianni Grippo (USA), 2-2 (1-0 adv)
77kg black belt: Espen Mathiesen (NOR) bt Jake Mackenzie (CAN)
85kg black belt: Isaque Braz (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE), 2-0
94kg black belt: Felipe Pena (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL), 4-0
110kg black belt final: Erberth Santos (BRA) bt Lucio Rodrigues (GBR) via rear naked choke

MEYDAN CARD

6.30pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group One (PA) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.05pm Handicap (TB) $175,000 (Turf) 1,200m

7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial Conditions (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m

8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group Two (TB) $250,000 (T) 1,800m

8.50pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

9.25pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 Group Two (TB) $350,000 (D) 1,600m

10pm Dubai Trophy Conditions (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,200m

10.35pm Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m

The National selections:

6.30pm AF Alwajel

7.05pm Ekhtiyaar

7.40pm First View

8.15pm Benbatl

8.50pm Zakouski

9.25pm: Kimbear

10pm: Chasing Dreams

10.35pm: Good Fortune

CRICKET%20WORLD%20CUP%20LEAGUE%202
%3Cp%3EMannofield%2C%20Aberdeen%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAll%20matches%20start%20at%202pm%20UAE%20time%20and%20will%20be%20broadcast%20on%20icc.tv%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20fixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EWednesday%2C%20Aug%2010%20%E2%80%93%20Scotland%20v%20UAE%3Cbr%3EThursday%2C%20Aug%2011%20-%20UAE%20v%20United%20States%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2C%20Aug%2014%20%E2%80%93%20Scotland%20v%20UAE%3Cbr%3EMonday%2C%20Aug%2015%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20United%20States%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3EAhmed%20Raza%20(captain)%2C%20Chirag%20Suri%2C%20Muhammad%20Waseem%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20CP%20Rizwan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Zawar%20Farid%2C%20Kashif%20Daud%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Sabir%20Ali%2C%20Alishan%20Sharafu%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETable%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20(top%20three%20teams%20advance%20directly%20to%20the%202023%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier)%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Oman%2036%2021%2013%201%201%2044%3Cbr%3E2.%20Scotland%2024%2016%206%200%202%2034%3Cbr%3E3.%20UAE%2022%2012%208%201%201%2026%3Cbr%3E--%3Cbr%3E4.%20Namibia%2018%209%209%200%200%2018%3Cbr%3E5.%20United%20States%2024%2011%2012%201%200%2023%3Cbr%3E6.%20Nepal%2020%208%2011%201%200%2017%3Cbr%3E7.%20Papua%20New%20Guinea%2020%201%2019%200%200%202%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar. 

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1:  Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6:  The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29:  At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite  a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa. 

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.

The Bio

Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959

Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.

He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses

Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas

His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s

Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business

He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery 

Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

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%3Cp%3EYe%20%E2%80%94%20the%20rapper%20formerly%20known%20as%20Kanye%20West%20%E2%80%94%20has%20seen%20his%20net%20worth%20fall%20to%20%24400%20million%20in%20recent%20weeks.%20That%E2%80%99s%20a%20precipitous%20drop%20from%20Bloomberg%E2%80%99s%20estimates%20of%20%246.8%20billion%20at%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3Cbr%3EYe%E2%80%99s%20wealth%20plunged%20after%20business%20partners%2C%20including%20Adidas%2C%20severed%20ties%20with%20him%20on%20the%20back%20of%20anti-Semitic%20remarks%20earlier%20this%20year.%3Cbr%3EWest%E2%80%99s%20present%20net%20worth%20derives%20from%20cash%2C%20his%20music%2C%20real%20estate%20and%20a%20stake%20in%20former%20wife%20Kim%20Kardashian%E2%80%99s%20shapewear%20firm%2C%20Skims.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
UAE v Ireland

1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets

2nd ODI, January 12

3rd ODI, January 14

4th ODI, January 16

Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Rating: 2/5
 
The%C2%A0specs%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Etwo%20permanent%20magnet%20synchronous%20motors%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Etwo-speed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E625hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E850Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E456km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Efrom%20Dh737%2C480%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
About Krews

Founder: Ahmed Al Qubaisi

Based: Abu Dhabi

Founded: January 2019

Number of employees: 10

Sector: Technology/Social media 

Funding to date: Estimated $300,000 from Hub71 in-kind support

 

THE SPECS

Jaguar F-Pace SVR

Engine: 5-litre supercharged V8​​​​​​​

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Power: 542bhp​​​​​​​

Torque: 680Nm​​​​​​​

Price: Dh465,071

PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP

Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)

Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)

Dubai World Cup factbox

Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)

Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)

Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)

Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

ASIAN%20RUGBY%20CHAMPIONSHIP%202024
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EResults%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EHong%20Kong%2052-5%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESouth%20Korea%2055-5%20Malaysia%3Cbr%3EMalaysia%206-70%20Hong%20Kong%3Cbr%3EUAE%2036-32%20South%20Korea%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFixtures%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EFriday%2C%20June%2021%2C%207.30pm%20kick-off%3A%20UAE%20v%20Malaysia%3Cbr%3EAt%20The%20Sevens%2C%20Dubai%20(admission%20is%20free).%3Cbr%3ESaturday%3A%20Hong%20Kong%20v%20South%20Korea%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to donate

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

 

Expert advice

“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”

Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles

“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”

Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre 

“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”

Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
 

The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto

Price: From Dh39,500

Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder

Transmission: Four-speed auto

Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm

Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELong-range%20dual%20motor%20with%20400V%20battery%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E360kW%20%2F%20483bhp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E840Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EMax%20touring%20range%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20628km%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E0-100km%2Fh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204.7sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETop%20speed%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20210kph%20%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh360%2C000%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeptember%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

Starting price: Dh79,000

On sale: Now

Results

5pm Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m

Winner No Riesgo Al Maury, Szczepan Mazur (jockey), Ibrahim Al Hadhrami (trainer)

5.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

Winner Marwa W’Rsan, Sam Hitchcott, Jaci Wickham.

6pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m

Winner Dahess D’Arabie, Al Moatasem Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi.

6.30pm Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 2,200m

Winner Safin Al Reef, Connor Beasley, Abdallah Al Hammadi.

7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 2,200m

Winner Thulbaseera Al Jasra, Shakir Al Balushi, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.

7.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh 80,000 2,200m

Winner Autumn Pride, Szczepan Mazur, Helal Al Alawi.

Updated: September 01, 2022, 7:33 AM