There are few journeys to be made in the UAE — where the road itself becomes the destination. That's what we found during a road trip to Khor Fakkan on the new 89-km road linking Sharjah with the Bride of the Eastern Coast.
#gulfnews #sharjah #khorfakkanroad
#gulfnews #sharjah #khorfakkanroad
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00:00My name is Ibrahim Al-Noimi. I've just come from Sharjah to see the new road that has been opened recently, the new Khor Fakkan road.
00:09My name is Ammar Mahdar Al-Shaabi. I came from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan and I crossed the new road.
00:30Hi, my name is Ahmed Ramzan and I'm a photojournalist in Gulf News.
00:40And today I'll be experiencing the new Khor Fakkan road, which is 89 kilometers long in length and which cuts down the time from 90 minutes to just 45 minutes.
00:48I'll be passing by five tunnels, one of which is 2.7 kilometers Al-Maltaqa tunnel, which is considered as the longest covered tunnel in the Middle East.
00:58I'll be starting my journey from the Dragon Mart in Dubai and let's see how long it's going to take.
01:12I'll be taking Emirates Road, which is also known as Bypass Road. And from there we have a new exit for Khor Fakkan.
01:21So we have just reached the exit of Khor Fakkan from Emirates Road and I'm just taking this right now, which will be taking me to this highway, the new highway.
01:36And the journey of 89 kilometers will begin now.
01:41We have just hit the new highway of Khor Fakkan and it's 9.48 now. And let me see how much time it's going to take till I reach to Khor Fakkan.
02:01And I already see it's written, Thank You Sultan, His Highness, Sheikh Sultan, Ruler of Sharjah. It's a two-lane road. It's a clean road, new road. The journey begins.
02:13Before we hit the mountains, I see desert on my right hand side and on my left hand side. It's quite peaceful road, very smooth and it's fun. It's fun.
02:31I see some farms, I see desert and just the road.
02:37I see the first exit on this road. And so we have exit for Mileha Road, Nizwa and Al-Daid Road. This is the first exit.
02:56And here I just saw the second exit for Emirates Road, going back to the Emirates Road and going back to Sharjah, where we had the first U-Turn, the first interchange U-Turn.
03:12So we have the third exit for Tawil Saman and Al-Daid Road.
03:24I already drove for 34 kilometers and the roads are still very clean, very straight, very smooth. And the speed limit of this road is 120 kilometers per hour and I'm driving between 100 and 110.
03:48I'm not even going to 120. Yeah, it's a good road. I'm very impressed. I can see mountains.
03:56So it's 10.19 now and I have hit this road at 9.48. It's been 31 minutes and I drove already for 50 kilometers.
04:25And 39 kilometers more to go. Well, it should take another maybe 15-20 minutes, Inshallah, and I'll be in Khor Fakkan.
04:38I am at Daftar Interchange, where there is an exit for Debal Hassan, Masafi and Fujairah. And I'm still going straight towards Khor Fakkan.
04:48So here comes the first tunnel, a rough tunnel, which is 1300 meters long. And now we have four more tunnels to go.
04:57And right after the first tunnel, we are officially in Khor Fakkan. It says, welcome to Khor Fakkan. We are in Khor Fakkan at 10.34 after 70 kilometers. So we have just touched Khor Fakkan.
05:16So here comes the second tunnel, Al Ghazir tunnel, which is 900 meters long. We are just getting in the third tunnel, which is Al Multaka tunnel, which is 2.7 kilometers long tunnel, which is the Middle East's longest tunnel, Al Multaka tunnel. And we are here.
05:46I can see the curve. Nice. This tunnel is really long.
06:00Here comes the fourth tunnel, Al Saha tunnel, which is 300 meters long, which is not that long compared to 2.7 kilometers.
06:21And here is the fifth and final tunnel, Al Saqqab tunnel, which is 1.4 kilometers long.
06:30It's very impressive. And they all are through the mountains, like literally you're passing through the mountains.
06:37It's 81 kilometers already and 8 kilometers to touch Khor Fakkan. Officially, we are in Khor Fakkan, but still in the mountains side and we are going to the city.
07:00It was a good drive. Very smooth drive. Two-lane road. Very few cars, though. In either ways, in highways, we normally don't expect a lot of cars. So it's always very few cars just pass by. And we are here.
07:18My name is Haider. This is Khor Fakkan to Sharjah new road. Very nice road. Only 45 minutes in Khor Fakkan to Sharjah.
07:26I came from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan and passed the new road, which has tunnels. The distance between the old and new roads was very good. It was about half an hour, about 40 minutes from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan.
07:56Khor Fakkan
08:27Khor Fakkan
08:31Welcome to Rafiza Dam rest area. I'm here and this is the walk.
08:37My name is Hassan Sultan Al-Hamadi. I am an American citizen and I am from Khor Fakkan. When we pass through this new road, first thing, we must say thank you. We say thank you from the heart, not from the tongue.
08:55And I feel the difference between this way and the old one. That's a new one. I think it's the best one because it's short, very short. Maybe from only 45 minutes from Khor Fakkan to Sharjah.
09:10I've just come from Sharjah to see the new road that has been opened recently, the new Khor Fakkan road. And I was really amazed of the time saving that I've experienced while I was coming from Sharjah.
09:28I really appreciate the efforts which has been done by Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah, which saved a lot of effort for the people who are traveling from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan.
09:44And I'm just now experiencing the beauty here of Rafiza Dam rest area and I'm going back now to Sharjah. Thank you very much.
09:58Finally, I'm back from Khor Fakkan to Sharjah and literally it took me 45 minutes to reach back to Sharjah. The road was amazing, the journey was beautiful. While going back, it took me 55 minutes because I was driving a little bit slower.
10:19But while coming back, I was on the speed limit of 120. The rest area was amazing. There was a mosque for men and women, there was a playground area, there was a restaurant, there was a Sharjah cooperative and there was a dam. It is a must visit place for everybody.
10:35And this road is beautiful. While going, you can see a lot of desert on your right and left and then you see mountains on your right and left. Beautiful journey. People who live in Sharjah or Dubai and work in Khor Fakkan, this is the road they should take. It will take 45 minutes to reach to Khor Fakkan. Thank you, His Highness. Thank you, Sultan.
11:05Thank you, His Highness.