An Emirate Awaits

Hessa al ali hops out of her Jeep and greets me with a big smile. Sporting a black abaya and aviator sunglasses, a wisp of dyed-blond hair peeping out from under her headscarf, she tells me her name means “unique pearl,” which is apt, considering that she’s the first female tour guide in Ras Al Khaimah. We are here to explore Al Jazirah Al Hamra, the last surviving pearling village in the Arabian Gulf and the ancestral home of Hessa’s grandmother.

RAK, as it’s known locally, is the northernmost of the seven United Arab Emirates. Just an hour up the road from Dubai, the territory shares part of the rugged Musandam Peninsula with the sultanate of Oman, yet encompasses its own unique swath of coast, desert, and mountains. Settled continuously for 7,000 years, this is a land