We stayed at the YHA Youth Hostel in Fujairah last night. At 260Dhs (£40) a night it’s a darn site cheaper than any other hotel that we’ve come across in the UAE, but still a real rip-off compared with every other hostel at which I’ve stayed elsewhere on the globe — including a prime location just a footstep out of the Square Mile in London!

So after researching our other options in the area, which basically amounted to a four-star hotel for 800Dhs (£125), we went back to the hosteler to discuss our options. Last night, we both scratched our heads slightly at why we weren’t offered the individual dormitory bed prices — we slept on bunk beds in a dormitory to ourselves last night and we had put that down to the fact that there’s no one else around. So now we asked about paying for individual dorm places, at 65Dhs (£10) each but were met with a rather curious response: as a man, of course it would be fine for me to pay for only one bed. As a woman however, Squiffy would be expected to sleep in a different dormitory–fine, fine–and must pay for every bed in the room — scandalous!

With the knowledge that our proposed dive tomorrow morning had been cancelled, we packed our bags and began the long drive back home to Abu Dhabi, reflecting on our overall disappointing roadtrip. Thanks to my bleery-eyed sister for opening her door to us at 1am!