Hatta: The winding streets were quiet, children ran to and fro, old men drove by in pick up trucks, aimlessly.
Mostly UAE nationals live here. They have seen this small gathering of traditional houses over a few hills, become a modest tourist destination.
The old Arab houses are being demolished, and new ones are rising up true to Hatta's traditional building style, one-storey, colourful doors and large inner courtyards.
Abdullah Saeed, who is about 50 stands beside his old Arab house, loading up his car. He was sad at the death of Shaikh Maktoum Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
"Just as I mourned his father, Shaikh Rashid, I will honour him too. He was one of the men that established our country, we owe him much."
Khalifa Sayyid, in his late forties, nods his head in agreement.
"He was a very good man, he had many projects here. I'm sad that those people who made the Emirates have died Shaikh Rashid, Shaikh Zayed, Shaikh Maktoum. But they have left the country in good hands."
Up the road, turning left towards one of the small mosques dotting the village, Salem Mijwawi leans on his walking stick to cross the road. He says he cannot remember his age, but he is "at least fifty".
"Everybody dies, it's the will of Allah," he said, "we'll pray for his soul in the mosque, we pray for him in the mosque that he built. This is the best of what they have done, building mosques everywhere to pray in."
"We will give thanks to Allah that we had a ruler who gave us homes and water, and even gifts on Eid."
Izzat Khan, 47, has been the mosque's preacher for 21 years. He stands outside, watching the road, a long greying beard, a cloth to cover his head, and his children gather beside him.
"I saw Hatta village turn into a small city because of his generosity, God rest his soul, he was a good man."
Opposite the mosque, there is a small grocery store, with a plastic bench in front.
Three old men sit there, shivering in the cold sometimes, drinking hot tea spiced with cardamom.
Obaid Gareeb is the youngest of the three at 53. Mubarak Mijwawi is the oldest, he knows he is more than 85, but lost count, he explains. Juma Mohammad Hamad Al Sayf is more than 70, but younger than Mijwawi, he laughs.
All were born in Hatta "in the days when a trip to Dubai took seven days on a camel", Gareeb says.
"It was a time," Mijwawi says, his eyes squinting, "when we used to go hungry, we never had enough to eat. And our kandouras [the white national dress] we had one, and it had to last until we could buy another, not like now."
"We are thankful to our good Rulers," Al Sayf says, "because we remember days of hardship, when we didn't have work, money or food. Then we united, and we were honoured by our Rulers."
"They became like our fathers, and we like their children, because they gave us everything when we had nothing. For us they didn't stint on anything."
Gareeb said: "We are sad, we are bothered, but a believer accepts God's will. We know the next generation of rulers will be just as good. One finger is not different from the other, it is the same hand."
Ahmad Abdi, 18, surrounded by his four younger brothers, said he appreciated what his Rulers had done, and was saddened by Shaikh Maktoum's death.
"I was in Dubai and my friend called me. He is usually happy all the time. But when he called me he was sad, his heart was heavy. He said somebody had died.
"I thought it was somebody in his family. I stopped the car on the side of the road, and he told me it was Shaikh Maktoum.
"I realised then, it was like family, because they are the ones who gave us all of this.
"This is life we are born and we die. What matters is one's good works. I will pray in a mosque he built."
