Our first Middle East experience

I travelled to Oman with my daughter Ana, after a short stay for a legal conference in Dubai. When I learned about the opportunity to travel for business to Dubai, I looked up what to see in the area, taking into account a tight schedule and focusing on nature and culture (since I am not a big fan of Dubai). And I thought of a short trip to Oman. Actually, Ana was very much into Dubai so I was a bit sceptical how she was going to approve Oman, which is so totally different than Dubai. She liked it a lot, just like I did. January was just perfect for this trip. This is our itinerary, 4 days by car.

The beautiful Muscat

DAY 1, Muscat

We landed in Muscat on a Saturday, shortly after noon, but the immigration and car rental took some time so we arrived at our hotel only after 2 pm. I chose a hotel not far away from the airport and the highway to start our road trip. We were pleasantly surprised, the hotel was very good value for the money and just right for one night. After checking in we were already out, in the car, driving to the old part of Muscat, Mutrah. Our Suzuki Vitara 4W was a good choice, but I had to get used to driving in Oman. The roads are good, wide, but everyone is driving quite fast, there is almost no chance that someone will slow down and let you enter their line, you will just hear car horns! Before getting to Mutrah, we stopped in the neighbourhood at a restaurant I found on a traveller’s blog. The food was really good, a combination of Afghani and Arabic cuisine. Good value for money.

We were lucky to find a parking spot close to the main promenade in Mutrah by the seaside – the Corniche – and the souk. Parking in town is payable, the easiest way to pay is by sending a SMS, but since we had only a local e-sim, that was not possible. So we asked another driver how to pay and he offered generously to pay a couple of hours for our parking. As we learnt later, this is quite customary behaviour in Oman, people are very friendly and welcoming.

We went for a walk, entered the gold souk which connects with the big souk, at first to see what to get as souvenirs to take home and also for our further trip, with the intention to come back later in the evening (the souk is open until 10 pm). Mutrah and the souk neighbourhood is very lively, so traditional Arabic, with many mosques, men and women dressed in traditional clothes, you can feel the oriental vibes so intense, all the exotic scents, in particular the frankincense.

The walk down the Corniche is beautiful. By the sea, so calm and pleasant. We watched the sunset over the Fort Mutrah – we haven’t climbed up to the fort, so peaceful in combination with the sound of the muezzins calling for the evening prayers. Back at the souk, we got some spices, tea, dates, a nice pashmina for Ana and a desert cover for me, a bracelet and earrings for my daughter Wanda 3back home. We stopped for juice and coffee at a small stand and then drove back to our hotel. We got some supplies of food and drinks for the next day in a SPAR market in the neighbourhood and went to bed.

DAY 2, Muscat – the Grande Mosque, Jebel Al Akhdar, Nizwa

We got up early and off we went. First stop – close to the hotel and the highway – the Grande Mosque. We were among the first visitors to arrive and quickly got on a guided tour of the mosque. It is really a must see, so huge, rich and beautiful. After the tour (app. 1 hour) you are invited to have tea or coffee and some dates at the entrance to the library where you can engage in interesting discussion on the Islam religion with an imam. The two of us and one more visitor, we got one imam to talk to us three, other visitors got their own imam, so the entire guidance ending with the coffee with an imam is an amazing experience. We even got Kuran to take with us.

After the Grande Mosque we got on the highway direction to Nizwa, the old capital of Oman. The plan for today was to drive first to the Jebel Al Akhdar mountain, to experience the so famous view from Diana’s Viewpoint, then to visit Nizwa and finally to end our day high in the Jebel Shams mountains, where we had booked the overnight stay. The schedule was quite tight, since it gets dark in Oman already by 6 p.m. and I was not too keen to drive on a mountainous unknown dirt road by night.

Jebel Al Akhdar and Nizwa

After app. 1,5 hour we got to the spot where the road to Jebel Al Akhdar starts. The road is quite new, it is really good but with some curves and a steep climb. At the beginning of the road there is a police checkpoint where they check your driving license and whether you have a 4W car. If you have an ordinary car, you are not allowed to drive up this road, probably because of the steep climb. But before heading on this famous road we stopped at a local kind of self service restaurant chain and had a delicious brunch, juice and coffee.

At the police checkpoint I even got instructions on how to drive up and then down again, very useful. The road doesn’t offer any attractive views, just rocky terrain. Once at the top, there is a small town that offers several accommodations and our goal was to get to the luxury resort, open some years ago, where the Diana’s Viewpoint is. Actually you need to enter the resort, walk by the bar and the infinity pool (with a breathtaking view, would love to swim there) and then you step on this kind of terrace where you can sit down and enjoy coffee or a drink (this is in fact the only place in Oman where we saw alcohol!) while you admire the view, just wonderful.

After the coffee with the view we drove back down the road, then to the highway and continued to Nizwa, not too far away anymore. We left our car in a big parking lot just in front of the entrance to the old part of the town. We skipped the visit to the Fort Nizwa in favour of having some ice cream and cake after the stroll through the town and on the walls.

From Nizwa we drove on a local road for app. another hour and then the climb to Jebel Shams begins. The road is at first quite good, but after some time it becomes a dirt road and the numerous turns in almost darkness are quite a challenge. We arrived at our hotel accommodation shortly before 7 p.m., just in time for dinner and to stop the fears that suddenly overcame Ana – what if we get stuck here in the middle of nowhere and similar. It was freezing outside, barely 8 degrees Celsius in the evening. Our room was heated with a portable heater, but still, it was really cold. We quickly dropped the idea of taking a shower in this cold and went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Dinner offered a decent choice of dishes and we even got breakfast to go for the early morning. Back in our room we had to switch off the heater because of the noise, we slept in our trainers and hoodies.

Jebel Shams and the Balcony Walk

DAY 3 – Jebel Shams – Wahiba Sands

I chased Ana to get up shortly after 6, so that we could be on the hike already by sunrise. Again, we didn’t have too much time since we were scheduled to arrive at the meeting point at Wahiba Sands not later than by 3 pm and we had several hours of driving. Our hike – the famous Balcony Hike above the canyon of Jebel Shams mountains – was overwhelming. It was good to be early on the trail, even before starting the hike we got to a viewpoint with a magnificent view of the sunrise. Once in the little settlement where the trail starts, just a couple of houses and plenty of goats, the trail was only for the two of us. We started to hike with several layers of shirts and a jacket but quite soon it became quite warm and t-shirts were just enough. The trail is beautiful, you get a fantastic view over the entire canyon, so calm, silent, sunny and peaceful. At the beginning there are two viewpoints, where you might consider to have a picnic or a coffee (there is even a sign “Cafe”) from where the views over the entire canyon are just breathtaking. Towards the end of the trail we came to a couple of abandoned structures and traces of a waterfall that must have dried out. This was after app. 4K of hiking – the hike until the end of the trail was almost flat with some parts even slightly downhill. We sat down on some rocks to eat our breakfast which we had to share with goats, they were so cute, the little ones, eating from our hands. Once on our way back (the trail is one-way and back) it got hotter and at some point we passed by other hikers, maybe two or three couples and one small group, and concluded that we were lucky to be on the way back now and not later in the morning. Back at our car we had to convince a big goat not to enter the car!

Off we drove, downhill towards “civilisation”, enjoying the wonderful views now during the day. Close to Nizwa we stopped to get something to eat at a supermarket and continued, partly on an ordinary road and partly on a highway towards Wahiba Sands. We arrived just in time to meet the driver in a jeep to show us the way to our camp, but first we had to get the tyres deflated to be able to drive safely in the sand. I was a bit anxious about driving in the desert, but it turned out to be quite easy and fun. After some 15 minutes we were at our camp, consisting of app. 10 tents for accommodation and two bigger tents serving as restaurant and kitchen. Our tent had two beds, a little table and plenty of space, there were carpets on the floor – shoes are left outside – and behind the tent was kind of a bathroom with a toilet, sink and shower. We had no complaints, it was all quite comfortable.

The desert – Wahiba Sands

We were offered tea and coffee and dates, sat down to chill a bit and later in the afternoon at app. 5 pm two guides – father and son, a boy maybe 12 years old- arrived with camels to pick us up, the two of us, a Polish couple with two little girls and a Dutch couple. It was the first time for me to ride a camel and I am not sure if I would like to repeat this experience. The worst moment is when the camel is getting up from the sand and every downhill. I felt like I was going to fall . But it was a nice ride and we stopped at some bigger dunes to rest and enjoy the sand and the sunset. It was so peaceful.

In the evening we enjoyed dinner, even tried some camel minced meat, and sat down at a camp fire for half an hour before retiring in our tent.

DAY 4, Wahiba Sands – Sur – Wadi Shab – Muscat

Our last day in Oman started with good breakfast at our camp, drive back to the village (this time without the guide) where we had to get our tires inflated and some 1.5 hour drive to stop in Sur, a town on the seaside. First we stopped at the promenade next to the beaches where we had a nice coffee at a fancy cafe and then close to the old part of the town. We went for a short walk, but since it was just about noon we couldn’t walk longer, it was just too hot. And Sur was not really too exciting. So we continued to drive along the coast on a perfect highway to our next stop, the famous Wadi Shab.

Wadi Shab

Wadis are dry riverbeds that contain water only after heavy rains, but some water remains even if there’s no rain, forming beautiful pools. Wadi Shab is one of the most spectacular wadis in Oman and definitely worth a visit. We had just less than 4 days in Oman so it was not possible to get to see other wadis and I had to make a choice, which was not easy, but based on my numerous internet visits when preparing for the trip, I think I made the right choice. Both Ana and I enjoyed the Wadi Shab, it was beautiful (but also full of visitors, since we couldn’t get there before the early afternoon and I can imagine that only early mornings are not so busy). We parked the car at a large parking spot, then took a boat to take us to the other side of the “river” (a trip of less than 5 minutes) where we had to hike app. 2K in beautiful scenery to get to the pools. The pools are just magnificent, when swimming there you feel like you were in magic land, the rocks surrounding the water, but you must get to the end of the wadi (Ana chose to swim just in the first two pools and pose for Instagram rather than doing a combination of swimming and hiking until the end). I did the whole thing and it was amazing, there is a very narrow spot where you have to go sideways not to get stuck and then you get to the last pool that ends with a nice waterfall.

The hike to and back from the Wadi is a bit challenging if you are not used to rocky terrain but this makes the visit to Wadi Shab so exciting. Back at our car we continued to drive to Muscat where we arrived in early evening, with plenty of time left to board our plane at 2 am, parked close to the old town Mutrah and went for a walk and dinner. The dinner was not very exciting, more a fast food than a proper restaurant but we were too hungry to look for something fancy. We walked a bit around the souk, the Corniche and quite tired from the long day, drove off to the airport to drop off the car and slowly prepare for the flight back home.

Oman was a beautiful adventure and I would like to go back there and spend some more time.