Here's a few pics and brief narrative of our tour to Oman in January-February 1998.
We drove from Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia to Al Ain, United Arab Emirates with our friends the Kerns and Blakelys. The first day was a bit grueling, traveling 1000 kilometers through the desert terrain. The border crossing between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is always nerve wracking and time consuming as the procedures change and you never know how much of your belongings will be inspected. To save transit time we "camped" in a hotel in Al-Ain on the first night to avoid setting up and breaking camp and to allow for a late stop time at the end of the day. We arrived in Al Ain 13 hours after departing Ras Tanura, at about 7:00 p.m.
We crossed into Oman east of Al Ain at Jishi. This particular crossing is interesting as it is well inside of Oman and there is no exit post for leaving the United Arab Emirates. Al Ain/Buraimi is a single metropolis that spans the United Arab Emirates/Oman border, there is no border crossing in the combined city.
We took the road down the valley to the coast, turn to the south at the coast and then headed inland to to visit Hazm fort in the afternoon. Hazm fort has a very interesting feature with a fast flowing and substantial stream running in on side and out the other of the fort. The pictures at the right show some of the locals at the fort.
We camped near Hazm fort before heading up the road farther inland to Rustaq and its fort. Rustaq fort was under re-construction so we were unable to go inside. This surprised us as it was in very good condition just a year ago when we had visited the interior.
We headed a bit more south and then off road up the Wadi Mistal to the "hanging village" of Wakan. Wakan is nestled up on the side of a mountain about 40 kilometers from the paved road. It is located just under where a natural spring provides enough water for a small community. The water is managed in a series of falaj (tiny canals) which is used for irrigation, drinking, washing etc. None of the water makes it farther down into the wadi, it is consumed before leaving the local gardens. It is an intriguing site, with green and flowering gardens surrounded by desert mountainside. It's a grueling trip up the wadi, especially the last few kilometers with 25% grades, you need a four-wheel drive to climb the graded road. We camped down in the wadi where it widens out into the Ghubrah Bowl.
Next day, we came back down the rest of the wadi and moved a bit back to the north and to the other side of the paved road to Wadi Abyadh and the "blue pools." These are a series of pools in the wadi where the water flows most of the year and has formed some fairly deep pools. As you can see, they are great for swimming in. The kids insisted on making a day of it and no one minded. We came back out of the wadi and camped down the road to the south.
In the morning we proceeded south to Nakhl and another fort. In Nakhl we had some fun shopping, buying fireworks, a kunjar (native dagger in sheath) and visiting a factory where they produce a local sweet called helwa - and of course sampling the wares. In the afternoon we drove to Muskat and changed from camping to luxury at the Al-Bustan Palace Hotel. Late at night, since it was Ramadan, we went shopping in the old Suqs in Mutrah.
After a buffet breakfast on the ocean front terrace (with a some light drizzly showers) we transformed back ˙˙into campers again and started down the coast road south of Muskat.
The coastal graded dirt road offered spectacular scenery of the mountain range to the inland, Gulf of Oman on the other and little fishing towns nestled in the cliffs along the way. Just about the time to start looking for a campsite the sky to the north became very threatening with ominous black clouds forming and moving quickly towards us. We quickly changed plans and continued on to Sur in hopes of finding dry hotel rooms. We found a nice sounding hotel in Sur called the Sur Beach Hotel. It was a no-star hotel with expensive prices, so we economized on rooms to ensure a dry night.
Next morning was a bright sunshiny morning so we enjoyed another seaside breakfast. We could see dolphins playing in the Gulf. While Scott went into town to replace a punctured tire, the rest of the crew walked the beach collecting shells.
After a pleasant visit to the seaside we cut across the peninsula to Ra's Al-Junayz and the turtle nesting reserve. We had obtained permissions to visit and to stay in the reserve. The reserve has a small campground with real bathroom facilities including showers! - unheard of in this part of the world. In the evening the park rangers take the group down to the coast to see the turtles nesting and hatching. Only the rangers carry some dim flashlights because lights frighten the turtles and if they are not already on the beach nesting they will go back out to see and dump their eggs. We saw some hatchlings (see right) and several turtles in the process of digging and/or laying eggs. While sitting on the beach waiting for the rangers to find some activity, Danielle was almost run over by a four foot long turtle returning from its nesting.
Next morning it was time to begin the journey home so we headed north and inland making a fairly fast trip up to Nizwa. At Nizwa we enjoyed a look 'round the modern suqs selling traditional Omani wares and the restored fort. Since we were short of time to return we made camp not far off the road and nestled behind a levee next to a large wadi.
On the way back to Al-Ain we stopped to visit the restored fort at Jabrin. This fort had an amazing quantity of Chinese pottery that probably was of considerable value.
Well that's about it, the trip back was fairly quick with another hotel stop in Al-Ain and the long drive back and border crossing back into Saudi Arabia.
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| Hazm Fort |
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| Hazm Fort |
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| Rustaq |
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| Nakhl |
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| Our Toyota in Wadi Mistal |
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| Blue Pools |
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| Turtle Tracks |
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| Turtle Nesting Holes |
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| Turtle Hatchling |