Roadtripping Days 1 -2 — The road liss traveled

Alrighty, up bright and early, me and my new friend Wail (Wa-eel) were out the door by 6:30am. The Indian snack shop across the street was actually open so we ate some chapatis and dhal (basically curried lentils you did the bread in) and then hit the road. Fortunately Wail is more tech savvy than me, so he was able to get the navigation on my phone onto the car’s digital screen via Bluetooth as well as my music. I honestly did not know how to do this. Sad!

Muscat’s highways are very nice, so driving was not stressful at all. If anything I wanted to go too fast, but they have speed cameras everywhere, I’m not sure how much they’re paid attention to or enforced, but just their presence was a big enough deterrent to not go over the 120 km/h speed limit, or 75mph. You had to climb over some mountains to get out of Muscat but then it was pretty flat smooth sailing, with lots of mountains off in the distance.

First stop was the Bimmah Sinkhole, which looks pretty much like you’d expect, a big hole in the ground with water in it. We were the second ones there and after some debate, decided to go for a swim, as it’s cool to have it all to yourselves and it would probably wake us up a bit. Wail also carries around a coffee thermos so it was the perfect coffee spot.

Next up was the famous Wadi Shab, probably the most famous natural attraction in all of Oman. Wadi just means canyon, but it seems to usually imply a river canyon with swimming. Although some dry up in the dry season. For this one you have to hop on a boat to cross the river, then hike 30 minutes, then you get to a spot where the canyon tightens and you basically, walk, wade, swim your way through this beautiful canyon. There’s even a little cave you can swim into. It’s a very popular spot though, so you certainly do not have it to yourselves. There’s a bunch of Indian tour groups to contend with, and they’re not small.

Of course having to swim through a canyon means you need to leave your stuff behind, so people who were well prepared brought dry bags along for the swim. Me and Wail didn’t want to leave all our stuff behind, an overabundance of caution perhaps, as theft like this isn’t really a thing in Oman. But just in case, we just went through the canyon one by one. The whole place was a lot of fun and I can see why it’s on everyone’s tourist itinerary. Great spot to hang out for a few hours. On the way back we lost our return trip boat tickets and the guy wanted us to pay again, but Wail said a few words in Arabic and problem solved. Very nice having an Arabic speaker around.

After that we went to a local shisha place for a bit and then found something to eat. We went to, I believe an Egyptian run place and split the good ole, trusty standby – the mixed grill. Before we ordered Wail was asking the owner a bunch of questions about the food, and I guess the owner didn’t like that much, and told him he was personally insulted. Which was interesting to me because I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation at a restaurant which invoked such strong feelings over asking about food. Or at least having those feeling said out loud. We’ll chalk it up to cultural differences! Wail went to apologize after dinner haha.

The next day Wail would be taking the bus back to Muscat as he’s already done a bunch of my itinerary, and I’d be continuing onwards to the interior of the country to the sand dunes of Wahiba Sands more specifically. And doing what I’d be doing most afternoons, finding a wadi to go hike and swim!

The wadi on the way to Wahiba Sands is also a touristy one, and apparently they’re doing construction all around it, building some sort of tourist facilities – ewww, wadis are supposed to be natural places! And the reviews online were not great. But still I had a lot of time to kill, and I didn’t see anywhere else interesting on the map to visit, so I was still going. And despite the construction, you could still find some very pretty sections of the river to swim and have by yourself if you did a little rock scrambling to get down! But yeah, you just had to listen to the gentle sounds of jackhammers in the background. So overall not the nicest wadi to visit, but still some beautiful sections of water.

Back to the highway and next up was figuring out how to get to the desert camp. First I had to pull into the gas station to lower my tire pressure down to 18 psi. There was already someone at the air station, but there was also a guy in the parking lot who offered to do it for me for 1 real, $2.50, which felt kind of silly because it should be something really easy to do myself, but whatever, this enterprising young man can have my business. Down to 18 psi, I guess the ideal tire pressure for driving on sand.

I had time for some coffee, where some guys tried to poach me from my desert camp to theirs, but I wasn’t falling for it! The desert camp I had booked had warned me about this! Soon I found the office and then I’d be following the guide into the sand dunes and onto the desert camp. I was a little worried about this because I’d never driven on sand before! The first part was easy, we were just driving in a flat valley, but then we eventually turned up into the dunes. I was warned I needed to punch it, and we got to the steep uphill part, that was also quite bumpy, and I had the accelerator pressed to floor, but I started losing momentum, slowing down, no, noo, nooooo! Stuck!

The guide had to come back to my car, I pushed from the front as he reversed and we went in reverse down the hill, and he did this section for me. You really need to pick up a lot of speed BEFORE getting to steep uphill part! And then just eat all the bumps! Just don’t lose any speed! Once you lose that momentum you’re doomed no matter how hard you press on the gas. Live and learn. From the top of that hill I got back in the drivers seat and it wasn’t too bad getting to camp after that. It’s a pretty basic setup, a bunch of very thick, sturdy, tent type structures with beds and bathrooms attached, a bonfire area, and a big shaded platform. That’s the whole camp!

In the big shaded platform I met some of the guests, an Austrian couple and Dutch/Moroccan couple who were both friendly. The Dutch/Moroccan couple was a quantum physicist and PHD in climate science. Like come on! The Austrian couple had booked two nights, which they had kind of regretted, as there really is nothing to do all day. Sand dunes are good for one sunset and one sunrise, imo, that’s all you need! I had some time to read my book before sunset, as I didn’t sign up for either of the two activities, dune buggy or camel ride. Spending 30 minutes on a camel in India was enough to know that I don’t really need to be on a camel again. And I was particularly interested in reading this book (Celestial Bodies) as it was the first book in Arabic to win the Man Booker prize, and it’s by an Omani author set in Oman. Eventually around sunset it was off to hike around the dunes and take some photos. I don’t get many chances to do dune photography, but it is pretty fun, the play of light and shadows gives many opportunities for interesting photo compositions! But the light is only right for a short window of time before the sun sets. Or right after it rises.

How dare these people to have walked where I want to take photos!

So that was fun. Dinner was at 7, and it was excellent, tons of stuff to choose from, the usual middle eastern fare with lots of grilled meats and kebabs, rice, bread, hummus, salad, pita etc. Everyone just sits on the floor together. And then after that was the bonfire where our hosts told us all about Bedouin desert life, how people survive in the desert, how it’s changed it modern times, etc. Then they sang us some Bedouin music, which started slow at first and then eventually became a bit of a dance party for a little bit. So it was a pretty fun camp. Very highly rated spot.

Next morning was off again tramping around the dunes bright and early at sunrise, then a very large breakfast, and that was about it for the desert camp. A nice experience! I followed the guide back into town, no getting stuck this time! I had to fill up the tires again and then I was back on the highway for the roadtrip to continue!