An Off Road Mountain Journey and Fly to Salalah

Goat crossing

Off on a driving adventure...

Two great Omanis, Mousad and Ayman.

This is how water is delivered to remote communities including roads like today.

This was probably the craziest, scariest road I've ridden...

going way down there...

around blind corners with no guard rails..

to our lunch destination in a remote village in an oasis in a small valley.

Village street...

Metal doors are ways to personalize homes that look much alike.

Then we had to drive another 20 kilometres on dirt roads to get back to the highway.

Disembarking for our final destination: Salalah, Oman.

The view from my balcony at the Hilton Hotel.

Wednesday, February 25th.

Note in our hotel:

During the holy month of Ramadan, smoking, eating or drinking in any public area from sunrise to sunset is strictly forbidden. Violations of these rules will result in serious legal action.

This morning we were picked up by six 4x4 Toyota Land Cruisers. The lead one was driven by Mousad and I was in the car with Cam, Jane and our diver Aymen again. We drove back into the Hajer Mountains along a paved road to a beautiful overlook. From there we descended on a wild, winding, very dusty dirt road for about thirty kilometres to the ancient small oasis village, Balid Sayt, one of the oldest towns in Oman, nestled between the mountains at the base of the Jebel Shams massif. The road was narrow and incredibly hilly and twisty with no guardrails, blind turns and steep dropoffs. We were all on edge as we crept along for over an hour. Even the normally talkative Aymen was very focused and quiet and was relieved when we arrived safely. We parked in the village and had the chance to wander the quaint narrow streets and view the crops of the oasis. Just above the village and date oasis they have recently built two new hotels, which the locals are apparently not crazy about. The government is building, for the town of seven hundred people, a school and a hospital so that they can remain in their homes in this remote area. The people are now asking for a paved road, which Mousad said would be a big expense for just this small village. From the balcony of the Season Inn Hotel we had an excellent view of the beautiful oasis where they grow many different crops. I marveled that people had found there way into this area back in the day and was not surprised given the roads, that they never found their way out again. We had a great lunch there before driving another twenty kilometres on the dangerous dusty dirt road to exit the valley. 

We then continued to Muscat along the main highway, arriving in time for a farewell dinner before our evening flight to Salalah, the second-largest town in Oman. Salalah is isolated far in the southeast, close to the Yemeni border. (Yemen is the only country on the Arabian Peninsula that we did not visit as it is at war with Saudi Arabia). The setting is magnificent, Salalah faces the Arabian Sea/Indian Ocean, backed by hills. We arrived at the Hilton Hotel right on the water. I had a great view from my 4th floor balcony of the pool and the ocean. Off to my right I could just see the container port. I went for an exploratory walk at midnight around the pool and across the sand to the beach across about 200 metres of sand. The sound of the surf pounding the shore was a very different vibe from the rest of this mainly desert journey.