Join me for some experiences on a trip from from the UAE to Syria. There were highlights in each place that will stay with my forever. I am writing now many years later but I would like to share some of the memories that have stayed with me. Travel is so much fun, if you get the chance, get out and explore this great world.
Life after Graduation...
This is the fourth post in this series. Links to previous posts can be found below.
Entrance to Muscat
Memories of Oman
Situated in the Eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula is the Sultanate of Oman. This beautiful vast country is quite a different place to the UAE. I found here the friendly laid back people, age old traditions and fantastically beautiful scenery were well worth the trip. I finally got to see a bit of History and Culture in the Middle East.
Dubai to Muscat
Undeterred by our previous roadtrip, the next long weekend at school, 4 of us packed up the car and headed for Oman. It really felt good to be leaving Sharjah and Dubai behind, even if only for a few days. It got quite stressful there at times. The UAE is a strange mix of the west and the east, money and poverty, excess and deprivation.
We stayed well clear of Ajman this time :) The first stop on road was the Hatta border crossing where we hoped we would not have issues. Nothing in the Middle East is very official and our work visas were no exception.
Later when I learned how to read Arabic I realised my visa said I was an economics teacher which was a bit off the mark but at least the right profession :)
Hatta Border Crossing
Sohar
We decided to break the 400km trip from Sharjah to Muscat with a stop in Sohar, the mythical birthplace of Sinbad the Sailor.
The Spectacular Hujra Fort
I didn't find Sinbads house but I found Wallys Office :)
Muscat
After the long trip we arrived in Muscat where we planned on staying the night and heading on a camping trip the next day. We stayed in Mutrah a port town/suburb of Muscat. There were some beautiful sights in this town, steeped in history and a melting pot for hundreds of years. In the narrow streets along the corniche you could visit a traditional Arabian Souq that hasn't changed much in centuries.
There were many wonderful sights here such as the mosque on the Corniche or the forts overlooking the Harbour.
At this stage of my journey I was still afraid to enter a mosque and I think I had only used As Salam Alai Kum once since I arrived in Dubai. You simply never met any locals there. At last I was in real Arabia.
This was part of the former spice route. You could just imagine Vasco De Gamma or other great explorers of the day dropping anchor here and visiting the Souq to trade some European trinkets for Frankincense and Mirr.
Mutrah Corniche
Mutrah Fort built by the Portuguese in the 1580s
Cannon Overlooking the Bay, a sign of its Strategic and Military Past
Modern Day Mutrah is less militarised than in the past when it was a key stopping point between East and West. It's now a sleepy fisherman's town but still a center of trade in the region
Modern day fishermen on Mutrah Corniche
The Incence Burner is typical of the region, it's used to perfume clothes and freshen the home. Coals and Incense are burned in smaller versions of the burner shown here.
Incence Burner Monument overlooking Mutrah
Wahiba Sands
Sohar was great, Muscat and Mutrah were great too but what we really came to see in Oman was more desert. We booked a trip to the legendary Wahiba Sands with Wadi Driving in Wadi Bani Khalid.
This would be an overnight trip from our base in Mutrah and we would camp out in the Desert for the night.
According to wikipedia "The desert in this area has been of scientific interest since a 1986 expedition by the Royal Geographical Society documented the diversity of the terrain, the flora and fauna, noting 16,000 invertebrates as well as 200 species of other wildlife, including avifauna. They also documented 150 species of native flora." The sand, the colours the light was so beautiful and unusual.
Sunset in the Arabian Desert
The camp-site here was quite memorable for me. There was an american guy who we were talking to late in the evening around the campfire. He had a gadget that showed us our GPS position. This was 2003 and I had never seen this before. He showed us a map of the world and the point on the map where we were. He could even tell us that we were 7,000km from home. At the time I had never seen anythign like this before.
Ever Shifting Sand
Wadi Bani Khalid
A feature of this region are land formations called Wadis. These are areas of rocky terrain which flash flood when it rains.
In these rocky areas the ground does not soak the water and flash floods of water run down gathering pace and sweeping anything in their path when it rains. What is left here for the rest of the year is a rocky valley. These Wadis are quite common in Eastern and Northern Oman. Wadi Bani Khalid is one of the most beautiful specimens in the Arabian Penensula but you definitely need a 4x4 to go through it.
As with most of my trips here though the effort was worth the prize. At the end of the wadi we came to an unforgettable watering hole where we got a chance to have a dip.
I am not sure my insurance covered this but when in Rome... :)
The Journey Back to Work....
After the Sands and the Wadi we headed back to Muscat to pick up the car. The next day we headed back to the UAE but our Oman experience wasn't quite over. Somewhere along the way we came across crowds of people at the side of the road. We stopped to see what was happening and it turned out a local pastime is a form of Bull fighting where local Bulls participate in push and shove contest to be declared champion. Apparently the bulls are much beloved by their owners and are not hurt in the event apart from a few scrapes. It was interesting to watch and there was great excitement among the Omanis.
Bull Butting in Oman
Sunset over the Hajar Mountains
It was late when we were making it back to the border crossing and we got some great views of the Hajar mountains at sunset.
Sunset over the Hajar Mountains
Oman, well worth a visit.
Thank you for reading this. I write on Steemit about Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Travel and lots of random topics.
All Images are from my personal library.
Previous Posts in this Series
Join me in reliving my journey.
- Life after graduation...only begins when you leave the country
- Life After Graduation...The UAE
- Life After Graduation... Experiences in The UAE
Beautiful!
It's worth the trip.
thank you for sharing @eroche , this was very nice indeed
There is more to come. It was a great trip. Some of the photos arent great because I am digging them out of old albums and scanning them. I didn't have a digital camera for the trip.
very informative and beautiful photos.
Thank you.
you have seen lots of places and met a lot of people, I would love to live like that but not possible for me (at the moment at least)
great post as always
Thanks man. Sometimes we may not be able to travel far but we can always explore near home wherever that is. I have been lucky and gotten to see some amazing places overseas but I hope to see more.
You can always transport yourself with books and Steemit of course :) There are some great writers out there who bring the world to life.
you are right, you and some other writers have written some great posts about different places, the problem is that reading them doesn't satisfy me and even makes me to yearn :))
So beautiful. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos and they story. Loved it.
Thank you so much.
it's my country .. if any one need any thing you can write to me
Thanks @ssm945, I hope I get to visit again. It's a beautiful place.