Its been a while since I posted the message above, and I'm delighted that not a single response has been there so far..
Anyways, ASSUMING that the reason for no response is probably coz no one has any useful info to share, I'm posting my trip travelogue with details including the answers to the above. I had posted it in another section in this forum also, and overwhelmed by the response, I figured it would help to put it here also..enjoy!!
LLTT (ShaZ)
My first trip to Oman began early in the morning, because it was the day of Eid Al Adha and we were up early for prayers. Immedietely after prayers and a quick bite, me and my two buddies started off at 8.30am to our neighbouring country, Oman. This was my first road trip crossing a countries borders, and the first long trip in my Honda Civic coupe, so it was going to be special. After setting the meter to zero, we set off on our journey.
UAE and Oman share two borders with each other. One is the Al-Hafeet border in the Omani town of Al-Buraimi, which is right next to the UAE town of Al-Ain. We intended to cross into Oman using this border, and exit using the other Hatta border, and drive back to Dubai from there. The intended route was Dubai-Al Ain-Buraimi-Ibri-Bahla-Nizwa-Muscat-Barka-Hatta-Dubai over a period of 3days/2nights with one night planned at Nizwa and the other at Muscat, with a few diversions here and there. I expected the total distance to be around 1200 kms. Road travellers from Dubai to Oman normally drive the 450 kms/5 hours to Muscat on the excellent three lane, illuminated highway and come back the same route, but with our plan, we could cover more cities/towns apart from just Muscat, roughly covering the same distances.
We were prepared with Oman insurance(AED 100, approx USD 28 ) for the car and visas(AED 30 each, approx USD 8 ), but at the UAE border we were also required to pay AED 20 each for an UAE exit pass. Similarly on our return, we also had to pay AED 20 totally while exiting Oman at Hatta. Both visas and insurance are issued to GCC residents at the borders as well, in case you dont have them in advance. If you take them in advance, you can save yourself around 30 minutes to one hour at the border. Anyway, you will have to stop and get out at the border even if you have visas to fill in the exit forms etc. If you plan your trip well, you can consider this as a break during the drive!
At 13.30, we entered Oman after completing all formalities. The roads in Oman are good, but unlike in the UAE, there are lots of highways which are dual carriageways without any dividers as such, and not all roads are illuminated. In many cases, the roads dip up and down and can take the shape of various curves. All this automatically forces all drivers, specially night drivers to be extra cautious and drive very carefully. These observations, however, do not apply to the Dubai-Muscat highway though. That is an exception. Also, on most roads we encountered, the U-turn or other road markings are just painted on the road, they cannot be distinguished in any other way because there simply isnt any divider or anything else jutting out of the road anywhere! After crossing the border, for around 250 kms until Nizwa and another 100 odd kms from Nizwa to the outskirts of Muscat we travelled these kind of roads.
After a quick lunch at Ibri, a small town famous for its Wednesday Souq or Market (alas, we were there on a Tuesday!), we continued our journey, with our next stop being Bahla. I did notice a number of car showrooms in Ibri, of almost every famous make like Nissan, Toyota, Mazda etc. In an hour and a half, we reached Bahla. A mysterious town - Bahla is the home of myths and legends that have carried through the centuries. Some people today still believe that magic is afoot in Bahla and many Omanis are superstitious when it comes to talking about Bahla. This little town is famous for its pottery. The old Bahla fort with its 12 km wall is the oldest fort in Oman. The fort is believed to have been built in pre-Islamic times and is now undergoing reconstruction sponsored by UNESCO and the site is included on UNESCO's list of World Heritage monuments. We were thus unable to enter it but had a brilliant time going around it, clicking pics amidst the ruins. A short distance beyond Bahla lies the Castle of Jabreen. This massive three-storied castle was also built during the mid 1600's. It is a fine example of Islamic architecture with beautiful wooden inscriptions and paintings on the ceilings.
It was slowly nearing sunset, and we had planned a few more places before that, so we quickly made our way to our next stop, Al Hoota Cave. To get to this place, we took a left turn on the main Bahla-Nizwa highway itself, guided by a helpful sign board and then followed the directions on the subsequent boards. Once you take this left from the main road, you enter another road which after awhile gives options for a road to the cave, another for the Al Hamra village, Wadi Ghul, Jebel Al Shams mountain and so on. Our plan was just to try the cave before sunset and do the rest the following morning. We were already aware that this cave also was also undergoing renovation to make it more tourist friendly, but we wanted to atleast try. Alas, we were unable to go in, as exciting as it sounded! Hopefully next time we can!
As the sun set over the wonderful mountain scenary and on our first day in Oman, we wound our way upto our night stop, Nizwa. However, there was yet one more place on the way! Yes, it was Tanuf. Tanuf is an important Wadi in Oman (Wadi is an Arabic word for a mountainous area which fills with water during rains) from where a mineral water called Tanuf is produced, and we decided to take a look. However, we took the wrong left turn on the Bahla-Nizwa highway at the Wadi Tanuf board instead of taking the left turn where it said Tanuf Dam (with a big board of the mineral water bottle!). Anyhow, we finally descended into the Wadi which was right after the bottling factory, and frankly, it was all dried up! Perhaps we could have encountered water further on, but being in the twilight, in my little Honda civic and with the gravel, pebbly terrain; this was not a very good idea! Moreover, these wadis are very unpredictable, almost dangerous. One second they maybe dry, the next minute it ight just rain heavily and water might just flood the area!
We entered Nizwa shortly, a quaint little town which was once the capital of Oman. It had one of everything- a beautiful mosque, a fort and a souq (all of which were bang in the middle of the town and adjacent to each other and had similar architecture!). It also had very few restaurants and hotels, but enough for the towns small population, I assume. We had a light dinner, and after a stroll along the closed Souq (which was beautifully constructed) we decided to call it a day. It was getting late, and we had a long long day, so we used the blankets, pillows and other stuff we had brought along to create a comfortable bed in a park near Falaj Daris and slept away like babies, our bodies tired, but our minds excited because tomorrow was day two in Oman!
DAY 2
The sun stung our eyes open at around 8am. It was a cool, crisp day in Nizwa. Without wasting anytime, we packed up and left for a restaurant, where we planned to freshen up and have breakfast as well. Our next destination was the peak of Jebel Al Shams (Mountain of the Sun) which was 10,000 feet above where we were now, to see the second largest Grand Canyon in the world after the one in America. I had read many stories about the spectacular views from up here, and was told that the drive could be done only with a four wheel drive. This was an irritating problem. There are many many spectacular places in Oman that can only be accessed using a 4WD vehicle and this automatically puts us normal car owners in the back seat. However, in the case of Jebel Al Shams (JAS), the good thing was that out of the 38 kms journey from the base to the summit, around 30 kms was blacktopped(tarmac) and only around 8 kms were graded roads(gravel). we decided to go for it, barely confident about tackling any unforeseen troubles but our hearts rich in confidence and wanderlust.
I have to admit, I have yet to drive such a gruelling stretch of road in my entire life. It is a fact that the first 30 kms is tarmac, but due to some road work when we went, only 20 kms were tarmac and after that we started driving on stretches of graded roads every few kms for awhile. On the graded roads with a two wheel drive, it was impossible to go above 20 km/hr without losing control or getting the car/tyres busted. With one eye constantly on the temperature needle, the other on the dusty, pebbly road and with ears ready to catch any unusual sounds, we slowly made our way up on the curvy, sinuous and steep route, climbing the 10,000 feet literally feet by feet, even as 4WD vehicles zipped past leaving a trail of dust behind, but not without eyeing my little car bravely making her way up! I took a wrong turn once and ended up at the restricted area of Royal Oman Police, where they had set up the Jebel Al Shams radar! At long last, after a climb that lasted two and a half hours with a few breaks here and there, we reached the summit, and immedietely made a bee line to the edge, where we caught our breaths, literally! The scene was mind boggling. We were at the edge of a huge and deep canyon, something which cannot be described in words! Not only that, but the fact that we were so high above sea level and that we had successfully made it with a normal car gave us a different high, and we were ecstatic as the chilly wind blew around us. The sun was still out though, and we took lots of photographs and generally enjoyed what can only be called the highlight of our Oman trip! After an hour, we started our descent, as we wanted to complete it before sunset. There was more to do up there like go for a trek or visit the mountain villages of Al Khateem or Al Hael, but unfortunately there was no time. Our descent, once again, was without any mishaps or troubles but with plenty of picteresque photographs along the way, and I can only endlessly thank my car for behaving so well throughout our trip. Not ONE puncture even!!
We drove straight to Nizwa town again, where we planned to see the fort and the mosque, before leaving for Muscat by 7pm, which was a 200 kms drive away. Needless to say, the fort, once again, was brilliant in its construction. Actually, one might get a little bored seeing too many forts in the same place, so I would recommend just seeing a couple of forts in case there are too many around! Its all more or less the same. The mosque was equally grand, and we were fortunate enough to be able to offer our evening prayers along with the Omani locals there before hitting the road once more to Muscat. Nizwa is an excellent place to get away from the fast paced life that most of us live these days. For that matter, Oman itself is such a country, but Nizwa surely is its best kept secret! The people are simple and live within their means. Heck, I even saw many M-80 two wheelers (normally used by fishermen in India) being driven by the locals! This is an IMPOSSIBLE sight in Dubai, where even the delivery boys drive reasonably fashionable bikes!
It was dark by now, and this road was yet again one where I had to keep my eyes wide open. The road went up and down at times, and it was a dual carriageway with no lights on several stretches, so it kept my nerves on the edge until we reached the last 80 odd kms of the drive, where the excellent 3 lane highway to Muscat and beyond started. As we approached Muscat, the quaint laidback style of Nizwa(including its roads!) started to fade away and it was replaced by the big billboards, fast roads and city lights from all around. Many of us know that Muscat is the capital of Oman, but what many of us dont know is that Muscat ACTUALLY is just a small area around the coast and that a few other areas, and Ruwi and Mattrah (two other bigger towns around Muscat) are also generally and usually termed as "Muscat", specially by an outsider. Infact, the grand 25 million Omani Riyal Sultan Qaboos Mosque is technically not in Muscat, Ruwi or Mattrah but is still "generally" referred to as being in Muscat! We had friends in Muscat, and after dinner with them and freshening up at their place, they took us around on a drive to Al Qurm Natural Park, where the Muscat Festival had begun earlier that evening. But when we reached, it was closing time, so we didnt see much except for the parking lot and cars! However, we went on an excellent drive to Al Qurm Beach to make up for it, followed by a leisurely walk up and down its sandy beach under the glowing moonlight. At 0100 hours, we went back to our friends place for a much needed rest in a proper bed! I was too tired to even think of Day 3, but I was sure it was gonna be just great!
DAY 3
A good nights rest followed by a nice hot shower set the right tone for our final day in Oman. The sleep was essential as I had another long day of driving ahead, all the way back upto Dubai by night. We first went to the massively huge Sultan Qaboos Mosque. This mosque was built not only as a central place of worship for the Sultanate but also as a center for the propagation of the Islamic civilization, literature, and culture. Besides the beautiful central mosque itself, the new complex also includes an Islamic Studies Center complete with a 20,000-volume library. Building commenced in 1995 and was finished in 2001. The site covers an area of 416,000 square meters and the complex is built over an area of around 40,000 square meters. The main prayer hall has been designed to hold over 6,500 worshippers, while the women's musalla can accommodate 750 worshippers. The outer paved ground can hold 8,000 worshippers and there is additional space available in the interior courtyard and the passageways, making a total capacity of up to 20,000 worshippers. The main prayer hall has just one huge Persian carpet, which is the worlds largest single-piece hand made carpet!
Our next stop was the little town of Muscat itself, which like I said earlier, is set along the coast just after the area of Mattrah. The drive to Muscat is beautiful, they have a wonderful corniche with very well done streets. The streetlights and general effort put into making this seaside area beautiful must be saluted! It gave us a very refreshing, rocky yet marine view of this cute little city! Muscat as such, encloses two forts built on the rocks called Al Jalani and Al Mirani forts, along with the "office" palace of the Sultan, called Al Alam Palace. All three were not accesible to the public, but were good to see from the outside and driving around them is a pleasure. One cannot have enough of the beautiful scenary all around! The Corniche, with its promenade and souqs (markets) is one of the highlights of the city. The old souq of Mattrah, along this route, is an ideal spot for tourists to buy souveniers.
After a late lunch, it was time to say farewell to our Oman odyssey. We had a long drive back to Dubai, and it was better to start off soon. Our hosts in Muscat decided to accompany us for the first 40 kms of our 450 km journey back to Dubai, to take us along to the Oman Ostrich Farm which was in a place called Barka, enroute to Dubai. We set off at 1600 hours, taking the route through Seeb International Airport which would eventually put us on the road to Dubai. It was my first time at an Ostrich farm, and I would certainly recommend this place to anyone driving that route! Apart from lots and lots of ostriches, there were also crocodiles, ducks, camels and horses, making this place a mini zoo! Moreover, there were acres and acres of refreshing green farms; with carrot, capsicum and cabbage cultivation going on, and it was very interesting to be in the middle of it all! We were intrigued by a gigantic modern insecticide spraying machine which was several hundred meters long in length and ran on tyres the size of a Jumbo jets tyres!
At 1800 hours, it was finally time to say good bye to our excellent hosts as well as our Oman trip. With promises to return and with warm handshakes all around, we set off on the drive back to Dubai, which was on an excellent, well-lit highway. The journey was smooth, and we entered Dubai at 2300 hours. As I drove, my mind reflected on the past few days. For sure, life in the United Arab Emirates, and in Dubai specifically, was different. In the UAE, you will not find a local UAE national manning the counter of a small supermarket/shop or driving a taxi. These are normally done by the Indians/Pakistanis/Filipions, who do not mind the relatively low salaries in these jobs. In Oman however, it was common to see a local driving a taxi or managing a shop counter! Also, I have always heard of how helpful and courteous Omanis are, and I got to experience this myself. I was amazed when a Omani driver who I asked for directions to a place from my car actually stepped out and came upto my car before giving them to me!
Oman maybe slowly getting modernized, which is inevitable, but they are careful to not overdo it. This is what is heartening to observe. After the fast, artificial life we are so inevitably accustomed to these days, it comes as a refreshing change when we can actually hop off to a neighbouring country and witness first hand, life moving two paces slower but with plenty to see and do at the same time! This is Omans USP, and I sure hope that it stays the same always!
Its good to be back in Dubai, but I will miss Oman. Till next time!
Trip Summary:
Journey period: 10th-12th January 2006
Total kms driven: 1484 kilometeres
Total time: 3days/2nights (62 hours totally)
No. of travellers: 3
Total amount per person for full trip: AED 300/USD 80 (all inclusive without accomodation)
Type of travel: Budget
Pace of travel: Fast n furious
End result: Brilliant!
Hope this travelogue turns out to be interesting and informative to one and all! Go to Oman!
