Muscat To Jebel Shams

Leaving Muscat my guide/driver Adnan (he’s 23!) travelled very bumpy dirt roads enroute to our hotel in Al Hamra. We passed the fish market, some hot springs, and Snake Gorge. It quite a scenic drive, with rugged rocky mountains, palm trees and vegetable gardens, quite a diverse landscape. 

 Before I  move on to the rest of the trip, if you are in Muscat and want to be near the beach, the Kempinski is a good option. The buffet breakfast kept me going until dinner since Ramadan started the day I arrived. I still can’t figure out how you can go on without water until sunset  

We went to the Barka marina as our first stop from the hotel to have a look at the fish market. There’s a lot of tuna being fished out the surrounding waters. I was impressed by how clean and odourless the market was.

Our next stop was some hot springs. These springs do not have any sulfurous smell because of high oxygen levels in the water that prevent the bacterial production of hydrogen sulfide gas. 

We had to drive around the mountains on many a dirt road because the country has not built mountain tunnels in many areas. The car rides were almost like rollercoaster rides, steep and bumpy.  Thank God for motion sickness tablets though I still felt like a frog in a blender for quite a bit. My Apple Watch kept registering steps from my bouncing up and down in the car. It seemed I had worked out a lot that day!

It was a beautiful ride. Some of the landscape reminded me of Utah. 

                          We stopped at Snake Gorge to have that famous Omani photo taken. 

Finally we arrive at our hotel in Al Hamra called “The View” where you have bedroom pods and a view!

Finally I get to hike the Jebel Shams, translated as the mountain of the sun and also known as  the “Grand Canyon” of Arabia. It’s not as large but it’s deeper. There are 1000 metre vertical drops so if you have vertigo, it’ll probably be of no interest to you.  I had to concentrate because of my vestibular nerve damage (balance) but it was fine. It’s about 3000 metres high. 

The Balcony walk is the most famous hike in Oman and it’s only between 3-4 hours long. There is a via Ferrata option (climbing) and frankly, I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. Maybe next time. Anyway, it’s about 240 km from Muscat. You’ll need a proper vehicle or you’ll return a wrecked car to the rental. 

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After the hike (I wasn’t tired) I did a side trip to have a look to see the old traditional Omani houses. This was called bait alssafa and is now a museum. 

Tomorrow I’m off to Jebel Akhdar via Nizwa. More exploration!