Oman is much more than you expect
Imagine a distant country where the mountains, valleys and canyons flood the landscape . A country in which stories starring Sinbad the Sailor echo in the waters of the Gulf of Oman, while thousands of turtles lay their eggs on its beaches. In it, the immense desert extends to infinity , camels graze on an ocean of sand, and Bedouins brew coffee accompanied by the whistling of the wind.
Imagine a remote place full of ancient villages. A corner of the world where tolerance and hospitality make up the foundations of an entire society.
And now imagine that you could go into this universe apart from the hordes of tourists that invade every corner of the planet. Do you dream of living such an experience? So, it is clear: Oman is your destination!
With a territory that extends to the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula along more than 300,000 km2 , 80% of the Sultanate of Oman is pure desert . The country has more than four million inhabitants although, interestingly, only half are Omanis! and is considered one of the states most stable throughout the Arab world.
Impressive beaches await you in Oman
After Sultan Qaboos came to power in 1970, Oman, which had lived in absolute isolation for much of the 20th century, it was opened up to the world. Today, oil and natural gas are its main source of income . This means that, despite not abusing ostentation, wealth is evident at every step.
MUSCAT, AUSTERITY MADE A CITY
We landed in Muscat, the capital, a modern and advanced city in which skyscrapers and tall buildings they shine by their absence , compared to other cities in the Arabian Peninsula. The explanation is simple: by order of the sultan nothing can be built in the whole country exceed 100 meters in height.
For the same reason, the first thing that catches your eye on the way to the center is the five huge minarets of the white and unpolluted Sultan Qaboos Mosque . Perfect! This will be our first stop.
The beautiful temple was built in 2001 to celebrate the 30 years of the sultan's reign and walking through its interior is a gift for the senses . But the beauty of its majestic rooms, patios and gardens remain in a background as soon as we hear some figures.
For example? That the chandelier that rules the ceiling of the prayer room weighs eight tons . Or that the carpet we walk on It is made in one piece and measures a whopping 70 x 60 meters, being the second Persian carpet biggest in the world , almost nothing!
Sultan Qaboos Mosque Road
As always, to take the real pulse to the city, we go straight to its heart: the old souk. In Mutrah, the neighborhood in which it is located, the environment is assured . Scenes of everyday life unfold between colored spices, handmade soaps and various souvenirs.
They chat animatedly dressed in their typical dishdashas , impeccable white robes that reach the ground. A mussar or turban covers their heads . They, meanwhile, make purchases with her long black dresses . Above their heads, the lihaf.
The old part of Muscat, Old Muscat, appears before us embraced by towering mountains that protected it from invasions in times past. We walk along the great esplanade that precedes the striking Presidential Palace of the sultan to later learn a little more about the cultural mosaic that makes up Oman at the **Bait Al Zubair Museum.**
To put the icing on the cake, let's go to the little port . There in a local restaurant decorated with the ubiquitous photograph of the sultan We enjoyed a menu based on the fish of the day. Yes, encourage us to eat rice with your hands , as the Omanis have been doing, will depend on the desire of each one.
The port of Oman, a delight
PARADISE IN OMAN HAS THE SHAPE OF WADI
Public transport in Oman is almost zero , so we opted for own car. If it's 4x4, much better. It only takes a few minutes to go through any of the roads that take us away from Muscat so that the landscape begins to mutate.
It's time to leave the asphalt to get lost on dirt tracks that the same thing shows us mushroom-shaped rocks, as they reveal to us wonderful pools of turquoise waters . The land folds creating hills and canyons. The rocks contort causing almost impossible prints . This looks good, hey!
We arrived at Wadi Shab, and after traverse by boat a small lake, we start a walk of approximately one hour between gorges that takes us to countless natural freshwater pools . Who can resist a dip? Although, beware, important: despite the fact that tourists enjoy a certain permissiveness, the ideal is to imitate the local and prudently cover the body. In the end, we are in a muslim country.
Who can resist a dip in Wadi Shab?
Another more popular Wadi, the badi khalid will do the delights of the most gourmets . Here there is no lack of the restaurant on duty with privileged views of the landscape in which to have a tasty plate of hummus, a lamb skewer or a delicious lemonade.
Next to the pools, lifeguards dressed in fluorescent shirts make sure everything is in order while the few tourists, mostly locals, receive a free pedicure session from some curious minnows they find in human dry skin an exquisite delicacy.
Badi Khalid will delight the most gourmets
TURTLES AND LEGENDS IN SUR
We return to the coast, to the city of Sur, to dive into the Arabian Sea . Our home will be Turtle Beach Resort, a bungalow complex decorated with arabic details in which we feel like in a story from The Thousand and One Nights, although with one caveat: when we open the door of our room we will run into extensive semi-desert white sand beaches and waters, once again, turquoise. How tremble the Caribbean!
But the beaches of Sur are also famous for something else: they spawn there every year. thousands of endangered green turtles . To live a complete experience, the best thing to do is to visit the Ras Al Jinz reserve, where you can learn all about these animals and contemplate, with luck and at nightfall, the miracle: dozens of tiny turtles quickly hatch from their eggs and launch themselves to the new adventure of life at sea.
According to legend, Sur was also the city of a legendary sailor : Sinbad the Sailor. And no wonder. Here is the last dock that, even today, continues to build dhows, the traditional boats of the Persian Gulf . the only one that has managed to survive to the pass of the years.
Live the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor through the waters of Oman
A NIGHT IN THE DESERT
It was clear: dealing with 80% of Omani territory, we could not stop make a foray into the desert . So, without hesitation, we headed for Wahiba Sands ready to discover their biggest secrets . Play with the dunes in our 4x4, some of up to 150 meters high , will ensure fun –and, why not say it: perhaps also nausea-.
This vast desert home of camels and bedouins , reveals an ancestral culture. A different way of living . Once at our particular end of the world, we opted to enjoy a sunset like no other from the top of its dunes -accompanied, of course, by a freshly brewed Omani coffee . At dusk, we traded the sun for the stars : the entire universe undresses for us.
May your feet feel the desert sand
DATES, GOATS AND CAMEL? THIS IS NIZWA
It's time to get up early, and conscientiously: at six in the morning it's already cattle market in full swing , which animates every Friday –and when we say animates, it is because ANIMATES- the souk of this ancient city. Between bleats, shouts of offers and various haggling, contemplate the scenes that unfold here It's like traveling to the past.
Will follow feeling in a world far away to ours -perhaps we are not?- while we get lost in the corridors and galleries of its souk, we buy dates -Oh, dilemma! How to know how to choose between 45 types that exist in Oman? - and we haggle for one of those daggers, the khanjar, So typical of the country.
Nizwa is the second largest and most populous city in Oman, and was its capital for no less than a thousand years . Here what you want is for us to get lost in its intricate alleys of shades of brown aimlessly. Its heart, without a doubt, is its 17th century fort. With its vast circular tower 30 meters high, it served as city protection in times when this enclave was an important crossroads between caravan routes.
A little further on the map, about two hours away, another must-see: Bahla, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco, deserves a visit even if it is only to discover its beautiful castle.
We will get lost in the intricate alleys of Nizwa
THE TREASURES THAT HIDE THE MOUNTAINS
And from civilization we return to go into the mountains : The Green Mountains or Jebel Akhdar are our destination.
Ancient villages populate this spectacular postcard which, as it rises in height, it manages to catch us more and more . Cultivation terraces flood the landscape in which they grow, in rows, from apricot trees, to pomegranates or olive trees.
Here the pace of life changes. It pauses. And alone the laughter of a child or the call to prayer they will be able to interrupt the peace and silence that dominates in the villages. It's time to open them well: maybe we'll run into a neighbor who, in the basement of his house, lends himself to showing us how he brews rose water the old fashioned way.
On the way to the Jebel Shams, a stop in the beautiful village of Al Hamra it is an absolute must. In its old part are still preserved houses over 400 years old , the oldest in Oman, built with adobe and palm beams. Incredible as it may seem, some of them even have up to three and four floors.
Al Hamra, an essential stop
The best plan? Visit the Bait al-Safa o House of Purity: a kind of museum in which learn, from the hands of native women , how life developed in this corner of Oman decades ago. The experience will most likely end, like every encounter in this country, with talk, coffee and dates. in the carpeted hall of the old house.
we go through wild landscapes and palm groves . We advance along tracks and more dirt tracks. We finally entered the Jebel Shams. It will be then, almost 3,000 meters above sea level, in front of the infinity most overwhelming and with the impressive landscape of the Wadi Ghul before us, where it will be time to say goodbye to this fascinating country.
Although, one second! What if we give ourselves the pleasure of sleeping surrounded by this impressive landscape ? Come on, come on... In the Jebel Shams Resort A luxurious room awaits us with impossible views of the mountains . It gives us in the nose that today, most likely, we will have some very sweet dreams.
Wadi Ghul, the grand canyon of Oman