Pop on your helmet and pedal back in time as you hit the streets of Al Hamra. Nestled at the foothills of the Al Hajar Mountains in Oman’s west, the 400-year-old village is one of the oldest in the country and home to the carefully preserved mud-brick houses of a bygone era.
Enjoy a leisurely ride among the two, three and four-storey mudbrick houses – their frames made of palm trunks and ceilings of fronds slathered with mud and straw – before edging your way down the hillside to date palm and banana tree plantations. Once out of the town’s confines, the striking mountainscapes and vegetation offer a quiet serenity that will make you feel like you’ve found a corner of the world no one else knows.
If the silence gets too much, you’re just a stone’s throw from some of Oman’s most incredible sites, including Al Hoota Cave, one of the largest cave systems in the world; Misfat al Abryeen, a beautiful old village full of Omani history; and Jebel Shams, Oman’s highest mountain at 3009 metres. Once you’ve pumped yourself out, kick back and rest weary limbs on your hotel balcony, toasting an adventure well done with your fellow cyclists, and admiring the stunning landscape you’ve just traversed.
Laze on a roof terrace in the darkness of the desert and gaze at the Milky Way. A day’s walk from the village of Dana, or a 20-minute four-wheel-drive ride from the nearest road, Feynan eco-lodge blends modern comfort with planet-friendly practices, landing it a plum spot on National Geographic’s list of the globe’s top 25 eco-lodges. There’s wi-fi in the lobby, its solar-powered ensuites are serviced with natural spring water and flickering candles illuminate the lodge after sundown.
Spend your days exploring the region with local Bedouin guides who know the lay of the Dana Biosphere Reserve in which the lodge sits, visiting archaeological sites, including a copper mine dating back thousands of years. But there are plenty of other activities besides: take a cooking class, go mountain biking or simply lounge on one of the terraces with a good book and a spot of qahwa sadad, or cardamom-infused coffee. By nightfall devour a three-course vegetarian buffet dinner, brimming with local produce, before bedding down in your deliciously simple room.
Discovering Oman is home to more than 3000 kilometres of magical, unfettered coastline ripe for road tripping is pretty sweet. Finding out you can do it in your own 4WD with a rooftop tent? Priceless. Now pull out the map and make for the pristine shores of Khalouf Beach. The five-hour drive from Muscat puts this untouched stretch of sand out of reach for all bar the intrepid, but its backdrop of soaring ivory-white dunes and the inky blues of the Indian Ocean (plus the chance to plough through waves like you’re in a souped-up car commercial) are worth the slog.
Once you’ve found the perfect park, set up your tent and revel in your newfound paradise. Snorkel the crystal waters; watch flamingos stalking the shallows and eagles plucking dinner from the sea; or simply throw out the picnic blanket and plonk yourself down with a cold one. But the best part is yet to come. Once the sun has disappeared beneath the horizon strike up a crackling fire and admire the night sky glittering with stars. When drowsiness finally creeps into your veins, clamber into your rooftop tent and be lulled to sleep by the gentle sounds of the ocean lapping onto Khalouf’s deserted shores.
The Middle East is all about sand, right? Wrong. This often-overlooked part of the world is a secret winter wonderland for the more daring ski bunny. Iran has numerous ski resorts, most located in the Alborz Mountains near Tehran, where the season runs from late November through to late May – longer than in most European ski resorts.
Dizin, the country’s largest and most visited ski resort, is popular with both skiers and snowboarders and is the only one in Iran to be recognised by the International Ski Federation. Founded by a group of foreigners who were searching for mines in the mountains, a portable surface lift was first installed over the Dizin Pass in 1965, allowing the national ski team to practice.
Today there are more than 20 runs, plus three hotels and 19 chalets. And at only 72 kilometres north of Tehran it’s easy to make a cheeky day-trip to this sea of serrated white peaks.
While Arizona lays claim to some rather thrilling rock formations, the American state isn’t the only one. At Wadi Bani Awf, we can assure you this is thrill-seeking of a different kind. Welcome to one of Oman’s most memorable off-road drives. Pick out your 4WD and once you’ve packed your gear – think spare tyre, spanners, water, a hearty picnic and mini barbecue – buckle up and hold on tight as you begin the gravity-defying descent over the precipice and into Wadi Ban Awf. Tackle tough climbs and jagged descents as you power across the 25-kilometre off-road trail, zig-zagging along switchbacks and through majestic mountain passes.
Prepare to lose your breath again as you soak up the incredible limestone cliffs that soar into the sky on either side; feel your eyes pop at the sheer drop into the canyon beside the road, witness bursts of colour from lemon, mango and date plantations; and spot the occasional village ensconced among the shadows of the jebel (mountain). After gawping at the incredible landscape pull up on the side of the road (in a safe spot, of course) and cook up a feast while overlooking the rugged fissures and vast chasms on either side of you. Keen to experience this arid landscape but don’t think your driving chops are up to the task? Consider joining a tour so you can simply sit back and enjoy the scenery, drawing comfort in the knowledge that you can safely keep your eyes shut at the scary bits.
Travel through the rugged Hajar Mountains to the township of Nizwa, the ancient capital of Oman on a Gray Line tour. Here you’ll have the chance to visit the Nizwa Fort, an incredible example of Oman’s ancient architecture, and the Traditional Souq where you can sample dates, halwa (a gelatinous dessert) and buy spices, jewellery and pottery.
From there you will travel through the deep Wadi Ghul, a vast cleft in the mountains, and arrive at Jebel Shams, “mountain of the sun,” the undisputed lord of the mountains. This is the highest peak of the Jebel Al Akhdar mountain range, and it soars 3000 metres above sea level and looks out over the Grand Canyon of Oman. Take in the spectacular scenery, ancient rock carvings and remote villages before continuing to the beautiful old village of Misfah, which is perched on the side of a mountain where narrow ancient stone pathways lead you into the valley below.
After enjoying lunch in a local restaurant at the top of the mountain, you will explore this ancient labyrinth in the Al Hamra region before your return trip to Muscat, the capital. To experience the Grand Canyon is to experience the very best of Oman.
Stalls of rich, earthy spices; an entire hall dedicated to mounds of sweet, sticky dates; and tiny shops laden with silver jewellery – Nizwa Souk is far from your average market. Situated by a famous seventeenth-century fort and the ancient walls of Nizwa, a city 140-kilometres from Muscat and country’s former capital, the souk is living history and should be considered must-do during any trip to Oman.
Most sellers proffer wares daily, but the best time to go is between 7am and 9am on Friday mornings, when the livestock portion comes to life and bleating goats, flocks of sheep and cattle are sold, occasionally alongside a haughty camel. Watch as sellers parade animals past prospective buyers and then put them up for auction, just as it’s been done in these parts for centuries.
Next, peruse tailors’ shops, eyeing the fabrics laid out in a technicolour palette. Wander through the square of pottery, where curvy terracotta pots and ceramic vases huddle on the street and dangle from doorways. Run your fingers over the delicate patterns on khanjars (traditional daggers) and choose an ornate coffee pot to take back home.
After snacking through the produce stalls, finish your visit to Nizwa Souk at Al Saifi. Here you’ll choose between metal pots of halwa, a local dessert made with ghee, rosewater, sugar, saffron and slivered almonds. This sweet, gelatinous treat is served all around the country to accompany ever-flowing pots of cardamom-infused kahwa (coffee), and Al Saifi is known far and wide as a producer of some of the country’s finest.
In many minds Oman is synonymous with endless, arid landscapes and fluted, rose gold sand dunes. But this Arabian nation, which is four times bigger than neighbour UAE, not only features more than 2000 kilometres of coastline, but also a bounty of hidden waterholes to boot.
Wadi Shab is one such dreamlike spot. Bathe in Tiffany-blue waters in the upper reaches of this “gorge between cliffs”, as the name translates. Trek in dry heat to waterfalls rushing in secret caverns. And wander rugged, rocky paths in search of kingfishers perched on palm fronds and pops of pink from oleanders in bloom.
The coast road that leads to Wadi Shab is speckled with fishing villages built upon crescents of sand, and numerous other wadis nestled into the hinterland. Wadi Bani Khalid is arguably Oman’s most celebrated natural pool. After ascending through the Eastern Hajar Mountains, Wadi Bani Khalid spills out in front of the eye like a Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas-induced mirage. If the shamrock-green water doesn’t beckon (though it most likely will) then there’s plenty of waterside space to idle away the afternoon with a picnic.
Lesser-known cousin Wadi Tiwi is just as much of a scene-stealer, and not only for its crystalline swimming holes: Tiwi is also known as the Wadi of Nine Villages, which offer an abundance of great village-to-village walking trails. The area also boasts aflaj – ancient irrigation channels dating as far back as 500 AD, some of which are even UNESCO-listed World Heritage Sites.
Walk through clouds of frankincense, pass by clutches of locals bargaining as if their life depended on it and eye alcoves gleaming with precious metals. Said to be one of the oldest markets on the Arabian peninsula, Mutrah Souk is arguably the biggest draw for those visiting capital Muscat, if not the entire country. Its tangle of narrow alleys is filled with colourful, matchbox-sized shops selling anything from kumas (traditional hats) to hand-painted incense burners.
Shops are grouped according to their wares, and one cluster of passageways and stalls is so tightly jammed together that sunlight can’t seep through, inspiring the souq’s local nickname Al Dhalam, meaning “darkness” in Arabic. To say that Mutrah’s heaving arteries are confusing to navigate would be an understatement: a local tour guide can help make sure you don’t get too lost and point you in the right direction of your own personal Aladdin’s Cave.
Deep in the vast Sharqiya Sands, in Oman’s north-eastern corner, lies a community that has lived in much the same way for centuries. The Bedouins of this remote desert region herd, farm and fish their way to survival, bedding down in makeshift tents woven from goat’s hair that rustle in the desert breeze. Most locals reside near Al Huyawah, a natural oasis near the border of the desert, where tribesmen gather during late summer to pluck ripe yellow dates from palms.
Experiencing the famed local hospitality first-hand can be hard without an invite, but on some tours – such as Swagman’s Deluxe Oman – it’s part of the deal. You’ll break unleavened Omani bread with a nomadic family, enjoying a lunch cooked over licking flames that’s as delicious as it is simple. Often nothing more than coarse sea salt coats whole fish or plump chickens, though some dishes can be more intricate: saloonat, for example, is a stew of fragrant spices, lime, chicken and vegetables. Drink bitter coffee from small cups and scoop up hunks of fish and pilaf with your fingers, while admiring the golden emptiness beyond the tent’s tarp.
(
