Oman: Stunning Sunsets, Sunny Sandboarding & Smiling People
Surfing down sand dunes in the endless Wahiba Sand desert, hiking the narrow trails through the green mountains of Jebel Akhdar and taking in the atmosphere in Niswa, an old town where Omanis welcome you in traditional clothes and you feel transported back to a different century. Our continued tour through Oman was a journey through a country of stunning landscapes, a captivating culture and unbelievably friendly people.
Muscat: Opera, Mosque & Souq
Our first stop in Oman after the Musandam peninsula was Muscat, the country’s capital. Located directly at the coast and with mountains in the background, Muscat has a beautiful setting and boasts several impressive monuments built over the last centuries; The Sultan Quaboos Grand Mosque, the Royal Opera House and the Al Adam Palace, the representative Sultan palace. And, of course, a Souq where you can buy everything from spices to gold to clothes and cutlery.
Muscat was interesting to experience as a city which is expanding quickly, mixing new and old and showcasing buildings ranging from extreme luxury to functional and close-built high towers – yet the highlights of our Oman trip were found outside of the capital where we got closer to the nature and people.
Jebel Akhdar: The Calm of the Green Mountains
Our next stop in Oman was Jebel Akhdar, one of the highest mountains in Oman and known as the green mountain due to its many wadis (canyons with water pools, trees and vegetation) and terraced orchards, cultivated by the local population.
We stayed at a hotel in 2,000 meters height and the only way to get there was with a 4 wheel drive. Having never driven a 4 wheel drive before, we were a bit nervous as we crossed the checkpoint at the bottom of the mountain, beyond which only approved cars can drive. Luckily, the road turned out to be easy and if allowed it could have been driven also in a normal car.
The views from the top of the mountain were spectacular with canyons, green terraces and small villages visible everywhere we looked and offering a unique quietness and calm. Naturally, we went on a hike to get a good feel for the mountain and explore the terrain and it was a fascinating trip through narrow gravel trails with many turns and steep climbs and descents. We passed small settlements of very basic houses, where locals were dressed in the typical Omani long-dresses and the men wore a kumma, the traditional headpiece for men in Oman. Everywhere we came by, we were greeted with big smiles and waves and we felt as if it was as big an attraction for them to see us in their local setting as it was for us to explore it.
Niswa: Travel back in Time
Just an hour away from Jebel Akhbar, beautifully nested in front of the mountain range lies Niswa, one of the oldest towns in Oman and formerly a center of trade, religion, art and education. Today, the town has a beautiful old town and remains famous for its livestock market, which takes place every Friday morning and attracts farmers and traders from across Oman.
Niswa made quite an impression on us with its narrow, winding streets full of cars, scooters, bikes, pedestrian, goats, dogs and cats. Impressively, in Oman life seems to be taken with an incredible ease and patience and the traffic through the crowded streets flows at a leisurely pace without honking horns or yelling. Instead, people are good humored and helpful – if one person can’t navigate his or her car while passing another car in the narrow streets, another driver will jump out of their car to help drive.
We were almost the only westerners in Niswa during our stay. Everyone else were locals or tourists from the region and all were wearing traditional clothes. With the setting of the old buildings and traditional clothes, we felt transported back to a different time. Again we were stunned by the friendliness of everyone – many people stopped to talk to us, help us and we were met with smiles and interest everywhere.
Wahiba Sand: An Endless Desert
Our last stop in Oman was a trip to Wahiba Sand, one part of the endless desert in Oman. The kids had been looking especially forward to this part of our journey as we were going to stay in a desert camp in the middle of nowhere, where we could climb the sand dunes and have fun in the sand.
The desert turned out to be quite a highlight. We watched beautiful sunsets with endless horizons and climbed to the top of a sand dune before sunset while the sand was still freezing cold to watch the sun rise majestically over the desert. Frederik and I went sandboarding and Frederik turned out to be braver than me – I opted for sitting on the snowboard while skating down the sand dune, whereas Frederik tried to stand and took every fall with grace and good humor. Niklas and Michael went dune driving on a motor quad – the first time ever for Niklas to drive a quad on his own and he loved every minute of it and quickly learned to steer the wheel and hit the gas to navigate fast over the many bumps and sandy hills.
Finally, at night when everything came to a rest, beautiful star heavens emerged and we spent a lot of time identifying star signs via an app we had downloaded.
Oman: A Country Always Worth Visiting
Many friends had been telling us about how wonderful Oman is before we went on our trip – and we can only join the chorus of admirers. We had an amazing time travelling through this country which is still somewhat untouched by tourism yet accessible enough to travel safely and without any difficulties. Moreover, the friendliness of the people was just amazing.
Lastly, one of our highlights of the journey in Oman was also to be exploring together with friends who have children in the same age as Niklas and Frederik – the children enjoyed having friends to play with and we enjoyed interacting with other adults than just ourselves for a few days😊
