GENTLEGULFSTATEISRIPEFORADVENTURE
fearing any rebellious reprisals, the Sultan has banned all mention in local history books.
Open in 2004, a road now winds up to the plateaus and most of the crumbling 300-year-old shepherds’ villages have been abandoned.
Constructed using stone from the mountain, the design of the low-lying Alila hotel is based on one of these settlements, As Sarab.
Sensitive to the environment, the property is partly powered by solar energy, uses its own water source, has achieved zero waste to landfill, and buys produce from a collective of farmers based in the mountain.
Many crops are grown on ancient terraces in the nearby UNESCO listed Saiq Plateau, famously visited by Charles and Diana in 1986, when they flew in by helicopter for a picnic.
Vast areas of the country, such as the life-ravished Empty Quarter, are inhospitable, but other desert regions have been adapted to tourism.
Stretching 80km from the interior to the coast, Wahiba Sands takes just four hours to cross.
The following day we take a one-hour ferry ride to Masirah. It’s Oman’s largest island and a nesting ground for loggerhead turtles.
Although popular with local people, it’s still relatively undiscovered by tourists with only one major hotel, Masirah Island Resort, in the north.
Fringed by fine sand beaches backing onto a mountainous interior, Masirah is Oman in microcosm. Most visitors come in July and August when turtles are hatching, but out of season it’s oddly empty and we pass barely any vehicles on the main road, which only takes a couple of hours to drive.
Exciting times may be ahead for Oman, but selfishly, I hope those unpredictable deserts, treacherous mountains and wild seas will always be a little out of reach.