Wanderlust Travel Magazine (UK)
An Oman escape and gear bundle worth £5,500,
With magnificent mountains, charming cities and watery wonders, Oman is a portrait of authentic Arabia. Experience it all with the Ministry of Tourism, Oman...
Craggy stretches of mountains gouged by rocky canyons. Crystalline waters rippled by the paddling limbs of turtles. City markets echoing with morning chaos. Oman is the Arabia your mind pictures. Now, the Ministry of Tourism, Oman and tour operator Wild Frontiers are offering you the chance to experience the country on the eight-day Forts & Deserts of Oman tour. It’s time to see the real Arabia...
TAKE TO THE SANDS
In a region where oil-fuelled excess rules, Oman is refreshingly steadfast, seemingly paused in time. It is a country proud of its heritage, and nowhere represents the Arabia of old better than the Sharqiyah Sands, a golden expanse where dunes top 100m and snake over 170km. The sense of solitude is almost humbling as the horizon unfolds before you.
A ride on a 4WD is a thrilling way to soak up the dunes, but the Al Sharqiyah region’s also a portal into a way of life honed across centuries. Some 3,000 bedouin call this wilderness home, and camps pitched here offer you the chance to experience their traditions, go camel trekking and sleep under the stars, waking to the soft light of dawn.
COASTAL WONDERS
Many don’t realise that Oman has 3,165km of coastline, teeming with wildlife and wonders. The Musandam Peninsula is Oman’s watery A-lister. Cut off from the rest of the country by the UAE, it’s a land where peaks meet the sea. Here, the spiky tail of the Hajar Mountains slinks into the Strait of Hormuz, creating a maze of rocky fjords (or khors), earning its nickname as the ‘Norway of Arabia’.
A trip in a traditional dhow means you can bob along this network of waterways like a local, craning your neck at the chains of sawtooth peaks, while below lies another world. Snorkel alongside turtles and playful pods of bottlenose dolphins, while 900 species of fish, whale sharks, moray eels and rays playfully skirt the reefs and underwater caves.
Sleepy fishing villages pock Oman’s eastern coastline as you move south, and the beaches of Ras al Jinz are an important nesting site for the endangered green turtle. Small tours allow a rare glimpse of this creature at a protected reserve, and in a way that doesn’t disturb its wellbeing.
MAJESTIC MOUNTAINS
Blaze a trail inland and you’ll enter Oman’s rocky heart. The Hajar Mountains forge across the north of the country, and Jebel Shams (3,028m), its tallest peak, shows off the range at its eye-popping best.
A 4WD trip makes summiting easy, and the view from the top affords glimpses of lush pools of oases and ancient villages pocking the valley. Below, Wadi Ghul scars the rocky landscape, really earning its ‘Grand Canyon’ nickname.
However, not all of Oman’s mountains are as parched as its deserts. Thanks to its Mediterranean climate, Jebel Akhdar (or The Green Mountain) is lush with apricot, plum and fig trees, which thrive in its temperate climate. In winter, snow can
sprinkle the summit, but more often than not it’s carpeted in green, thanks to the orchards that streak its slopes. Maintained by the villagers who live at its base, be sure to stroll their markets, too, which offer a chance to enjoy the fruits of their labour – it’s said the pomegranate is utterly unbeatable.
Oman has thankfully recognised its low-rise hubs are an asset in themselves, and they want to keep them that way. Capital Muscat is a case in point. Its marbled mosques and tiled domes are glorious to see. And where modernity has seeped in, the city has kept it modest, while its crumbling forts remind visitors of the country’s colonial Portuguese past.
The historic town of Nizwa is a 90-minute drive from the capital, not far from the foot of the Green Mountain. Threaded with palms and calm rivers, it was once the country’s prime trade hub and former capital; the well-preserved walls and turrets of its ancient sandstone fort are worth seeing, as is its large souk. Then venture south and your nostrils will seek out another green oasis: Salalah – the scent of its frankincense has been famous since antiquity .
Oman is a land of varied landscapes, cities and traditions, all of which are gloriously showcased in Wild Frontiers’ Forts & Deserts trip. It’s also a place where you need the right gear, and Salomon’s range (which can be picked up at any Snow + Rock store) has the answer for whatever terrain you find yourself in, whether it’s the lush slopes of the Green Mountain or the vast dunes of the Sharqiyah Sands.
Oman’s beautiful vistas have enticed travellers for centuries. And thanks to Tourism Oman , once you too have experienced its authentic Arabian charms, you won’t be in the least surprised.