My Travel to Oman

Located at the southeastern tip of the Arabian peninsula, Oman is blessed with both a beautiful desert landscape (in the central region), and majestic mountains in the north and south regions. The chance to experience the mountain landscape of Arabia is the reason that brought me to Oman.

Day 1: November 1, 2013
I have to skip Gary V's free concert in the Abu Dhabi corniche the night before so that I can wake up early today for my flight to Muscat. Taking a taxi to the airport, I was able to board my Oman Air flight with ease and arrive at Muscat just about 8AM. The line to pay for the visa was empty so I was able to go through the entire visa-on-arrival procedure in less than 10 minutes.

After getting my visa, its now time to rent a car. Being a client of Budget Car Rental in Abu Dhabi, the choice was really simple. Budget Car Rental Oman offered a Nissan Altima with full insurance for a daily rate of 26 Omani rials. I was so excited to get out of the Muscat airport but before I can even reach the city center, the car started showing signs of trouble so I have to go back to the airport for a replacement. All in all, I lost about 2 hours due to this fiasco. By 10 AM, I am on the road to the city of Sur, just before the Wahabi desert region. The drive is never boring as I get to see some of the peaks along the Hajjar mountain range which forms a natural boundary between Oman and the UAE.

 My destination at this time is the Wadi Shab. A wadi is an Arabic term for a valley and Wadi Shab is one of Oman's famous wadis as seen from this snapshot that I took upon reaching the wadi.

Here is where the difficult part lies ahead...a 5 kilometer hike from this point to the narrowest point of the valley where there is supposed to be a cave with a waterfall inside. I need to first take a boat ride from the parking lot to the other side of the valley since this is the portion of the river that is deep. The boat ride cost only 200 baisa (or 1/5th of a rial). After that I have to start navigating the widest portion of the valley.

After this point, the valley becomes narrow that hiking starts becoming difficult. I passed through the area where the Red Bull Cliff Diving Challenge 2012 was held. I can still see the posts supporting the planks used for the diving event.

This is one of the area where the valley is at its narrowest. Walking through the cliffs at the side of the valley makes this portion one of the best.

Sometimes I am tempted to just jump into the blue waters of the wadi but I keep telling myself not yet for the best is yet to come.

After this point, the valley starts to widen again but at the same time huge boulders and rocks are along the way, making the hike really difficult.

After an hour of hiking, I am almost at the end of my exploration of the wadi. This is the point where the valley can only be navigated by swimming through this side of the river...hiking through the sides of the valley is not anymore an option. I have to leave my camera with some tourists who decided not to proceed while i swim through this portion of the river.

After a short swim, you get to see the cave and as expected, a waterfall is inside the cave. It is almost like the same cave that we used to visit in Dalipuga, Iligan City wherein a waterfall is inside the cave itself. Unfortunately, there is no way to capture this on photo. I need to purchase a waterproof camera bag next time.

The walk back was uneventful (as the usual case for any return trip) but I was able to get a glimpse of the Tiwi watchtower on the side of the valley.

Before going back to Muscat, I decided to do a short stopover at the Bimmah Sinkhole. It was a nice drive since I get to see the wonderful coastline facing the Gulf of Oman.

The park itself is in a remote area, cordoned by a steel fence to keep away the wild goats like the one below that seem to be everywhere in this part of Oman.

Inside the park are just some small trees and some tables for public use, nothing spectacular until you notice an area in the middle of the park surrounded by a short wall. In this enclosure is the Bimmah sinkhole, a 40 meter wide, 20 meter deep sinkhole with a vibrant turquoise-colored pool. Took a quick photo of the place then took a quick swim in the cool waters of the sinkhole.

After a refreshing dip in this sinkhole, I am off to Muscat. As soon as I reached Muscat, I checked in to the hotel then I am off to the corniche area to enjoy the serenity that the sea provides. The corniche area is not in Muscat but in the port area of Muttrah. I got to see something familiar also.. Riyam Park, which was featured in the Amazing Race.

By nightfall, it was time for me to drop by the Muttrah Souq to see if I can find some restaurants that serves traditional Omani dishes and to buy some souvenirs for my trip (frankincense, myrhh and a small incense burner).

Its really starting to become a little late so I am off to the City Plaza Mall for a movie.

Day 2: November 2, 2013

I woke up a little bit late this morning but like my previous travel, I need to visit a Catholic church as a promise to do a pilgrimage to all Catholic churches in Arabia. My destination is then the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Ruwi, a suburb of Muscat.

There was no scheduled mass that morning so I went inside the church for a silent prayer then I am off to Muscat. The old city of Muscat is a walled city hence to get into the city, one has to pass through Muscat Gate.

Inside the walls of Muscat, the streets are narrow but following the road that leads to the coast takes you to the seat of government of Oman. At the very heart of Muscat is the grand palace of Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman. In between the sultan's palace are two forts (Al Jalili and Al Mirani) that protects the palace from any threat coming from the gulf.

Its now time for me to go back to the hotel, check out and then drive to the airport. But along the way, I got the chance to take some more pictures along the Muttrah corniche, including this one with the Muttrah Fort and the city of Muttrah itself.

All of these were done within two hours and its almost 9 AM, need to be in the airport. But along the way, I caught a glimpse of Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Oman's largest mosque so I decided to do a quick stop.

Upon arriving at the airport, its time to say goodbye to that reliable Nissan Altima as I returned it to the car rental company with some minutes to spare. So I decided to see if I can find some nice Omani dishes for brunch. Unfortunately I can't find one so I have to settle for some hot Samosas, an Indian treat that I learned to love back during my trip to India last month. After consuming my samosas, it was time for me to get to my plane and go back to sunny Abu Dhabi.