April | 2016 | Chaos roaming the world

Leaving our camping spot near the sand dunes in the morning

It was still hot in the morning, probably even 30°C. The ground did not cool down either and still felt warm to the touch. We got up as early as we could and went through our morning routine in a hurry. Back on the road it was just bearable. We really chose the last possible time to do Oman reasonably comfortable on a motorbike. Temperature-wise it would be perfect December to March, but at least so we dodge most of the other tourists.

We reached Nizwa by about 10 am. We could have had lunch then, but decided to do the tour of the old town first, this time.

Looking down into the inner yard

The local fort and castle were pretty impressive and very neatly restored and presented. We also had a stroll around the old town, with its mud-brick houses and gardens full of date palms and vegetables. The equally renovated souq had to wait a bit though, since by then our stomachs were loudly demanding attention.

With a full stomach and an equally saturated mind, we were ready to tackle the road up the Saiq plateau on Jebel Akhdar. The road is a famously tough drive and only permitted by 4WD. We wanted to camp up there and explore a bit more tomorrow. We should not get any further than the police check-point at the foot of the pass, though. Only 4WD … no motorcycle … why? Because these are the rules. Of course he believed our bike could do it … we did too, we have ridden in Timor-Leste and Sumatra. No, the rules. Could have gotten a special permit from the Ministry in Muscat, but did not know.

A couple of kilometers further in we had to turn around at the check point

From 3000 old stock this wadi has been upgraded to 10000 plants in total

Two days in Salalah were over. The only thing we hadn’t really seen are frankincense trees as the ones in the wadi yesterday seemed quite sad. However, a plantation of frankincense trees was marked for a location between Salalah and Thumrayt. Since it was on the way, we went to see it. Given it doesn’t look like much at all, the smell of the sap was incredibly incense-like right there.

From here, our gaze went northwards again, towards the mountains of Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams. The first city at the foot of the mountain ranges is Nizwa…about 900km from here. And the road leading there directly is straight through the desert, with the Empty Quarter (2000km of desert separating Oman and Saudi-Arabia) to the west.

First glimpse of what was to come …

Oh blissful sleep in a real bed. How we had missed you (and showers)! Not that we had any lack of sleep on the road. Going with the sun gives you plenty of that. But there is something to be said about having more than 50x180cm piece of inflated foam the thickness of my thumb for a resting place. Best of it all, we did not even have to pack anything until tomorrow!

Looking along the coast further west

Under such good starting conditions, it was not even too hard to get motivated to go on an excursion to explore west of Salalah. We thought of going about 75km towards the Yemeni border, where the mountains meet the sea once more. It was still relatively early but already sweltering hot. After some initial confusion that landed us near the harbour, we were on our way along the coastal plain baring west.

The first spot were some active blowholes at Mughsail, right where the first limestone cliffs meet the sea. In the end, the blowholes were nice but not overwhelming. What really got us squealing like school kids were the sea turtles feeding off the rocks right below one of the viewing platforms. The spectacular view westwards helped as well. Continue reading →

Perfect timing, just as we packed the last bits away

Our camping spot in the oasis remained lovely until we left. For once, we didn’t sweat packing the tent as the sun only peeked over the rocky outcrops when we were ready to leave. It was a hungry morning: We didn’t have enough water left last night to cook our pasta (I was against using the lake water) and we were also out of breakfast cereals. Thus, we really needed to get to Hasik which was about 40km away.

The road there was beautiful again so we just had to have a couple of photo stops. The cliffs continued to one side while the sea joined us on the other. All bathed in the early morning light.

Hasik was a bit of a divided town with a large block of newly built residences with wide streets but no shops and the old center of the village with tiny unpaved alleys but sporting coffee shops. Continue reading →

Night-time experiments but the moon was just so bright

A day of riding – a day on the road. Quite fitting for the day we surpass 30.000 km traveled on this trip. Yesterday ended up being one of the top three days in terms of distance covered, 520 km. Today, it was going to be one of the most impressive.

We got up with the first light, again, and methodically started packing the tent. Even though we’d spent some time last night to take another round of starlight pictures, we were packed and ready to go as early as ever.

At first, the ride continued the way it had ended yesterday. Almost perfectly straight on a vast gravel plain, few features as far as the eye can see. Something to mix it up were the two dry fords that had been completely washed over recently and had the road covered in sand. No fall to report, though. Continue reading →

When I went there to check a minute later, I could only catch two eye-stalks

Despite my unpleasant encounter with sand yesterday, our camp spot turned out to be beautiful at sunrise. I even had a little stroll to the beach where lots of crabs were running on the still wet sand. Luckily, the bike was already “safe” on gravel from our “adventure” so we packed up and left the camp spot of doom without further issues.

Driving in the early morning is amazing as it’s still cool and you get to enjoy riding the bike again. The landscape kept changing again and while I still get excited by the sight of wild camels, I don’t take a picture of all of them anymore. There are just too many. I still like how they are scattered throughout the landscape though. Continue reading →

Our first sunrise! Haven’t camped in a while…

Waking up with the first light of dawn can feel so natural. Especially when you went to bed at 8 pm the night before. 🙂 Although this was the first time in a long while, all our hard-earned camping reflexes were still working. I got our breakfast ready while Nina started packing inside the tent. It all worked out nicely to give us a lovely sunrise just as the kettle was boiled, so to speak. Our spot had been great, too. No disturbance or other nuisances to report.

By 8 am, we had covered the few short kilometres to Sur, ready to explore. If the Lonely Planet was anything to go by, forts would be the things to see. So we started with one right away. This one, Bilad Sur Castle, was a bit inland. It was built to protect the town from raids coming from the country’s interior. Nowadays, it has been completely absorbed by a suburb – which makes it look slightly out of place coming round a row of restaurants and shops. Continue reading →

This view greeted me from our kitchen window in the morning

The morning started out sunny, in more than one way. The sun was actually up and we finally got a chance to really sleep as long as we want. Breakfast was good as well (and also cheap, thanks to the kitchen in our studio). We even fully caught up on blogging, to the point that I am just writing this on the day, as it happened.

Finally got it. Been driving through it for about five times by now!

We booked two nights in Muscat, so this was our day to go back to town to explore and take heaps of photos. Pretty much only take photos, because today is Friday and most museums are closed on Fridays. So we saddled our bike in the usual town setup with empty panniers and a ready backpack and got going some time after 9 am. The plan was to roughly follow a walking tour suggested in the lonely planet.

Since we were not feeling like going to the fish market and had done the Souq last night, we did the first km along the promenade on the bike until we were below Mutrah fort. We parked our bike in the shadow of this impressive piece of Portuguese heritage and made on our way around it to maybe find a way up and inside. We failed, but judging by the works that were going on near the entrance, future travelers might have better luck than us.

Looking out to the harbour

By this point, more and more clouds had gathered overhead. Good in principle because they keep the midday sun at bay, this time the sky looked a bit more serious. Sheets of rain could be seen over the sea and hills to the north-west. We still decided to keep walking a little bit more along the corniche towards Old Muscat. All around, police and workmen were busy preparing for some sort of event along the road. We saw at one point that there would be a show-run of the Red Bull F1 team tonight. Nothing that sparked our interest, though …

There was a bit of back and forth about how far we would walk when I saw another option in the guidebook. Apparently, there was a hiking path from Al-Riyam park back to where we had parked Rocinante. Once back, we could get on the bike and ride the remaining 3 km to Old Muscat and explore further. The guide book recommended sturdy shoes, but how bad could it be in the middle of town?

I’m mostly for scale

As it turned out – the track was really all out hiking. The path was well marked, but went up over steep steps and along a ridge. The last kilometer was down a narrow wadi. It was spectacular! Beautiful views of both the city and the hills, serene peace in little valleys and almost total quiet in some places. Unfortunately, the weather was a bit fickle at this point, with bits of light rain now and again. What really got to Nina though was the building up in the sky a couple of kilometers further, with regular thunder and lightning going. Although we were in a wadi, there was still not much to worry about. We were really close to town (although out of sight) and even in case of flooding could have climbed our way out.

About two thirds in, we were overtaken by a jolly group of four early-twenties Omani guys. They were real charmers and helped to calm Nina down a lot. We even got some wild sorrel they had found to try. It was really good. At one point we spotted a snake – something I had been looking forward to since Australia. It was not too big and pretty shy, so there is no photo, but wohoo!
From the end of the track (ending at the wall of a protective dam) it were only a couple of meters to our bike. We came out of the track just in time for lunch, so we hopped on and made our way to Old Muscat to a recommended cheap restaurant. Along the way, we saw that the preparations along the corniche had progressed a lot. One direction was now completely fenced in and police was setting up checkpoints along the route.

Iconic Muscat photo with Rocinante

The sky got darker and darker during lunch. That led us to decide to modify the walking tour a bit more and do it on the bike instead. The Sultan’s Palace and two more forts framing the harbour were the highlights of this part. When the rain started for real, we were ready to call it a day and head back to the hotel. This time, the police was on the road and directed the traffic onto a back road. Seems the Red Bull party was about to start … shame about the weather.

Slightly soaked we arrived at the hotel. Even though it was only just 3 pm, we called it there. I only went out one more time to pick up fresh veg from the supermarket for a dinner of delicious sandwiches and fresh strawberries with yoghurt for dessert. Tomorrow will be an early start to make it to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque by 8 am.

Once again, the day was filled with unforgettable moments – amazing and terrifying alike. Although we have been doing this for 8 month now, we are still surprised by how these things work out. Most importantly, we are humbled by the unending friendliness and hospitality of the people we encounter along the way.

: Finally got it. Been driving through it for about five times by now!

: Our first stop this morning: The Portuguese fort

: Well, this explains the “no access” to the fort

: So we could only take pictures from below

: The fort in all its glory

: Looking out to the harbour

: Looking back towards the city

: Looking up in a bus shelter

: This is the start of the hiking track. It takes good spotting skills to find it

: The weather wasn’t too peachy though

: Looking back down from the first ascent

: One of the sights of Old Muscat

: Nice views opened up next to the track

: I’m mostly for scale

: Muscat is still there even if it doesn’t feel like it

: Now it’s a real hiking track at least

: Quite epic for a hike you started in the capital

: The sign that we are still on track – even when it leads us down a wadi

: The water was an added challenge with some slippery bits

: Can you spot the wild dongs? The went all Lion King on us …

: It tasted pretty good – like sour snacks.

: Almost at the end now

: More water down here

: This is the inside of the dam – it protects the houses on the other side from flash floods

: The way we came

: And just like that, we are back in town

: Iconic Muscat photo with Rocinante

: The palace seen from the harbour side

: A fort on this side …

: … and one on the other

: Tom von Gherken

Rise and shine. Time to get moving again.

Good thing we got up with Lina and Michael today as the early start gave us plenty of time to pack. After eight stationary days, almost everything was unpacked. We also wanted to be good house guests and clean up a little after ourselves. 😉 There were a lot of administrative things we weren’t up to date with and so on and so forth. Lina had said that she will have time off from teaching from 9.40 am onward for a bit so we could drop by at school to hand back the keys.

Arriving at about 10 am, we handed everything back, showed Lina and Jorge the fully loaded bike and said good-bye until we’re on our way back out of Oman. It is weird to leave again. We’re looking forward to exploring Oman immensely, but catching up with her and Michael and living in a real flat had been amazing. Now, we were heading to Muscat, about 250 km from Sohar, which is the capital of Oman.

Waving goodbye to our temporary home away from home

Being on the road was different from our last experiences in Southeast Asia. For one, traffic is moving really fast with a speed limit of 120 km/h. But most importantly, drivers reacted to us, something which hasn’t happened in Thailand at all. There would be a tentative honk from behind and then a car would pass us on the fast lane, giving us a thumbs up or a wave or a smile. That was actually quite lovely.

When we were just over the half-way mark, we had a coffee stop. Flo enjoyed the roadside coffee a lot – it seems to have been flavoured with spices. I, however, bought a thin, honeyed pancake as a snack and can only approve of that. 😉 English is spoken widely so we had no trouble ordering food and explaining our trip as the interest in the motorbike was incredible. At the gas station, staff studied our world map before we even finished re-fueling so that it took us a moment to get where the “2015…long trip” comment was coming from. 🙂

Over the first hill. Next up, Matrah and Old Muscat.

Moving, the temperature was fine, just standing in the grilling sun was getting to us again. I took a couple of pictures on the road but really, it was getting into the center of Muscat that was eye-opening. The city sprawls for quite a while before you actually see the sea on one side and the mountains on all three other sides.

We headed to the waterfront as this is the “budget” area. The hotel we had seen in the Lonely Planet was closed and under construction so we asked around in the hotels close by. They were all lovely but way more than we need. This fact was reflected in the price. 60 euro for one night? *cough* They all pretty much stuck to this price. There doesn’t seem to be much backpacker tourism going on which makes more affluent people the most likely candidate for the rooms available. We checked Agoda and one of the hotels further inland had a rate of 40 euro per night. When we arrived, we got a gigantic room including a tv, a kitchen and a bathroom with a bathing tub. All of this is very nice but pricey so we will (have to) camp as much as possible from now on.

With enough space for 20000, the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is a sight to behold.

People were incredibly nice to us though. They stopped on the street to have a chat when I was waiting for Flo next to the bike. Some recommended things, others were mostly interested in our travels. There’s a cruise ship in the harbour at the moment, so the German tourists also came by, had a chat and took a picture. I think the most adorable instance was an Omani asking to take a picture of us and then explaining that he is a motorcycle driving instructor.

By the time we’d checked in and unloaded our luggage, it was 3pm. Very hungry, we went out in search for food. Nothing around our hotel was open (siesta?) so we ended up back at the waterfront. Driving around Muscat revealed pretty views but my camera was packed away for most of it. You go along roads, a view opens up and suddenly there are jagged mountains, often even with a round tower or a fort on it. It makes the whole situation slightly unreal and simply looks like a fairy tale. In between the houses, mosques are dotted and you can see domes everywhere, even on the bus stop shelters.

A lot of necklaces

After “lunch”, it was 4.30pm. Instead of rushing to a museum which would close at 6pm, we went into the Mutrah Souq. I was instantly slightly overwhelmed by all the goods, the smells (mostly incense) and again, the attention we attracted in our motorcycle gear. The souq is a maze of alleyways, more or less covered, with stalls selling just about everything. We already found a sticker of the Oman flag to put on the motorbike plus, I bought all of the postcards I will write from Oman.

Pretty dead from a long day, we bought groceries on the way back to the hotel and crashed.