Category Archives: Oman

Day 255 – Turtle-y awesome

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 →

Day 254 – The edge of the world

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 →

Day 253 – 30.000 km of wow

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 →

Day 252 – Oman is our Australia

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 →

Day 251 – Sur la plage

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 →

Day 250 – It’s sinking in

This view greeted me from our kitchen window in the morning

Time to leave Muscat. Not without visiting the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque though. Since our visit to Muscat fell mostly on a Friday, we had no chance to see it so far. It opens at 8am on Saturday mornings so we planned to pack up and visit it before riding on.

Breakfast was had in our studio kitchen, which makes it so nice and cheap. Packing went okay but then we realized that the mosque is 20km in the wrong direction which dampened the mood a little. We had to see it anyway.

Once we were at the car park, I took out my headscarf to put it on. It is more difficult than it looks. Unsure if I had to cover all hair, I kept tugging on my hijab self-consciously. Which made the whole thing dissolve. *sigh* I can feel some youtube tutorials coming up in the future. Continue reading →

Day 249 – Thunder and lightning

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

Day 248 – Muscat, the fairy-tale city

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.

: Rise and shine. Time to get moving again.

: Waving goodbye to our temporary home away from home

: Very nice coffee

: The closer we come to Muscat, the fancier the roundabouts become

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

: Mountains indicate that we are getting closer to the old town

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

: every road is new. 40 years ago, the country had only 8 km of paved road

: Great parking right in front, Police approved!

: Some intersections in the Souq have richly decorated roofs

: A gold traders wares

: Not all alleys are covered

: If only we had money … and a house 😉

: A lot of necklaces

: Traditional Omani daggers, maybe antique

: Beautiful waterfront road in Matrah

: Old and new. The royal dhow and the modern Sultan Qaboos Port

: Evening light, mosques and the harbour. Muscat is pretty

: Matrah Souq entrance and mosque

: The back alleys are not easy to navigate

: The sky on our way back to the hotel

: Almost too pretty to tear our

Day 247 – Gate crashers

The chocolate sponge is done; the chocolate for the mousse layers is waiting…

I promise, we did not know about the birthday before we decided to stay another day. When we told Lina and Michael that we would stay one more day before heading for Muscat, they said that today was Eric’s birthday and we were already invited to come along if we were still around. We liked Eric, his wife Emily and the other teachers we have met so far, so we were cautiously looking forward to it.

Going to any kind of celebration of people we have just met is always a bit stressful for us. Nina decided to fight this by channeling her anxiety into baking. This time we were prepared, though, and the triple chocolate birthday and goodbye cake came out pretty good for a spontaneous bake.

Isn’t that amazing?

The rest of the day was filled by active relaxing – a lot of TV on my part and sleeping for Nina. We also tried to tidy up the house a little (our mess, of course) to make it nice for our hosts when they come off work. Around 6.30 pm, they came home and everyone was ready to leave for the party.

The birthday was really nice. Our friends’ friends are pretty much all lovely, but probably the real kicker for us was that we had 80% introverts. I feel, that is just the right mix for any social gathering. Lorie Ann especially turned out to be blessed with a delightful sense of humor. The real star was the food, though. Eric’s wife Emily has outdone herself in my opinion with 27(!) different dips to go with the fresh fruit, veg, crackers and bread. It was a feast!

Nina’s comment: So.much.food. There was so much to try that by the time you were through once, there was barely enough room in the belly left to double up on your favourites. And there were dessert dips as well, including salted caramel, a key lime pie dip (my favourite!) and a whisky dip that had it in it. Our chocolate cake and Todd and Megan’s ice cream went well with everything else on offer, especially combined with the cookie dough dip…

And this is just the table with savoury dips…I had no time to take one of the sweet version of it =P

Honorable mention needs to go out to their cat Solo. A rescued street urchin, he definitively provided ample entertainment for the night.

We also got to have a good chat with Jorge and his wife Abby. They aptly came to the gathering on Jorge’s KTM 950 Adventure (which he insists, he bought for his wife – to be pillion. His other bike is a single seat … 😉 ). He even was kind enough to bring and lend us one can of chain lube, which we forgot to buy in Dubai. Legend.

That was it then – our time in Sohar was almost up. Tomorrow, we will leave for Muscat.

: The chocolate sponge is done; the chocolate for the mousse layers is waiting…

: I present…both layers of sponge

: Into the fridge to cool the chocolate mousse layers and hope that they will become more solid

: The end product: Complete with chocolate ganache and icing sugar decoration…

: On our way to the party, the sky looked just so pretty

: Isn’t that amazing?

: And this is just the table with savoury dips…I had no time to take one of the sweet version of it =P

Day 246 – Baking fails and other delays

Our last day! Or so we thought. I, at least, started preparing pretty early on. Cleaned the kitchen box, sorted through our documents etc. Flo was way more relaxed. He voted to watch “Cowpocalyse” which we did as I needed to stop running around. While watching, the power suddenly went out. First, it was mostly annoying because the movie just went black. Then, we realized that Lina had started the breadmaker this morning which was now also off. What happens to the bread if the power just turns off?

If at first you don’t succeed, why not fail again?

An hour later, it came back on. The bread didn’t fare too well…Flo set it on bake but when the breadmaker beeped, it didn’t look finished at all. Since this bread was ruined, we put the breadmaker back on with a new round of ingredients. It refused to start, telling us that it was too hot. Finally, it started. The end product was not impressive at all. The bread didn’t rise nearly as much as it should have and the texture was very dense and doughy. The heat probably killed off the yeast before the bread making even started. What a fail. 🙁

To make up for it, I wanted to make very chocolate-y cookies. Weighing the flour, we then searched the house for baking powder and cocoa…both of which we just couldn’t find! Deflated, we succumbed to an afternoon on the couch, watching tv, waiting for our hosts.

The slowest pizza on earth …

Flo already toyed with the idea of staying another day as his arm was not as well as he would have liked it to be.

Lina and Michael arrived and showed the appropriate amount of piety for our baking failures. In comparison to their day, we have had a stroll in the park though. Soon, all four of us jumped into the car to have pizza. In your face, strange day!

The pizza place looked abandoned from outside but a member of staff opened the door and nodded so we went in. Lina’s and my vegetarian pizzas arrived soon after and we munched away. Flo and Michael had to wait for a curiously long time. In fact, a white car delivered plastic shopping bags to the pizza parlor before they got their pizzas so they must have run out of something.

It got later and later. By 6.45pm, the pizzas arrived. The guys asked for a take-away box as Michael just wanted to go home to relax. On the way back, we decided to actually stay a day longer. That was probably the best call to make as we then had a lovely, chatty evening watching comedy on the TV.

Try again tomorrow. 😉

Chaos roaming the world

random pieces of life of Nina and Florian