Mountains & Deserts of Oman

Day 1 - Depart London.

Depart London for the flight to Muscat, capital of Oman.

Overnight: In flight

Day 2 - Arrive Muscat. Group transfer to hotel. Morning at leisure. Afternoon walk from Riyam to Muttrah - 2 hours.

Arrive early morning in Muscat and after getting your visa and passing through immigration, transfer to your hotel. Check into your room and rest for a few hours to recover from the flight. Your hotel has a swimming pool and terrace where you may relax.

Muscat is a clean, well maintained and prosperous city. Its modern white buildings are attractive and relatively low rise in contrast to those in many cities of the Gulf region and the city is green and flowery - date palms, grass lawns and bougainvillea line the main roads providing a welcome contrast to the dun coloured, rocky crags that reach right down into the centre of the town. The city itself stretches in a long ribbon along the mainly north facing coast and orientation can be confusing. The International Airport lies to the west and the old city and port and the commercial centre of Ruwi are east of the airport. Newer suburbs lie further east, so distances between various parts of the city can be quite long, but roads are good and travel is quick and easy.

Today, you will probably be tired after your flight, so rather than rush you out to do sightseeing on your first morning (the Grand Mosque is only open till 11am) we have saved your main sightseeing until you return to Muscat. Instead, after lunch you will drive down to the area known as Riyam to do a very pretty walk from there, following an old trail over the hill to Muttrah. You climb 150 metres on steps to a fantastic viewpoint over the coast and sea. As you climb, you will see behind you, a white monument on the hill depicting an incense burner, reflecting the importance of frankincense in Oman's history. Reaching the top and admiring the views, you then descend into a wadi to an abandoned settlement where you can see the remains of houses and fields and falaj - the old irrigation system. The villagers planted trees, some of which still remain, to attract honey bees. You then descend an ill defined path down a very pretty wadi, following beside the waters of a small stream - watch your feet here as the rocks can get slippery. It seems so isolated and quiet that you can hardly believe that you are in the middle of a large city! Finally, you make a short climb out of the wadi before descending past a cemetery to walk the short distance into Muttrah. Turn left and you arrive at the harbour with its bobbing dhows and then come to famous Muttrah Souk. Before exploring the souk you might like to stop at one of the small cafes in front of the souk for a delicious fruit juice cocktail.

By the time you arrive Muttrah Souk, the oldest in Oman, will be coming alive for the evening. The souk is a labyrinth of stalls and shops selling everything from brass lions, ceramics, ready made clothes and silk to dried fruit and nuts. The aroma of spices and incense fills the air. You can even find frankincense for sale - this has long been one of Oman's most famous exports. The souk is a very lively and busy place and a little gentle haggling is expected, although in any case goods here are not expensive.

You will then meet your transport to return to your hotel. You may choose to either eat at the hotel, or take a taxi to one of Muscat's many excellent restaurants.

Overnight: Hotel Al Falaj or Similar, Muscat

Day 3 - Drive to Wadi Ash Shab. Drive to Wadi Bani Khalid, 2,000m/6,562ft.

Leaving Muscat, you drive south to Wadi ab Shab. Before Cyclone Gonu hit in 2007, this was one of the jewels of Oman, but many of its former plantations and irrigated terraces were damaged by the flood waters that surged down from the mountains above. Even so, it is still a place of great peace and natural beauty and the authorities have worked to restore it to its former glory. Trying to ignore the flyover for the coastal road at the mouth of the wadi, it is a beautiful walk up through the irrigated fields still remaining and beside various beautiful blue pools, to the head of the gorge. Here, a feature of this day's activities is to swim through several pools and then through the blue waters of an extremely narrow gorge (hardly shoulder width) to duck into a peaceful cavern fed by two waterfalls. With its bright blue waters dramatically lit from above this is a very special and peaceful place. Returning on foot to the road you then drive up nearby Wadi Tiwi, another green and beautiful wadi where waters flow throughout the year and where mangos, bananas and figs as well as the ubiquitous date palms are grown. If you feel like a leg stretch you can walk back down Wadi Tiwi past the various mosques and houses of the villages in the wadi.

Once back at the vehicles you will continue along the coastal road, keeping your eyes peeled for gazelle that hide under the acacia bushes on the coastal plain. You will spend some time in Sur, a traditional fishing town and historical port. It is also home to the last surviving dhow factory that now mostly builds boats commissioned by other Gulf State sheikhs. You will then head inland, skirting the base of the mountains to reach one of the entrances to Wadi bani Khalid.

Overnight: Oriental Nights Rest House, Al Wasil

Day 4 - Walk in Wadi Bani Khalid - 2-3 hours. Drive to Bedouin encampment.

Today you will have an interesting walk in Wadi Bani Khalid, deep in the Oman mountains and one of the largest and most picturesque wadis in Oman. It has a large enough rain drainage basin that there is water in parts of the wadi all year round. Each year the rocks and boulders are moved by the force of the water after a storm and so each trek in the wadi is slightly different. You begin by walking into the wadi, partly over the Falaj, a traditional Omani irrigation system. Having started early from near the entrance, you will hopefully have beaten the crowds coming from Muscat and surrounding areas. Leaving the more touristic part of the wadi behind, you walk further inside and those interested can have a look at the small and rather dark Muqal cave. As is usual in these kind of wadis the path is likely to be uneven and the going is stone underfoot. There may be some bouldering as well as sections where you will have to pass over (or through) sections of low water, so we would suggest to bring shoes that are comfortable to walk in but that can also get wet. After your walk there is a chance to cool off in one of the water pools before having lunch at a local restaurant.

You then drive to the nearby Thamer desert, where you visit a local camel farmer to understand more about these majestic beasts and how they still play an important role in the lives of the Bedouin people. You then drive northwest along the edge of the desert to the small town of Al Wasil. From here you will turn off into the desert to reach an encampment among the dunes. Accommodation at the Desert Camp will be in simple Bedouin huts with shared showers and toilets. Meals will be taken Bedouin style, sitting on cushions and you will be able to relax in the shady sitting area, or in the evening around a campfire under the stars. This is a very friendly place, full of Bedouin character. In the spirit of Arab hospitality you will be offered local dates and kahwa - Omani black coffee, flavoured with cardamom and served in tiny cups. Such hospitality is very much a feature of a visit to Oman. Normally any visit starts with coffee and dates being offered and it is considered bad manners to refuse - even a souvenir seller may well offer you such hospitality before getting down to the business of selling you something.

The Wahiba Sands The Wahiba Sands have been described as a 'perfect specimen of a sand sea'. Although fairly small in size, stretching just 180km from north to south and 80km from east to west, this is a true dramatic rolling-sand desert with dunes reaching 150m high. The dunes vary in colour from deep red to a rich honey colour and stretch as far as the eye can see, flowing in corridors from north to south. The Wahiba Sands are considered important because they contain such varied terrain within a small area and in 1986 the Royal Geographical Society made an expedition to the Sands discovering a surprising number of plants, mammals, birds and other wildlife there. They are also the traditional home of the nomadic Bedouin and their animals.

Overnight: Bedouin encampment

Day 5 - Morning walk through dunes. Drive to Nizwa.

You will have probably awakened to find that the dunes are swathed in dense mist. The rich variety of life in the Wahiba Sands is sustained by these heavy overnight mists. The mist will soon burn off though once the sun rises. In the morning it is fascinating to see evidence of a wide variety of life which exists here. You will see myriad tracks of camels, small mice, dung beetles, snakes and birds criss-crossing what you might at first sight have taken to be a sterile landscape.

As you walk through the dunes, your Bedouin guide will be able to identify all these tracks for you even down to those made by a scorpion. You will see various Bedouin camps along the way and may have the opportunity to visit one - these Bedouin camps are temporary encampments with shelters for camels and other livestock such as cows, goats, chickens and sheep set round about a central living area. The camps although simple are surprisingly comfortable and might have such 'mod cons' as a generator to power electric light and television and also, as in so much of Oman, the ubiquitous satellite dish. There may also be a 4WD parked beside the camp. Bedouin children will probably try to sell you handmade woven items such as bracelets and key-ring tassels made from sheep or goats' wool. These are a way for Bedouin families to make a little additional income and are not expensive and make nice souvenirs. You will walk back to 'the desert camp' by a different route through the dunes in time for a late lunch. It may be possible to rent a camel at the camp to ride into the dunes instead of walking - this will be payable locally.

After lunch you will leave the desert and head north-west to the town of Ibra (famous for its women's only market on a Wednesday) and continue to Nizwa. This is a verdant oasis city surrounded by date plantations, with over 40 varieties of date said to be grown in the area. The Falaj Daris bringing water to the city and sustaining its fertility is the largest falaj in the country. The city sits at the foot of the Hajar mountains at an important crossroads leading north to Muscat and south to Dhofar and is considered the cultural capital of Oman.

Overnight: Hotel Falaj Daris Or Similar, Nizwa

Day 6 - Morning visit to the Fort and Souq at Nizwa. Drive to Jabal Shams, 1,950m/6,397ft. View Oman's Grand Canyon.

This morning you will visit Nizwa fort and the souk. Nizwa was the capital of Oman for many centuries and today the city is still dominated by its sand coloured fort and souk. The fort, completed in 1688, has rounded, robust walls designed to withstand mortar fire and its most striking feature is the massive central tower, a colossal round tower soaring 35m above the rest of the fortification and all but impregnable. The fort is a veritable maze of rooms, high-ceilinged halls, doorways, terraces, narrow staircases and corridors, with battlements, turrets, secret shafts, false doors and wells. The nearby Nizwa Souk is an important commercial market with lots of noise and haggling. It is separated into different sectors selling foodstuffs, animals, fruit and vegetables, meat and fish. The souk was renovated in the 1990s and although the areas selling handicrafts may seem rather sanitised, the airy fruit and vegetable market is impressive and the whole area has many fascinating hidden corners.

You then drive to the Jabal Shams Mountains visiting the ancient abandoned village of Ghul on the way. From Ghul you continue upwards, eventually arriving at a plateau on the western edge of the Wadi An Nakhar; Oman's 'Grand Canyon'. The panoramic views over the gorge from this edge are tremendously impressive with the floor of the gorge visible some 1,500m/4,922ft below you and the pollution free night sky offers fantastic star gazing.

Overnight: Jebel Shams Resort

Day 7 - Return walk from Khitaym to the abandoned village of As Sab - 4 hours. Drive to Misfah.

After breakfast, you will make the short drive to the small settlement of al Khitaym, 1,900m/6,233ft, to make the walk to As Sab. Known as the Balcony Path this is probably the most famous hike in the country, winding around the cliffs halfway up the rim of Wadi Nakhr to the abandoned village of As Sab. The scenery here is some of the most dramatic anywhere in Oman, the canyon forming a kind of huge natural amphitheatre, with kilometre-high cliffs and far below you the village of Nakhr can be seen in the depths of the canyon.

The walk to the houses of the abandoned village of As Sab takes around an hour and a half. Formerly called Sab Ban Khamis it was home to 15 families who lived a self-sufficient and relatively prosperous life here. The houses are sturdily built of stone and you will even find an old flour grinder between two of the houses. There is an old watch tower at the edge of the village. The village was finally abandoned when the villagers moved out of the gorge to an easier life in villages with access to roads and electricity. Formerly, the village was irrigated by a falaj whose waters originated in a cave in the cliffs high above and led down to a pool and were then diverted to fertile terraces where a wide variety of crops such as watermelons, pomegranates, tomatoes, chillies and wheat were cultivated. These terraces now sadly lie dry and abandoned and no goats or sheep graze round the village.

This walk requires a reasonable head for heights, although the path is around a metre wide and is not on the edge of the precipice. It is rocky in places but not technical. If you find it too hard there are shaded benches along the path where you could wait for the rest of the group to return if need be.

After a picnic lunch, you will return along the balcony path to your vehicles and drive to the enchanting village of Misfah. Misfah al Abriyyin is the ultimate 'medieval' village, well-watered by its own falaj system and surrounded by fertile, irrigated gardens of corn, dates, oranges and lemons. Its narrow streets and attractive old traditional houses cling to the crag and it is overlooked by its own stone watchtower. Many of the inhabitants of the old village have nowadays decamped across the valley to the new village built in a rather more convenient situation where there is space to build more modern houses large enough to house entire extended families. However the old village has been saved from the decline which has struck so many similar places by the fact that it has been adopted for preservation by the Oman Ministry of Tourism, which has already bought and renovated several houses. Happily it seems that this beautiful village will be preserved for future generations.

Your accommodation tonight is in a converted traditional house.

Overnight: Misfah Guesthouse

Day 8 - Mountain trek from Sharaf al Alamayn, 2,050m/6,726ft, to Misfah - 7 hours. Drive to Muscat.

From Misfah you will drive through the town of al Hamra with its many fine old houses and take a dirt road 25km up into the mountains. After a drive of about 30 minutes you arrive at the ridge top at Sharaf al Alamayn where you will start your walk. The views from here over the Western Hajar Mountains are just stupendous. Looking down you can see several villages far below you, including the picturesque village of Balat Sayt and smaller Hat and beyond is the spectacular gorge of Wadi Bani Awf, one of the largest wadis in Oman. This is a stunning and remote place although it may be a little cool and breezy - one of the few times in Oman when you may break out your fleece.

From Sharaf al Alamayn you follow the airy ridge top enjoying tremendous views over the mountains and wadis on the northern side of the Western Hajar Mountains, especially spectacular Wadi Bani Awf. The route is way-marked with paint flashes but in places the path will be rocky and rough underfoot. After a couple of hours you will see where the challenging route up the cliffs from the village of Balad Sayt joins from the right. From this point you will be on a more established and maintained donkey trail all the way to Misfah. You descend past a Bedouin encampment at Hayl al Jawari and then descend more steeply in a gorge all the way back to the picturesque village of Misfah.

Here you will re-join your vehicle for the return drive to Muscat.

Overnight: Hotel Al Falaj or Similar, Muscat

Day 9 - Morning sightseeing. Afternoon dhow trip.

In the morning, you will have a sightseeing tour of Muscat. First you will visit the Grand Mosque. The mosque, completed in 2001, is an extraordinary building, borrowing architectural features and decoration from Arabia, Persia, Afghanistan and Central Asia. The elegant simplicity of the exterior archways, decorated arcades and courtyards contrasts with the magnificence of the elaborately decorated interiors. A mere description of the features of the main prayer hall which can accommodate almost 7,000 worshippers, the huge Swarovski chandelier, said to be the largest in the world and the huge Persian carpet which covers the floor, does not do justice to this wonderful example of modern Islamic architecture, which is at once serene and spectacular. (See Trip Dossier for how to dress to visit the mosque).

You will then travel to see Muscat Old Town. The position of the old town was chosen for its harbour and natural defences. The town was so well protected by the craggy mountains that surrounded it that, prior to 1929, it was accessible only by footpaths over the hills, or from the sea. The old town walls can still be seen and two old Portuguese forts, Jabalai and Murani, still dominate the town. In 1972, the Sultan's rather quirky al Alam Palace was built on the waterfront and more recently a complex of elegant new government buildings has been constructed which create an attractive modern centre to the old town where it is very pleasant to wander.

The afternoon is spent aboard a traditional dhow and will take in the sunset. Dhows are marked out by their triangular sails and have been plying the seas, transporting dates and fish, around the Persian Gulf for centuries.

Overnight: Hotel Al Falaj or Similar, Muscat

Day 10 - Group transfer to airport. Fly to London.

Today you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back to the UK.