Oman, Oh Man!

Oman is a beautiful desert dominated country on the Arabian sea and Gulf of Oman. A country with about 5 million population, 40% of it is composed of foreign guest workers.

As I got out of the airport, I was happy to see cleanliness everywhere and everything was very well organized.

I had booked a rental car, but when I reached the counter, I had no confirmation number on it, somehow it had gotten lost. Dreading to be taken advantage of, I was pleasantly surprised to hear their pricing was still the same, there was no upselling or arm-twisting, insurance was already included, and the rental cost was 10 Omani Rial a day, amounting to $26 a day.

The airport highway was pristine, framed by lush palms and signs in Arabic.

As I cruised toward my hotel, a majestic structure emerged against the mountains: the iconic Qaboos Mosque.

With minimal traffic and drivers who respected their lanes, I was already forming a glowing opinion of this country within my first hour.

My hotel sat beside a clean, lively beach brimming with families picnicking and partying—it was Friday, after all. Despite the crowd, the atmosphere was relaxed and civilized: no blaring music, no chaos.

Al Fahal Island peeked through the haze nearby, a well-known diving spot.

A sunset stroll revealed a stunning baobab tree—an unexpected sight this far from Africa.

The roads were well maintained, and I saw many Filipino people along the way. I chatted with them as I walked along.

The next morning’s drive to neighboring cities brought new delights, including the Al Qurum Mosque, visible right from the highway.

My destination was Bimmah Sinkhole, about 100 km from Muscat. With silky highways allowing speeds of 120 km/h and mountain silhouettes shifting shape with every turn, the journey itself felt like a scenic safari.

A long staircase led from the roadside down to the turquoise waters below.

The Bimmah Sinkhole was buzzing with swimmers, sunbathers, and families picnicking near gazebos.

The adjacent Arabian Sea featured a rugged shoreline with tide pools filled with critters and crabs. Many people were enjoying the water, looking at the marine life.

Oman is home to many desert oases called “wadis”—I decided to visit one named Fanja the following day.

Fanja had a charming blend of palm trees, picnic spots, and ancient water channels. It turned out to be a very cute place. It also had a hotel and picnic tables.

There were many types of palm trees and details on each tree type described on placards.

A desert marsh nourished the dense grove of palms, with mountain backdrops that masked the arid terrain. The hills in the background made one forget that this was a desert they were standing in.

The café in Fanja house had a cold coffee offering in a cute bottle that was delicious and refreshing.

The Souq was a beautiful tourist attraction that I drove by next. Driving past the Muttrah Corniche revealed a dramatic shoreline, and royal ships anchored at sea.

I discovered the park close by and the vista points with marine traffic on the Arabian Sea.

The craggy, dramatic shoreline, the deep blue water and the port with many ships.

Some ships belonging to the royal family, looked nice.

The souq was quiet around midday due to prayer time. Still, it brimmed with jewelry, spices, souvenirs, frankincense, and dried fruits.

Crossing south of the tropic of cancer, I went to a seaside town of Sur for an overnight stay.

The view of sunrise from the beach next week was awesome.

Sunrise at Sur was spectacular—soft hues rising over the Arabian Sea with a lone Dhow floating nearby as I walked on the beach.

The trading town of Sur was visible in the distance with its lighthouse and souqs.

On my way to Ras Al Hadd to see if could witness the turtles, I passed fading shipyards—remnants of Oman’s nautical heritage.

On the shore, I could see the ship building business, which is now slowly disappearing.

A short hike led me to hilltop towers overlooking Sur’s pristine white homes.

The way to top of the multiple small towers were a bit steep and made for a good mini adventure.

From the top of the hill, the whole town of Sur, with its traditional white houses, was visible.

The Omani Rial is one of the most stable currencies and the only one I know of which has a thousandth part, named baisa.

Ra’s al Hadd had a very clean and serene beach, and being the low season, hardly anyone could be seen for miles.

My early morning walk on the beach showed progressive phases of the sunrise over the horizon and the sky was becoming colorful by the minute.

En route to the next town, I discovered high-end cafés and seaside bakeries serving excellent coffee and pastries.

Grazing camels casually lined the highways—a delightful surprise.

I was told that I must not miss the greenish blue water of Wadi Bani Khalid. I drove to it, which required many hours of driving.

I found that indeed, the water was inviting, and many people were swimming in it. It had beautiful palms oases, mountains, water and a lot of tourists from all over the world.

I was lazy to bring my swimming clothes with me but ventured in the water and was soon being tickled. I noticed that the water was extremely clear and there were thousands of small fish, many of which were eating the dead skin on my foot thereby making the foot tickle. All the other tourists sitting around nearby were enjoying the same experience.

There were a lot of ducks wading around, many palm trees, beautiful shallow water pools and I forgot I was in a desert.

Next, I drove to the desert and found a camp right in the middle of the desert. It was named Bidiyah desert camp. I decided to stay there for a couple of days. The people were very kind and the food was delicious. The sand dunes were right next to the camp and made for a good exercise to climb them.

When I drove on the highways, I frequently saw a big compound and finally figured it out the compound hosted police headquarters.

Camels crossed everywhere on highways.

Oman is big in oil exploration; I saw giant oil refineries on the way.

Different wildlife crossed as I drove through long stretches of desert highway.

I drove through the Dhofar governorate on my way to the museum of Frankincense.

The governor's offices were along the way.

The museum is part of UNESCO world heritage site.

The frankincense tree looks very unique and has peculiarly shaped leaves and branches.

The museum has many artifacts indoors and outdoors showcasing ancient Quran, the trading routes, and old dhows.

As I drove towards Salalah, I came across hundreds of camels going about their business.

Big trucks had to wait around for the camels to cross.

A beautiful mosque was on the roadside, as I drove by, I took a few pictures while driving.

I discovered the Alila hotel by Hyatt, and it was a beautiful place and stayed there for the night. The beach next to it was pristine and the sunset walk was relaxing.

However, when I checked in to Alila, I discovered that my passport was missing. Thinking back, I realized that the attendant never returned it after scanning during check-in as we had gotten into talking about activities.

I called him and he denied that he had my passport. He finally relented and checked the photocopier, discovering my passport. It would be an 800km round trip to retrieve it. He promised to bring it to Muscat in 10 days to coincide with my return flight day, but he kept being non-committal on the exact date.

The desert next to the Arabian sea made for a stark landscape.

I walked on the beach and saw interesting rocks, picnic areas, palm trees.

An old dhow was stranded on the beach.

The hotel had villas built surrounded by a desert and the contrast was stunning.

In my villa backyard, I saw a Eurasian Hoopoe, first time in my life.

Next day I drove around in Dhofar and found local restaurants.

I was amazed to find an excellent seafood restaurant with good fish and meat and super surprised to pay less than 10 Omani rial for the meal.

I had spent a day going back to Bidiyah to retrieve my passport and in the final 2-kilometer stretch, I had driven a bit slow which resulted in the car getting stuck in the desert sand. out of nowhere, four young kids came to my rescue but to no avail. Thankfully, the desert camp attendant drove his 4x4, rescued me, returned my passport and invited me to stay overnight at the camp at no cost.

The following morning, I had a nice hike on the sand dunes.

Driving towards the cultural town of Nizwa the following day, I stopped at the Lulu hypermarket, a grocery plus everything store that put the biggest Walmart supermarket to shame.

The 17th century Nizwa fort dominates the city and its underpinnings are from 11th century.

The fort entrance looks daunting and also reveals the multiple floor architecture.

As I walked through the imposing gate, the courtyard revealed a group of children singing their local songs.

The walls around the fort had fantastic murals in the many alcoves.

The ancient mud structures were still preserved.

The oasis around the fort looked very inviting.

The fort had multiple floors leading to a humongous terrace at the top.

Old, preserved batteries and cannons were on display.

The ancient, huge carved wooden door was still functional.

There was an ancient well which had water way down deep inside.

The beautiful military architecture with the rounded battlements at the top are a feature of a defensive design.

The fort had infographics which showed the parallel history of many civilizations around the world from prehistoric to modern times.

The details and history of the date palm which is ubiquitous, and part of Omani culture was interesting.

The library inside the fort showed their dedication to learning starting from many centuries ago.

The fort was beautiful and each corner I turned, I was inspired to take a picture of stunning views.

The terrace was sprawling, with many towers in different directions.

The mountains behind make for a beautiful backdrop.

The oasis and date palms were visible from many sides.

The date palm forest was quite dense even though it was a desert.

The mosque dome and the tower were stunning.

I took close to a hundred pictures of the site, and each had some unique aspect of the fort and its surroundings. It was quite a wonderful monument.

After a two-week trip of Oman, I was on my way back to the airport, and I saw the beautiful Qaboos mosque again. I felt happy to have visited this country of good food, good views and friendly people.