Salalah The Jewel of Arabia


1.Initiation^thMr.SHAHEEN for allowing us to take his vehicle for this trip.

2. Visa Process

Traveling to Oman requires a visa to be issued by all passageways and Sultanate embassies in GCC for the expatriates residing in GCC who are interested in visiting the country for tourism purposes and from approved professionals without sponsors. It also issued to their relatives accompanying them as follows:

• Valid for use: for a period of four weeks extendable for one week.
• Fees: R.O. 5.
• The visa is granted free for dependants below 18 years.
• Delay fines R.O. 10 for every day .

For more about profession and other details you can visit this site: Royal Oman Police Website - Information - Visa Types - GCC Residents Visa
Note: If your are planning to visit Oman during any public holidays, i highly recommend you get the visa from consulate of Oman in Dubai beforehand to avoid standing long hours in the queues at the immigration office at the border. If you are panning to get visa from embassy do it at least one week before date of journey. For our trip we contacted embassy on Monday and they informed us that it was the final operational day for them before holidays.

3. Route plan, Food & Accommodation



DUBAI - HATTA - SUHAR - MUSCAT - NIZWA - ADAM - HAIMA - THUMRAIT - SALALAH







Thursday is a weekday in Dubai so we all had work in the morning. For this reason, we fixed 8.00 PM as our departure time. After the long working hours no one will be enjoying such a long ride especially when we have to wait & get visa at the checkpoint, so we opted to drive till Muscat and stay the night there. We planned not to drive through the night as being well rested would make the trip more enjoyable & driving through daytime, we can cover more distance in a shorter time.




A cousin of mine is working in muscat, and I checked with him about the possibility of arranging a hotel for us for the night. On hearing of our plan though, he invited us to stay with him for the night.




For the stay in Salalah we did some research and most of the information online indicated that renting apartments was better than staying at a hotel there. Through agoda.com4. Vehicle Checkup5.Journey Day- 02/10/2014Don't lose it6. Day 2 - Seeb To Salalah



Seeb To Nizwa (9.30AM - 10.35AM, 145Kms)




Everyone got a good nights rest and we ended up sleeping in a bit and leaving by 9.00AM after saying our good byes to our host Mr.Shameer Salam. We made sure everything was in place and had a full tank of petrol before leaving. We had a 1000kms more to travel before we reach Salalah. About 150kms drive through Route 15 at nizwa we took the interchange towards salalah to enter the famous Route 31.




Nizwa To Adam (10.35AM - 11.15AM, 55Kms)




Petrol Station- 17kms after the interchange, we saw Almaha petrol station on the right side (10.40AM-162Kms)




Next destination is Adam, 30kms drive - 11.15AM (two more petrol stations- oman oil on the left side, a new one coming up in the right side.)




Note: Throughout the journey, beware of camel crossings from both sides.







Adam To Al Ghaba (11.15AM-12.00PM, 116Kms)Al Ghaba to Salalah (12.00PM - 5.30PM)


After al ghaba petrol, the next petrol station is a shell service station at Haima- 193Kms away. Driving 10km onwards, you will also find al maha station on the right (two more petrol stations on the left side also). There is detour after haima- as there is some road maintenance work going on. The drive through the service road is a bit tricky as it is bumpy & narrow. This detour caused a big worry for us as we unexpectedly came across a petrol station after 80kms from Haima and we top up the fuel to full. When we reached the main road again we skipped the next two petrol stations (162 & 210Kms after haima petrol station) respectively, as we thought we can find another one on the way. There were no speed cameras after we left nizwa and we were travelling at high speeds, so fuel economy was not that good. The fuel meter shows fuel for another 45kms is what left in the tank & there is no sign of petrol stations near by. We reduced the speed, turned of AC & look ahead if something is coming up. Finally after 243kms from the service road petrol station, we reached al maha petrol station.


By 4.30Pm we reached the end of the two way road & started on the one way road with speed camera.



As the barren desert came to an end, mountains started to become visible up ahead.







There was still not too much sign of greenery on the way. As the road ran through the mountains, signs started to show up, and suddenly, everything turned to green. It was like we reached some European mountain ranges because even the temperature is fell to around 21 degree. Just 15 minutes ago it was 36 degrees














We ended our long journey when we reached Salalah around 5.30PM.

Seeb To Salalah - ( 9.30AM to 5.00PM ,1000Kms , 8hrs)

It took 15 minutes to find the location and reach the apartments we booked for our stay. As expected, the hotel staff did not cooperate well and even said the booking was not at this place & asked us to go someplace else. The room was just okay, and sufficient for us as we are all bachelors.




We were starving at this point as the breakfast & packed foods we had carried had finished long back. After freshening up a bit, we went out searching for food. We tried some Omani food & it worked out well. Finally, we got back for some much needed rest.


We are starving like hell as the breakfast & packed foods we carried was not enough fro the long


6. Day 3 - Salalah Roaming


Muslims across the world were celebrating Eid al Adha that day and I was the only Muslim in our group. I attended the Morning Prayer in a nearby mosque as my companions were still getting ready. As we always look forward to exploring the unexplored areas, we decided to spend the morning session of our trip in exploring west of Salalah up to Yemen border near Sarfait.




By 8.00, we had left the hotel and started looking for a good place to have breakfast. Finally we found a small place filled with people as it was the only restaurant open nearby. Our first destination was Rakhyut- a small coastal town. Two way roads leading from Salalah have great view on both sides with lush greens mountains. Be careful always when driving as camels are regular visitors on the roads. A series of mountain crossings uphill/ downward take you to mughsail beach side road, where the famous blowholes that spit water are situated.








It was early morning and the whole beach was deserted, so we opted to drop by when we returned instead.





Based on our map there was one petrol station showing somewhere near rakhyut town. One of Bangladeshi guy working there informed us that we have to wait until 1.00PM for the petrol guys to show up, otherwise we can fill it up from some local vendors. No one liked to get into trouble filling petrol illegally so we opted to find someone along the roads to ask about other options. We went back upto the main road where we took the deviation towards rakhyut and found a local guy sitting in his car. As soon as I told him our problem, he jumped out of his car & rushed towards our vehicle. He was covered in blood and for a moment we thought that something bad was going to happen. Luckily he was a local butcher and only wanted to take a look at the petrol gauge level. He pointed towards west & asked us to follow that route. Most of the locals there do not understand English, so there is no point in asking more details and we decided to take the direction he pointed out. After few kilometers we found another checkpost where one of the guards asked us to park the vehicle on the side. They took the emirates id and vehicle registration and asked us to stay inside the vehicle. After a few minutes of checking our registration, they allowed us to let the vehicle pass. The guards informed us to drive about 40Kms to Dalkut village to reach the next petrol station.






Along the way we saw that the distance to yemen is about 33kms so we decided to go & see the checkpoint. 500 Meters before the check point there is a small local supermarket & Oman petrol station. This is the final point we can go to with the Oman visa in your hand unless you have something serious to do in Yemen. The area is quite remote and we were the only ones without Oman registration there.










Only place remaining is dalkut village, where you will find only the beach & a petrol station.









Like we had planned earlier, we left dalkut and headed towards Salalah to see the eastern areas. On the way back, we dropped at mugsail beach to see the blowholes. By that time, the beach was packed with tourists. A small cave formation ( Marneef Caves) is also location alongside the beach. The sea was calm but the blowholes continued throwing water upwards. This is one of the top attractions in Salalah in the western area; on the raysut side, there are waterfalls that will be active only when there are rainfalls and a few days after the rainfall.









After lunch, we headed to a famous wadi in Salalah called "Wadi Darbat". This is a must-see place. It is a large fresh water wadi covered on all sides by lush green forest. Families are gathered here beneath the cool shades of trees and kids can have fun watching the fish that gather in large numbers waiting for someone to throw the food, as it is rare scene in desert climate. Swimming is prohibited in wadi darbat.



'Anti Gravity spot' near mirbat is another marvel that most of us thought was a bluff. It is an amazing experience where your car defies gravity and moves uphill while in neutral gear. We decided to confirm it by trying it ourselves. The exact spot is really difficult to find- if you are going there from wadi darbat, after you enter the taqa - mirabat road look for the signage showing Tawi Attir. You have to take a left from the main road ( for landmark: a mobile tower is on the left side of the road) just 700 meter from the left you can find the spot (downhill). If you miss the signage about 500meter ahead you will find an al maha petrol staion on the left where you have to take the detour.






Most of the waterfalls that we visited had dried already after the monsoon season. We visited two waterfalls- Ayn Aktoom & Ayn Tabrook. We wasted our time looking for signage to direct us, but found nothing. We were cursing tourism department in Oman and wandering around looking for them, until one of the local guys pointed out the road to us. It was pitch black when we reached the spot. Both waterfalls were dry- ayn aktoom looks like rock formation where birds make their nests. They might look wonderful when there is water, but we did not get to experience that.






We headed back towards Salalah as this was our last day in Salalah and we wanted to check out some other places also. Due to time constraints, we were unable to really see other places there as we needed to prepare for the return journey and try some more Omani food. We found a good indian joint where we had our buffet (grilled lamp chops, kabuli, grilled small chicken).

Trying new roads is always a pleasure, so for the return trip, we planned to take the sea side highway along the east coast of Salalah. We tried to find out the road condition, location of petrol pumps, food provision areas but were not able to find any blog mentioning anything about this road. We stocked food & water from the nearest lulu hyper market and got our well-deserved rest at night for our return journey the next day.





Day 4


SALALAH - TAQAH - MIRBAT - SADAH - HASIK - SHALIM - HAIMA - IBRI - AL BURAIMI - DUBAI



For the return journey, I think its best to post photos rather than write about it as it can give you a better idea about how the terrain looks.



By 8.00AM, we bid farewell to Salalah and headed towards sadah, which is right after the Salalah town province. On the right side will be the coastal line with blue beaches all the way, while on the left side are the dhofar mountain ranges. Before saadha, there is taqah & mirbat town where you can drop by if you want. On the way to sadah, is an Al maha petrol satiation on the left side right after the pump there is gravel road leading towards the seaside that will take you this amazing place. See it from the photos.










Next destination was Hashik, a 1.30 hrs journey from sadah. On the way we found this awesome beach with some weird sand formations occupying the whole beach. We reached the spot to find out that it was the nesting place for turtles (most of the Oman coast lines are famous for turtle watching). These remains were from the last season, from where the young turtles had left already. (Route 49)





The view from the beach is amazing and the long stretch of mountains will surely tempt you to put up your tent to camp somewhere here. Most of the beaches near Salalah have warning signs about the danger of swimming there. This place seems to have calmer waters and I recommend everyone to take this east route as you will have plenty of options for good camping spots or to have a barbeque. There is one al maha petrol station at hashik town too.









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After Ash shuwamiyyah the sea route ends. We were really happy that we took the risk to take this route without any prior knowledge of how it would be. Almost 3hrs of breath taking journey along coastal line & mountain ranges is worth a try. We reached shalim around 12.30PM, right after shalim town there is a shell petrol station on the right. (Route 42).









Though it took us a considerable amount of time, it is worth it to drive through this scenic route rather than driving through the barren stretch of desert along route 31 after thumrait. The good thing about this route is that there are more petrol stations placed in almost every town so no worries about getting out of fuel throughout. In coming years, this route might become more popular among the travelers- those who want to try something new. The whole stretch of road cuts through the rough mountains & hard landscapes. A lot of infrastructure development can be seen throughout Oman and may be in the coming years Oman will be developing its tourism side more.












Continue on Route 31 if you want to visit Muscat, otherwise you need to take a left to route 29 before haima towards ibri.





By 6.00PM we reached ibri and then, all of sudden it started raining. Everyone was happy to experience rain after a long time . At first it was light shower but after sunset it started raining hard. Since it was a two way road with no street lights, it was hard for the driver to navigate as we are not used to heavy rain here. It was a good end to our journey to be blessed with rain.


By 8.00Pm, we were able to reach buraimi checkpoint. Before leaving Oman, we filled the tank from Oman oil station. The same procedure was followed- first get the exit stamp from Oman side, then get down at Dubai border point. Go inside the immigration department and get the entry stamp before going to Dubai military checkpoint. Vehicles need to pass through an x ray machine before you are allowed to leave. Another 1.30hr journey until we reached end of our amazing trip.

Time Lapse Oman to Salalah



Time lapse Salalah To Dubai



Note:- A very thanks to my friend Ms.Kalsoom Shahid for spending her quality time helping me by edting the content of this blog