My Omani 'holiday' ....

Greggers

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Hi guys ...

Here’s my little ‘holiday’ blog. Put the kettle on, settle back with a cuppa and let me know if you want any more days...

All images© Robert Wicks and ©Greg Baker




Thursday


A long day. I’d finally finished arsing around trying to sort things out with the mortgage, then there was the last minute panic making sure I was all packed and ready. My Zumo had been playing up with spurious screen inputs and I’d ordered a replacement digitiser to fit for the trip. Oddly though when I got the unit apart it behaved perfectly so rather than tempt fate I just cleaned it all up and re-assembled it.

Sue dropped me at the station, it was hard saying goodbye after the traumas of the previous weeks, but at last my journey began as I stepped from the van and stepped onto the station platform. After a last wave to Suze as she drove away I was eventually alone with my bags. When the train arrived it was virtually empty until I filled it with my luggage – overweight is underprepared – pah! Anyway, this was my first train journey in many years and I was surprised by how quiet and smooth it was. The exception was a loud and very squeaky college girl – she was fat and wore too much make-up, a typical student. I had to change at Southampton for another smooth train, but there were more people on this one. My booked seat was occupied by another fat woman, but I couldn’t be bothered to argue the toss so I sat somewhere else.

I finally arrived at Reading to be met by a grinning Robbie, we were finally going on our adventure! We stuffed my luggage into his car and motored to his place in Charvil where his wife Tanya and their lovely daughter Hannah were waiting for us. I’d not seen Hannah for almost a year and was struck by how much she’d grown in those months, chattering and smiling all the time – she’s such a cutie!

After we’d finished the fantastic meal Tanya had prepared for us we set ourselves to the task of finalising our packing and trying the gear we’d been sent. Everything was fine - the helmet was a little large but Dave had sent a set of thicker pads so the problem was solved. I decided to install the comms headset when we arrived in Dubai and packed it all away. Rob checked us in on-line, but then only ten minutes later he got an email saying that our morning flight had been cancelled – whaaaAAATT?? With no real explanation from BA we re-booked on the later night flight – it would still get us to Dubai in time, but we’d be flying overnight and wouldn’t get much rest on the plane. Bollocks. After a quick beer I went to bed, one of the cats was knocking on the bedroom door wanting to come in and sleep on the bathroom’s heated floor. I ignored it and it eventually went away, presumably to complain and bitch to its sibling.



Friday

The gift day. We had a day to kill. Rob spent half the morning resting his injured leg whilst slaughtering raiding insurgents in Call of Duty something or other ... I just watched the mayhem. When it all got too much for us both we went over to Wycombe to visit the Axminster Tools shop, all full of grown-up toys with sharp edges and bits that can hurt you. What a place! Finally it was time to leave – Tanya and Hannah drove us to Heathrow T5. We were finally on our way.

Checked in, shat a couple of bricks about whether the luggage would be too heavy, grinned cheekily at the BA girl to get two bits of hand-luggage plus bum bag, plus jacket with pockets stuffed with gear allowed as ‘carry-on’ then staggered through the departure hall. I had to wear my Tech 7’s as they were too big to fit in my luggage, they were like wearing bloody ski-boots! Rob has a BA executive pass, so we could get into the posh lounge and enjoy BA’s free hospitality. Bonus – especially me with my boots!

Finally our flight was called, Rob’s executive card helping us again by getting to the front of the scrum to board. We found our seats, I un-booted myself and settled to try and get some sleep. Failed miserably and watched a few movies instead.


Saturday.

It’s always interesting watching a sunrise on an aeroplane. It’s fast and usually quite colourful for a few minutes, this morning was no exception. As the flight was only half full, Rob had managed to bag a spare seat on the other side of the plane that gave him room to stretch his injured leg and enough elbow room to enjoy BA’s finest breakfast rolls.

We started to see signs of life on the ground, the skyline starting to show in the distance. Dubai is a spectacular sight to see from the sky – it’s a shame my camera was packed away. The landing was uneventful, as was the disembarkation and immigration. Despite Rob’s fear that we’d be a good 90 minutes in arrivals we were out with our bags in about half that time.
We headed upstairs to get some currency, I tucked my passport and wallet into my back pocket and wandered off with our trolley of luggage to find a taxi for the hotel. Arrived at the hotel, reached back for my passport .... hmmm – pocket empty. I checked all my other pockets, then my jacket pockets and finally in desperation went through my bum-bag before coming out in a cold sweat as I realised that I really had lost my fucking passport. We looked in the car without success so decided to race back to the Airport in the hope that it had been picked up. After a 20 minute dash through rush hour traffic in down-town Dubai we got back to the arrivals hall and were directed to the security office where I was reunited with my passport. What a relief!


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When we got back to the hotel we started to relax a little, there had been a moment’s panic about the prospect of getting a replacement passport issued and the impact the delay would have had on the trip especially as it was the UAE’s National Day and every public office was closed. Disaster however had been averted and we were both once again our happy bunny selves.

We grabbed a cab to take us over to the KTM garage on the Rigga Road, but the cabbie was a bit clueless and ended up taking us on a bit of a goosechase. We finally arrived at KTM’s garage and met the guys there, Mark especially was a really decent guy and went out of his way to make sure we had everything we needed. I could see the bikes in the corner of the workshop, both fantastically angular as only a KTM can be, but the 990 looked like a cruiserweight boxer compared to the tall lithe lines of the 450.


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We spent the rest of the afternoon sorting the bikes out, fitting the additional wiring harnesses I’d made to power the intercom and navigation packages and working out how and where to strap my luggage on the 450. The Rally was never really designed to carry stuff so it was interesting trying to work out how to fit my arrangement of straps and bungees, but eventually it was done and the bikes finally rolled out into the street. The 450 is tall – the suspension has around 13 inches of travel at both ends and this particular bike was an entrant in last year’s Dakar so the equipment fitted was the real McCoy. The downside of this is that the first 5 inches of travel is really quite squidgy and soft (technical terms here!) and I made the mistake of mounting the bike with the kick-stand deployed – the suspension compresses but the stand remains resolutely rigid with the net effect that the bike is pushed over with you still aboard. Not cool – especially when it happens right in front of the guy who’s just loaned you the bike.


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I had remembered to pack my trusty fleece seat cover – my previous experiences of KTM seats meant that this was a ‘do-not-forget-under-any-circumstances’ accessory.


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We lunged tentatively into the Dubai rush hour for the first time, thankfully being swept in the right direction by the traffic. Stage 1 of our adventure was completed with our arrival back at the hotel. That night we enjoyed a Russian meal of kebabs and humus just down the street from the hotel. Happily full we wandered back to the Ramee and slept soundly.



Sunday

Today the journey begins in earnest. The bikes were loaded up and we both kitted up in our riding gear. It was hot down in the basement, even at 9am it was probably around 25C so we needed to get moving to get some airflow through the suits.


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Oman is almost a modular country – while the biggest part of it is to the south and south-east of the UAE, there’s a separate part called Mussendam in the north. The day’s objective was to get to the picturesque Khor a Najd cove at the top of Mussendam. The GoogleMaps image was tremendous and we were both looking forward to getting there.

I was struck by the scale development in Dubai – it seems to be never ending, with building going on everywhere. What was even more obvious was the number of men working on these sites - the Omanis have a somewhat cavalier approach to H&S as well as working conditions, because of course to them labour is cheap - why spend money on heavy machinery and plant when you can employ dozens of Pakistani laborours to do the same job... That didn't sit too well with me.

Stylish and contemporary design was everywhere, and of course we saw the Burj al Arab tower. The highways in the UAE were busy, traffic was thick but flowed well and appeared to be well organised. The journey north was quite uneventful, you could almost say it was rather boring as there was nothing but highway and the other major town of RAK until just before the Omani border crossing.


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WE arrived at the border crossing, quite a modern building with as you’d expect a few counters and windows occupied by slightly bored looking officials. We exited UAE with a stamp in the passport, took a transit voucher and paid 30Dh. 100m of no-mans-land later we were beside a border office window with an equally bored looking Omani official. More money changed hands for the 1 day entry visa and another stamp in the passport and we were finally in Oman.


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Back on the bikes and we were away into the heat of the day. The roads in this part of Oman were quite new and immaculately surfaced, sweeping bends that hugged the mountainous coastline, perfect for a sportsbike with sticky tyres, but I was on a Rallye bike with knobbly desert tyres and mousses – not the bike for tarmac heroics! Rob spotted a beach that looked great for some photos so we pulled of the road and had a closer look.
The sea was a magnificent deep green-blue ocean peppered with oil tankers and the beach was a clean white sand – perfect for an adventure photo! I took the 450 across the sand, tentatively at first but the bike was in its element and just begged for a handful of throttle to power its way through the sand, the desert tyres finding grip where there really should have been none. Another couple of passes and the first pics were done.


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Rob decided he wanted to have a go on the 990, and launched himself into the sand. The first 100 metres or so were ok, but when the sand got a little softer the heavy 990 just dug itself in, so deep that the panniers were supporting the bike.


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This presented a little problem, and another that was not quite as immediately apparent as the first. We managed to dig the bike out with our hands, it took around 40 minutes the get the bike free enough to move it. The section on beach it was stuck on was sloping slightly towards the sea so we turned the bike round intending to drive it out on the firmer sand below. That was where problem no. 2 popped up. The weight of the bike just kept pushing it down the slope until the front wheel hit the damp sand into which of course it immediately sank. Trying to drive it out just dug the rear in again and we were back to square one. We started to dig again, but after a few minutes realised that the tide was coming in and to our horror found ourselves ankle deep in sea-water. This wasn’t in the plan at all. The bike was sinking and we were facing the very real danger of losing it. A local man had seen us and was ambling along the beach for a closer look. By this time Rob and I were really struggling and his help was more than welcome. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get us out of danger, so we sent him back over the road to fetch his mate. Despite our frantic waving he wasn’t going to break into a sweat and he wandered over with a slightly bemused look on his face. How often is he likely to encounter two red faced and exhausted Europeans trying to haul an enormous motorcycle out of the water? We finally managed to impress him with a sense of the urgency of the situation, and we were able to lift the bike up onto firmer sand. With four of us heaving and the engine turning we were able to manhandle the bike out of immediate danger. What a relief! We made the 50 yards or so back along the level part of the sand before stalling the bike. Unfortunately the efforts of the previous hour’s attempts to get the bike out had drained the battery and we couldn’t get it to re-start. By this time Rob and I were completely done in and were no help to the other two in trying to push it up the last bit of sand. Another local drove up to the barrier by the road, looked of his car window and watched us for a minute or two before getting out of his car and wandering over to help. Five sweaty heaving minutes later we were safely back on hard tarmac. We thanked our helpers profusely before sitting down in a heap to recover. It took twenty minutes or so to regain enough strength to push the bike up a small hill to allow us to bump-start it, but eventually we got the bike running again so we remounted and set off back up the road to Khasab. Those next few miles were so sweet, the air blowing through the suit cooled me right down again and the sense of relief at escaping the disaster was almost euphoric.

Before long we arrived at Khasab, an uninteresting military town at the very northernmost part of the peninsula. We stopped for a couple of ice-cold cokes and had some re-fried chicken and boiled rice for lunch. The route to the cove was quite easy to find and we were soon climbing a very loose gravelled track. Within ten minutes we’d arrived at the top and were looking down into the cove – it was an impressive view with the track winding and unwinding itself down the hillside towards the sea.


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The view at the top was less than impressive with tourist debris and litter spread everywhere. We launched ourselves down the twisting track and headed for the cove. We arrived to the slightly disappointing sight of a large concrete slipway scattered with cars, boats and an assortment of commercial fishing detritus.


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Further west along the cove there was a more open area – but there was a fish processing plant in the corner and a bunch of workers living in tents and caravans. Not the idyllic beach front camping we were hoping for! Rob spent a little time taking some pictures of a shark that a fishing boat had just caught then we scooted back up the hill and took the road back to Khasab. By the time we hit tar again it was well past 3pm and we would be losing light fast. Rob looked in the book of words and found a small camping area about 20km further around the peninsula road. “Look for an Acacia forest...” he shouted as we pulled out. Sure enough, after 20km we arrived at an acacia forest but darkness had fallen quickly so it was quite eerie driving through the trees in twilight. We found a suitable spot, pitched camp and settled in for the night having enjoyed a tuna and garlic mayo wrap.


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Our first night under canvas was punctuated by the noises of an Omani night – various night birds hooting and shrieking, but the loudest was a strange and bizarrely human howling – doubtless it wasn’t some manic human but it was peculiar none the less.



Misc Pics ...

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That's the first lot, let me know if you want to see any more ...

Muchos


Greg
 
Lovely report Greg

Last time we heard....................you were up shite creek:nenau

Guess you found a useful paddle, out of it:comfort
 
Well, the dilemma was that this was all organised and paid for before the unfortunate events of October. The reality was that I was very close to baling out, I just didn't have the motivation to go, but Sue sat me down and talked a little sense into me. These opportunities don't present themselves every day and it was also a very healing time too .. I'm glad I stuck it out!

G
 
Looking good Gregg and nice to hear Sue talked you round.
 
Well, the dilemma was that this was all organised and paid for before the unfortunate events of October. The reality was that I was very close to baling out, I just didn't have the motivation to go, but Sue sat me down and talked a little sense into me. These opportunities don't present themselves every day and it was also a very healing time too .. I'm glad I stuck it out!

G

Good man, well done:thumb
 
I'd just settled in to this, and it ran out!

Having spent alot of time in the area those are familiar sights!

Be great to see more......:beerjug:
 
Sorry guys, my broadband has died and these pics are quite data heavy ... I have plenty still to come, but you might have to wait until the middle of next week (when my new Sky router is due to be delivered...) for the next instalment...

Muchos


G
 
Little old world

We live in Oman and were in the Musandam over Christmas and New Year, visiting the very same beach which you poo-poohed. Just me, the wife and 2 kids camping everywhere in our 4x4. Fortunately me and the wife speak some Arabic and the beach was an interesting place to be. Plenty of smugglers from Iran too !

Oman is the most awesome country. We are off to hoon around the Saudi border on our CRF450Xs this weekend.

Can't wait to see where this report ends up....looking forward to it :beerjug::beerjug:
 
We live in Oman and were in the Musandam over Christmas and New Year, visiting the very same beach which you poo-poohed. Just me, the wife and 2 kids camping everywhere in our 4x4. Fortunately me and the wife speak some Arabic and the beach was an interesting place to be. Plenty of smugglers from Iran too !

Oman is the most awesome country. We are off to hoon around the Saudi border on our CRF450Xs this weekend.

Can't wait to see where this report ends up....looking forward to it :beerjug::beerjug:

Hi Richeyroo,
Apologies for being off topic, but I'm considering a job offer based in the Oman.... Any advice on the pro & cons of living there
Many Thanks
 
Second sitting ...

Monday.

The day dawned to the odd noises created by the herd of goats that was surrounding us. Goats are naturally inquisitive at the best of times but these critters were hungry and had their noses into everything that might have been vaguely edible which meant the tuna tins and bread wrappers from the previous evening’s meal were a prime target.

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We broke camp and packed up ready for another day on the road. The route back to the border was just as spectacular as the previous day’s ascent with breathtaking views of the sea still full of tankers waiting their turn to be filled on the oil jetty. As we stopped to take some pictures of the sea from the cliff top a group of road bikes passed us all waving wildly, presumably as we’d not seen any other bikes that day they hadn’t either – there aren’t many ‘big’ bikes in this part of the world.


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We got back to the border and presented our passports only to be confronted by a stern faced border official who looked as though there was an insurmountable problem in front of him. We were shunted to another window where another officer looked bemusedly at our papers before calling his friend over again. There was a heated discussion in Arabic between the two officers with much pointing at the offending document and the previous day’s stamp. It was then we realised that our transgression was overstaying our single day visa! There was the inevitable 30Dh ‘fee’ to be paid, followed by more heated discussion and head scratching, then finally the first officer simply took his date stamp and banged it over the previous day’s smudge. Job done!

We were due to meet one of Rob’s business colleagues at Al Fujairah for lunch, so we needed to get a move on as it was by now almost 11am. We hit the highway and had a fast ride on more immaculately surfaced roads and arrived more or less on time at the Yacht Club. Ahmed was a charming host and looked after us with typical Arabic warmth.


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After lunch the day’s objective was to reach Muscat, but we started to lose light very quickly and soon realised that we’d have to stop well before then. During the planning for the trip we’d had an idea that we’d be able to camp almost anywhere with relative ease, but the reality was somewhat different to our original idea. On the map the route to Muscat looks like it hugs the coast and we’d hoped for a replay of the previous days ride to and from Mussendam. It was not to be as the road to Muscat was a three lane highway absolutely full of traffic, and certainly not the kind of place you’d expect to be able to stop and camp. We checked the map and decided to explore our options at the next town – Al Kaburah. We found another sprawling urbanised development, much bigger than we’d expected and as usual with traffic everywhere. We were directed to a hotel about 5Km from the city centre which turned out to be perfect for us. We parked the bikes in the hotel garden and unloaded them in darkness. As we walked back towards the restaurant there was a group of squealing Phillipino women sitting at one of the tables waving at us – we later learned that these ladies were working in Dubai but needed to leave the UAE every 6 weeks or so to renew their visas. They doubtless were frequent visitors as they seemed to know the kitchen and staff very well!

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We had a pleasant evening meal and were joined by the hotel’s owner who took an interest in our journey and made unintelligible suggestions about where we should go next. We downed the last of our cokes and headed back to the room for a well needed sleep.


Tuesday.

Breakfast comprised of an omelette and salad served in a burger bun with a mug of weak milky coffee made worse by about 6 spoons of sugar. Things livened up a little with the arrival of the philipino ladies again, they were quite cheeky and not at all shy. The owner came down to the restaurant again and from the horseplay going on between them it was clear that he knew these girls quite well!




We loaded the bikes and rode back out of Al Kaburah towards the motorway – it was not an inspiring town at all. It was hot by the time we reached the motorway, I was certainly glad of a little speed to keep the air moving through the suit and cooling me down. After about 20km Rob spotted an impressively large Mosque and stopped to grab a couple of pics. As we were about to ride off an old R80GS pulled onto the hard shoulder beside us. It was being ridden by a German guy who’d shipped his bike to India and was riding his dream. He though we were locals from the Dubai plates on the bikes, and had hoped we could tell him where to get tyres for his bike as his were 110% shagged. Sadly we couldn’t help and he disappeared off back into the traffic in search of tyres.


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With the pictures done we jumped back on the bikes and set off for Muscat, with a plan to stop at the Souk at Muttrah for some gift shopping. As with all of the Omani highways we’d experienced so far the road was boring and hot, but the drop down into the town was made through very heavy traffic – lots of quite aggressive filtering through the lanes until we popped out down by the harbour front. The place was quite picturesque, though not spectacular but made a pleasant enough place to stop. We parked up on the harbour side and spent a couple of hours down by the souk with the Sultan’s yacht in the harbour behind us.


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I bought a few trinkets and stuff for the kids and managed to drop my best chap stick down a road drain. Arse! Just as we were kitting up and getting ready to go a French woman came over to chat with us – she’d been touring with her two kids and had managed to get her Ford camper all the way from Nantes, doing the sea crossing from Iran. We spent a few minutes talking and learned that her experiences in Iran were the complete opposite from what you’d expect if you only believed the media coverage.


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Not much else interesting (photographically) for me so I took some arty promo shots...

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We left Muttrah later than planned and after an unplanned circuit of Muscat’s inner ring road we headed south on yet another characterless highway towards the coastal town of Sur. We began to run out of daylight just as we had done the day before and arrived at Sur in darkness. We drove through the main part of town and found a hotel over the bridge in the Ayja district.
As we booked in the receptionist gave us a wink and told us about the ‘Moroccan Dancing Girls’ they had featured in their night bar behind the hotel. It sounded like a barrel of laughs to us, but we were knackered and needed to settle ourselves. As we were unloading the bikes the porter advised us to move them from the car-park as they were a bit close to the exit from the bar, and things could get a bit rowdy at closing time. We obliged, but in the process Rob managed to wrench his shoulder as the 990 rolled away from him down the hill.

During dinner we loaded Rob with Diclofenac to ease the pain in his shoulder then ventured into the bar. The first impression was of the clouds of cigarette smoke in the place – we have got so used to smoke free interiors in Europe that it came as quite a shock to be in a smoke filled bar. The clientele were arranged in neat rows, Rob and I sat discretely at the back of the room waiting for the action to begin. We were rewarded by the twanging chords of a Yamaha keyboard and the nasal wailing of the vocalist. Behind him were sitting three rather fat women in long but low-cut and very tight-fitting evening gowns. After about thirty seconds of the wailing vocals, the women all stood up and arranged themselves in a line in the front of the stage.

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One did a slow shuffling turn, the other stepped lethargically from foot to foot and the more active one was waving her arms in the air a bit while jiggling her jugs. This was apparently enough to whip the collected Omani menfolk into a veritable frenzy of testosterone fuelled lust and desire. Rob and I continued to sit discretely at the back of the bar wondering if it got any better.
It was like watching one of those awful films on late night telly – you know it’s a shit film, but something makes you keep watching just in case there’s something better going to happen. Even though you know it’s not, you keep watching anyway and when it’s finished you still wonder why you wasted the time watching it to the end. We finished our drinks and left the Omani men to their fleshy pleasures while we retired to our room for some well earned sleep.

Wednesday

During breakfast we chatted with a British soldier and his wife before spending the morning at a traditional Dhow shipbuilder’s yard. Watching these magnificent wooden boats being crafted by hand and without anything as sophisticated as CAD or paper plans, just good old optical judgement – fantastic!


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We left Sur just before lunchtime and headed south down the coast road towards Al Ashkara. We stopped en-route for a couple of photos....

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............then we found ourselves on the most idyllic road of the journey. It was a breathtaking route with 50km of flat winding road interspersed with small settlements, all at sea level with sand from the beach blowing over the tarmac. White sandy beach with the deep azure sea in the background – we had to stop, but this time the bikes were staying on asphalt! We gave ourselves an hour here and couldn’t resist the temptation of the sea.



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With both of us stripped to the boxers we threw ourselves into the clear and beautifully warm water. After a few sweaty hours riding this was such an indulgent gift to ourselves; after all, how often do you get the chance of a paddle in the Indian Ocean?

After we’d dried ourselves and brushed the sand from between our toes we set off once more. We rode for another 20km until we turned inland at As Suwayh. Now we were heading towards the desert. We refuelled at Sal before taking the road west towards Jaalan Bani bu Ali.


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Rob had been worried that he’d punctured the front tyre of the 990, so we stopped at a tyre repair shop to have it looked at. We pulled the wheel off and dunked it in the water tank to find no problem at all other than a slight under-inflation. We refitted the wheel and after a couple of ice-cold cokes we were back on our way.


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60km later we took a left turn at Al Mintirib.


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We passed a signboard that warned of arduous conditions that required plenty of fuel and water, and within a couple of kilometres we were in ‘proper’ desert with nothing to be seen but sand and dunes stretching into the horizon. By this time the light was fading fast and we had another 20km to go before we reached the desert camp at Al Raha. Thankfully the piste was well graded and hard packed so we made good time and arrived at the camp with the last of the sun disappearing over the dunes.


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We unloaded and crashed into the rooms which were pretty basic but comfortable enough before enjoying a meal of chicken kebabs and vegetable curry in the desert dining tent. It was close to midnight as we went back to our rooms, all we could hear was the roar of big V8 petrol engines being thrashed deep in the desert. I called Suze before I slept, it was the first time in days that I’d heard her voice – it was a special moment.


...............................................

Continues tomorrow....
 
Thursday

(There aren’t many pics for the first bit – you’ll understand why!!)

The restaurant manager had told us that the sunrise over the dunes was spectacular and not to be missed. He’d pointed vaguely at the back of the camp and said it would take about ten minutes to walk up the dunes. At 5am I’d woken early, excited at the prospect of seeing this magical event and gave Rob a knock to see if he wanted to come too. He declined as he didn’t want to overstretch his injured leg, so I set out alone into the chilly desert morning with my camera gear packed on my back. Not having anticipated much desert walking I was wearing my riding pants and the Tech7 boots which were hardly appropriate but all I had.

The first 100 metres out of the camp were ok, the sand was very fine and not very densely packed so walking up the moderate slope was reasonably energetic. As I looked forward and saw the slope increasing I began to wonder just how hard it was going to get and of course thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Twenty metres on and I was beginning to pant, and had forgotten about the chilliness I’d noticed first thing. I checked my watch and realised that I’d already been going for ten minutes, then it struck me that I hadn’t really made the progress I’d expected. Undaunted I strode on into the soft sand and up the slope. By the time I’d made another 50 metres or so I was sweating buckets and panting as though I’d just run 10000 metres. I was knackered and had only just made a third of the distance up the slope. I changed my tramping style and turned my feet outwards to ‘herringbone’ up the slope. By this time each step was netting me less than a foot of forward progress and I was beginning to wonder whether it had been a wise decision to make. After 30 minutes of hard slog I had only got halfway up the slope. Bugger. There was a brief respite as the gradient lessened for a few yards and I was able to catch a little breath and made a little better progress.

The climbing started again and once more I was herringboning like a ski-less skier up this moving hill, but by this time my legs were like jelly and I was having to use my hands to support myself and get more purchase in the sand. Looking up I could see the ridge ahead and I managed to struggle to the lip and haul myself over. I was on my hands and knees and by this time just about done in. I looked up expecting to see the expanse dunes in front of me, but ..... There was another climb to get to the top. This one was steep, probably 2:1 but only ten metres or so high. I wasn’t going to give up at this point so swung my camera gear off my shoulders and planted it in the sand in front of me, using it like a snow-shoe to haul myself up the dune. Finally and somewhat triumphantly I pulled myself over the edge to the top of the dune. It wasn’t the very top of course because that would have meant another two hundred metres up another steep dune side, but I was happy to be where I was at that precise moment. The reality was that I didn’t have the energy to go any further. It had taken over an hour to get there, and thankfully the sun was still snoozing beyond the dunes. I had to sit down to recover my breath, but that gave me the chance to take in a little of the vista that had opened out in front of me. I could see down the face of the dune back to the camp and saw just how high I’d climbed – no wonder I was pooped! Only when I looked along the valley did I begin to appreciate the vastness of the desert that stretched into the distance.


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It was inevitable that I’d end up thinking about what it would be like to be stranded there without the comfort of the camp, and what it would be like in the heat of a summer day. It was an ironically chilling thought. I unpacked my camera gear just as the sun crept over the horizon and took my pictures of the sunrise.
I was left a little nonplussed as it wasn’t quite the spectacle I was expecting, so I took a few more shots of the dunes, this time of the disappointing amount of detritus and rubbish left behind by previous visitors. By now the sun was properly awake and doing its thing so I packed my stuff and set off back down the dune face. This bit was easy and the descent was fast and furiously fun with ridiculously lunar steps and jumps getting me back to level ground in less than 5 minutes.

In the fifteen minutes it had taken me to get from the top of the dune back to the room the temperature had risen from 5 to 22 degrees C. I downed a half litre of water without stopping, it was going to be another hot day.

Rob emerged from his pit just before 8am and we strolled over to the restaurant for a breakfast of omelette and toast over which I regaled him with the tale of my heroic struggle with the desert sands while he drank his coke. The previous evening Rob had been talking with one of the waiters who turned out to be an honest to goodness genuine Berber tribesman, arrangements had been made to meet his family who lived just on the edge of Al Mintirib – “where the sand ends...” apparently. We rolled out of the camp and rode the 20k back along the piste towards town. Sure enough, just at the point where the sand ended Rob’s new friend from the previous evening was waiting for us and directed us to his home which was another 100m or so up a side track. We were ushered into his parents’ tent to meet the family and buy the obligatory trinkets.


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He introduced us to his son who was a cheeky little monkey, his Dad who was a ‘real deal’ Berber, his mother who was completely veiled and his grandparents who were both barking mad and blind. The grandmother attacked Rob with her stick while GranPappy started to do warrior impressions. On this cue Dad sent the grandson to get the gun. He emerged with what looked like an old Winchester carbine that had been polished and oiled like a museum piece. He also brought a couple of belts of ammunition which Dad looped over his shoulders – clearly an exhibitionist!


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GranPappy got the gun and started grinning and pretending to kill people while Dad tossed me a round from the belt. I was expecting it to be a dummy and checked the percussion cap. It was a live round. Dad got a bit irritated with GranPappy and took the gun from him and asked me if I wanted to shoot the rifle – I declined thinking he was having a joke with me at which point he took the round from me, stuck it into the rifle’s chamber, took it outside and let the fucker go into the desert!! Shit! Al Mintirib is a moderately sized town with a population of, I’d guess, 20,000 people and this guy was firing live rounds from the outskirts! I couldn’t really imagine that happening somewhere like Potters Bar.


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We said our goodbyes and jumped back on the bikes. Rob had heard of some impressive natural pools at Wada Bani al Khaled which was 40k back towards the coast. We got there to find a very well attended public pond, full of murky water and a few swimming Omanis. Not the idyllic oasis we were expecting. Just down the road were the road bikes we’d encountered a few days before, it turned out that they were a group of Bahrainian bikers doing a tour – they had a back-up van full of spares for their Harleys and Victory Baggers, hardcore!


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We turned round and headed back up towards Al Mintirib, and onward to Ibra where we found yet another sprawling urban metropolis. One of the major objectives of the tour was to spend a night up on the Sayq Plateau which was another 120k north so we pressed on, passing more urban developments at Lisq and Ikza, neither of which were any more inspiring than Luton or Stevenage might be.


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We finally reached the checkpoint at the beginning of the road up to the Plateau. Much of the Plateau was once under military control, and some areas still are hence the requirement for the checkpoint. Rob’s offroading handbook promised a visual and technical treat for the adventurous. What it didn’t explain was that the road was only open to 4 wheel driven vehicles. We were naturally a little peeved and tried our best to cajole the officer to let us through, but he was politely resolute and our progress on that particular road stopped right there.

These are some third party pics of what we missed up on the plateau ..

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The light was fading and after we’d shared some of the officer’s coffee and dates we decided to try and find a hotel in Nizwa. With a population of some 60k, Nizwa could be compared with somewhere like Aldershot only more modern. We didn’t think that it would be hard to find somewhere to stay but it was so we shot through hoping to find somewhere in Al Hamra. On the way we passed signs for the Al Hootah Caves – it sounded interesting so we took that road thinking that there might be somewhere we could grab a sneaky camp. The Caves turned out to be a little like Cheddar or Wookey Hole – and they were closed.

On the road to the caves there had been a sign for the Al Hootah Guesthouse, so that was where we were going. It was about 20km distant and by now it was completely dark. We’d already had one 2km goose chase through a building site to find a non-existent motel so we were hoping for a fairly straightforward run to the hotel. The road was beautifully surfaced and swooped along with a series of easy bends. Thankfully the lights on both bikes were good so we had no problems seeing where to go and the roadsigns were all nice and clear. We were enjoying the ride and kept going up! Every time we went round a bend there was another sign warning of a climb ahead – fantastic! We kept climbing, up and up we went, constantly swooping, climbing and turning. At one point I looked behind to see a beautiful scene of three citiscapes on different sides of the mountains we were ascending. It had got progressively cooler as we’d climbed, but despite this we were almost disappointed when we reached the top and saw the Guesthouse lights in the near distance.

We rolled into the car park to a warm welcome from the staff who were all wrapped up with scarves and woolly hats because at just over 2000m altitude it was cold up there, the thermometer on the 990 said 6C but had been in the mid 20’s when we started the ascent. They took us to a comfortable room and an hour later brought us a substantial meal of soup and curry with rice. The room was warm, the food was good and there was BBC World News on the cable – a perfect end to a bloody brilliant day!
 
Hi Richeyroo,
Apologies for being off topic, but I'm considering a job offer based in the Oman.... Any advice on the pro & cons of living there
Many Thanks
Hi Pembs

I don't want to hijack the Dudes thread which is a great read so drop me an email if you like

richeaton68 at gmail dot com

Suffice to say though, I choose to live here with my wife and 10 and 8 year old children, and we all absolutely love it, although I am sure it is not for everybody. There are tons of pros and cons, but I have just spent the weekend doing 300km through the Empty Quarter on the UAE/Oman/Saudi border on my CRF450X with 5 mates, burning petrol at 15 pence a litre, and after not seeing another soul or building for the entireity of the 2 day 300km ride, we got back to the 4x4s and ice cold beers. :beerjug:
 
Hi Greggers,

To be very honest you didn't really miss much by not getting up onto Sayq Plateau.

I lived and worked in Oman for six years and I visited Sayq before they laid black top up into the jebel and that was the real adventure period. We went up in a Classic Range Rover and it felt like some portions of the road were near vertical. The brakes started to fade on the way down even though we were using low gears.......interesting to say the least! Did it again a couple of years later in a 4 litre Cherokee and is was still scary, especially as it was dark!!

Two years ago I went back out with my girlfriend for a holiday and was underwhelmed by the trip we made up to Sayq as the road is now very boring and in my honest opinion it does not need a 4x4 but the Royal Oman Police (ROP) are still upholding the regulations made when the road really did warrant it.

A friend of mine who has military and government connections could not use of his "wasta" (influence) to be allowed to ride his BMW GS up that road so do not feel that your efforts fell short. The ROP will not let you pass.

Much of the wilderness feel has been taken out of Oman during recent years with the layin of metalled roads. I remember when it used to take us a full day to get to some of our favourite places, now the same trip can be down in a couple of hours.

There is still lots to see and the Omani people make you so welcome as is obvious by your experiences so far.

Ride safe and enjoy Oman.

Sandman.
 


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