Off-roading has become a very popular hobby amongst expats during the past few years in the United Arab Emirates. There is a long list of off-road clubs that can be approached if someone wants to drive their own 4X4 in a morning or evening drive to the desert. If not there are more organized tour companies providing dune bashing trips with food and entertainment in a desert camp after a sunset photo shoot. On the other hand, overlanding is something not much heard of in the region. It involves much more preparation than a regular weekend drive. Some may even be shocked to hear that people actually overland for years around the world.
The seed of overlanding was planted early this year when I asked our group “if anyone is game for a four day camping trip”. My “partner in crime” Bazil was with me on the idea immediately and Mitch who has covered most of Oman during his early tour and travel career was all in too. The night went on and the next day I set up a WhatsApp group adding three of us.
We started meeting after work a few times to plan the route. We made a checklist with all the items we have and what we should carry with us, recovery gear, first aid, food, tools, water etc. The idea was to carry the minimum but not to run out during the trip. Our next member Channa is also an outdoor and adventure freak, who has done some serious climbing and many other activities around globe. Yet this was his first time experiencing overlanding. So all set! Let’s go see Oman… from a different angle.
Day 1 – 14th April
I really don’t know if I should consider this as day one of the trip. The events unfolding differently need to be remarked. Although we thought we’ll start the journey at 23:00 hours from the ADNOC petrol pump on Maliha road after passing E611, we were all delayed with last minute preparations. We managed to hit the road by 23:45. Driving on winding roads from Maliha to Hatta in horror movie-type darkness was good for a starter. We made a few stops on our way to the Hatta border looking for ice, it surprising none of the gas stations in UAE had ice, now we were without ice in our ice box and one point was noted: a fridge is a must have . We reached Hatta UAE border well close to 1:30a.m. and the new set up at the UAE border was very convenient. We got through the gate in a jiffy with our exit stamps and then we encountered the highlight of the day.
All three of us were asked to move the vehicles to the inspection area as the officials wanted to check the vehicles inch by inch. At two in the morning, it was tough to repack all we have packed so carefully and systematically. Bazil had a roof rack full of jerry cans, a toolbox and one military looking storage box; Luckily, customs officers were convinced that we were just a bunch of crazy people living in vehicles to save money. We headed out of the customs post at 3:30 a.m. By this time our energy levels have drained out and we were ready to set the tents any moment. Change of plans — we decided not to drive to the Shinas lagoon and instead drove directly to Sohar Beach under the new road construction to find a camping spot. We settled for the first, clean, flat spot on the beach.
Day 2 – 15th April 2015
Officially, I would consider this as the first day of our trip. Three hours of sleeping was interrupted by a noise which you don’t hear that much in Middle Eastern living. We were woken up not by loud waves nor an angry villager, but it was hundreds of angry crows! |The whole bunch of them decided we had enough sleep at 7:00 a.m. in the morning. We did not regret that we were forced to open our eyes that early as the scenery was mind-blowing – golden waters, morning sun reflecting on the sea was well captured with our lenses. The first visitor after the crows was a villager from the nearby fishing village. As he was kind of surprised to see a bunch of guys making tea so early on the beach he explained how the fishing season has been and the welfare of the village. It was so kind of him to invite us to his house for breakfast; we kindly turned him down explaining that we have to cover more than 600km and a five-star lunch to attend to.
A quick kitty wash, and warm coffee and we were all packed up to hit the roads after filming the area with the drone. I guess the crows got their fair share once Channa started the drone. A Pakistani special meat preparation for others and dhal curry for me ( I knew this was coming my way as I was the only vegetarian) with freshly baked bread for breakfast from a local Pakistani food joint in Sohar was a great way to keep the belly full for a long drive. Eating out was suggested whenever possible to minimize what we carry and also to save time for the drive. I guess it was a good idea too. We found ourselves on the highway to Muscat with nothing much to talk about other than no ice in any of the supermarkets, petrol stations between Sohar and Muscat City Centre too. We somehow managed to buy a few things from City Centre. There are so many new developments since my last visit to Muscat six years ago. The roads were crowded, constructions, diversions shows that Muscat is on a development phase now. We managed our way through the city to Al Bustan Palace Hotel just in time for the lunch. Special thanks to all the staff at Al Bustan Palace for hosting us. We also met an off-road enthusiast, Mohammed Al Hadi From one of the Oman-based off-road groups and he was fascinated with our rout. He also suggested a few places for our plan B if we run late en route to our planned destination. Believe me, the info came pretty handy.
We hit the road after a super meal, though we might not need much of a dinner after all that food went into our bellies from the full buffet lunch spread. We turned towards New Yeti road so we can witness the seawater ways between the rocks and these bay-like formations that are hiding rich sea life, also undoubtedly providing great harvest for the fishermen from the area. We were in search of a shorter route towards Sur though the mountains or beach. We passed by the small village of Saifah, looking for the gateway towards Qurayyat which was on the other side of the mountains. Either we end up in a fence on the beach or a dead end on the gravel tracks. We soon decided to backtrack to Muscat and take Highway 17. Road diversions took more time than we expected as our return from Saifah was full of photo stops.
We managed to reach Qurayyat Beach around 8:00 p.m and we were lucky to notice the narrow road alongside the beach .The beach was full of mini rock cliffs. It looked impossible to set up camp. We tried a few sandy patches and finally found a nice spot about 12km away from the famous sinkhole. Hot bean curry was served along with some Arabic bread we bought from a local shop. A small bonfire to compliment the fine sheesha, food and our newfound spirit to go with a lovely tune plays by Bazil — a perfect camp, like in a movie, the faces were lit up with the fire, the sea breeze and water brought harmony to the tune from Bazil’s acoustic guitar. We hit the tents an hour past midnight and it was the longest day of the trip covering nearly 700kms…
To be continued…
