Months ago when we were planning this trip we knew that in Oman we wanted to get out of Muscat and see the interior. Oman is a surprisingly mountainous country and there are countless things to see so we had to narrow our choices. Our top choice was to see some of the ancient villages and oases that dot the countryside and our second choice was to see the Sharqiya Sands, which are large sand dunes that are well known in this part of the world.
“Settled on a smaller tour operator…run by a very personable Russian woman named Valentina”
So once we settled on those choices it was a matter of choosing a tour operator that could get us to those places. As with any service you choose from afar you’re taking a chance that it’ll work out. We shopped a variety of web sites, and based on strong Trip Advisor feedback, we settled on a smaller tour operator named VS Tours run by a very personable Russian woman named Valentina who is located in Muscat. She offered exactly what we were looking for, albeit over a period of two days because of the ground that needed to be covered. So we booked two full day tours with her back in August.
Here is a small map that shows you the general ground that we covered on our first day.
The drive to the Sharqiya Sands took us by a town called Ibra in which are found the ruins of an old village called Al Munisefeh. So naturally we stopped.
Modern Ibra is an unremarkable town but the ruins are located inside a neighborhood of the town. It’s as though they were part of the modern Ibra even though no one lived there. And most shocking was that we were three of only six people at the ruins this day.
Here we are finally wearing our silly hats that we were told were necessary for these two days. Turns out not so necessary and after this picture I stopped wearing mine. I’m sure you can guess why.
So for about 30 minutes we climbed around the ruins.
After we saw as much as we could we climbed back into Valentina’s Land Cruiser and headed for lunch at the Sharqiya Sands. Lunch in the desert? Yep, Valentina had arranged for us to have lunch with a bedouin family in their home which is located in the Sharqiya Sands.
It was a simple lunch of rice, salad with Omani lime, vegetables, and dates for dessert. But we joined the family inside their dining tent as welcomed guests. It really was quite an experience and the peacefulness of the being in the desert made it very difficult to leave.
Here is a picture of Valentina with the bedouin grandmother Salma and two of her grandchildren.
We even took time after lunch for Jeff to get a henna from Salma’s daughter.
And then all too soon it was time to leave. We felt a little wistful leaving as Salma was such a lovely and kind host. But we had much more ground to cover today!
Located in the area around Salma’s tents are camel farms. The bedouins keep camels for the milk and wool and trade those for supplies they need to sustain their way of life. It has been this way for generations.
Our next stop was Wadi bin Khalid. In Arabic a “wadi” is a place where water is currently running or runs during times of rain. There are dry wadis everywhere in Oman but only a few that always have water due to their natural spring sources. Wadi bin Khalid is one of those places.
There is a small village that lines the walls of the canyon leading to the oasis. The villagers grow all manner of fruits and vegetables including oranges, limes, dates, and mangoes.
The village uses a diversion canal from the oasis to water their small farms.
Once you walk far enough into the canyon you arrive at the oasis.
So beautiful!
The water is filled with those little gobi fish that are used for pedicures, so if you have time you can stick your feet into the clear, cool water and get a free pedicure! All too soon it was time to leave and so back to the car we went.
Our next stop was to be a dhow building yard in the coastal city of Sur. Dhow building is still big business on the Arabian peninsula – some cost upwards of $1 million to build and they are all made by hand. Each dhow takes about a year to build. Sur has been known for centuries to have the best dhow builders and they are in high demand.
Here are are a couple of their finished products out on the water.
Before we knew it the sun was setting on the first day of our Omani adventure.
It was really a day to treasure – so many interesting experiences and sights. Stay tuned for our next day where we drive straight up a mountain. Yikes.
