Oman by Land and by Sea

Oman, our neighbor to the south.  Oman, with it's gorgeous, dry mountains and crystal clear waters was a welcoming relief after the hustle and bustle of the UAE.  

First up was the region of Musandam, to a small area called Khasab.  This part is between the UAE and Iran, but it technically belongs to Oman.  

It's the little orange part separated from the rest of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz.

We left from Dubai early one morning and drove the 3 hours to catch our dhow boat cruise around Khasab.  Because we were crossing country borders, we had to deal with passport and visa formalities, but thankfully our friends who had taken this trip already warned us of the extra time it takes to cross over into Oman.  We made it to our boat on time, but there were a few ladies who did not and the boat left without them!  They paid for a speedboat to catch them up to us, but they missed about half of the cruise.  

Khasab is famous for fjords and dolphins, and luckily we saw both!

As we set off in our traditional dhow boat, we were greeted with this gorgeous view.

A shot of a traditional Omani dhow, similar to the one we were on.

Brian spent a little time jumping off the side of the dhow in between stops for snorkeling and swimming.

On the way back to the port, the captain and guide got serious about looking for some dolphins.  I mean, the tour was called Dolphin Khasab Tours... I was going to be a little disappointed if we didn't see any.  Here's where we saw the first few.

Our boat and another sailed together and the dolphins really loved playing in the waves.  The guide made dolphin noises and clapped his hands a lot... apparently that works to get them excited.  

Soon they were jumping and playing right near our boat!  Photo courtesy of zoom lens and burst mode.

Brian and the captain

Happy about seeing the dolphins!

After Khasab, we returned to Dubai and finished up the rest of our trip to the UAE.  From Dubai, we flew to Oman proper and spent a few days exploring Muscat, enjoying the UNESCO World Heritage sites, and reveling in the natural beauty of the country.

Our off-roading vehicle, the Nissan Sunny.

The Sunny and the UNESCO website took us to this coordinate in the middle of nowhere, where there was supposed to be a World Heritage site.  

On the way out, after driving through a giant dry riverbed full of big rocks (PS, don't ever buy a former rental car), we found what we were looking for (I think).  

Another World Heritage site that was much easier to find were the beehive tombs at Al Ayn.  We were literally the only visitors.  

Archaeologists don't really know what they're for... tombs is just their best guess.  They're about 5,000 years old!

Another UNESCO site included the aflaj irrigation canals, which use gravity to provide water to much of arid Oman.

The aflajs help these dates ripen!

The aflajs mean all this is lush and green instead of dry.

We visited a souk where Brian got a traditional Omani hat.

We also saw the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat.

I always enjoy the architecture in these big mosques.

We spent a day hiking in Wadi Shab, a canyon dotted with turquoise pools, great for cooling off in the hot Oman sun (it was surprisingly hotter than Saudi Arabia!).

Wadi Shab pro-tip:  bring better water shoes than $5 ones from Academy.  I felt every single rock under my feet for the entire 3 hour hike.

We finally reached the last pool and hung out for awhile before the hike back.  I was still happy and not throwing up from heat exhaustion at this point.

It was a really pretty hike though!

Our last boat excursion of the trip, which proved to be most excellent (and my epic Wadi Shab sunburn!).

There were baby sea turtles!

And big sea turtles!

And lots of fish and coral!

And even a WHALE SHARK!

This was apparently a baby whale shark, because it was "only" 15 or 20 feet long.  Brian and I were the only ones on our boat to see it, so luckily we got photographic evidence.  Though we felt really bad because a lady on our boat had been talking about going diving all over the world in an effort to see one... Womp womp.

The people in Oman were super friendly. We stayed in AirBnBs run by both locals and expats and met some really nice people. Our Omani host had us over for coffee and dates and was happy to tell us all about her family and Omani culture along with where to get the most delicious Omani food. Some of the places we went did not seem to get many Western visitors. When one gentleman working in a small market asked where we were from we responded that we were American. He responded with "Masha'Allah!" which is an Arabic phrase that expresses appreciation or joy in what was said.  This was the first time in two years we've gotten this response.  The people of Oman made our vacation very memorable.

We're finishing up Ramadan here in Saudi Arabia and looking forward to our next adventures... Romania, Sweden, and Denmark in July!