Oman
Trip Start
Nov 25, 2005
1
2
Trip End
Nov 29, 2005
Willayat of Mahadah, Oman
Saturday, November 26, 2005
We had two destinations, Hatta (still part of UAE) and the Hajar Mountains in Oman itself. Hatta is quite popular with some tourists, due mostly to its famous rock pools up in the mountains, with crystal clear water where you can swim and relax all day. Not knowing this, we didn't take any swim wear so we didn't stay too long up there. Instead we looked around the Hatta Heritage Village, a mock up of a traditional arab village once found in the area. It primarily showed us how people used to live, the local laws and traditions, and how to use a squat toilet...
The highlight for me was going up into the Hajar Mountains, and taking some rough off road tracks (thankfully we had a nice 4x4). Apparently these are used for smuggling between the two countries, avoiding the border crossing on the main routes. I didn't see any smugglers (locals suggested not to pull over if approached by anyone up there) but I did see some stunning sights, that you don't expect to see in the middle of a desert country - lots of plants, birds and fantastic lakes (reservoirs?) of green and blue water. Sadly though this entire side trip to Oman was a last minute idea so we had no clue as to what else to do (and no Visa to stay longer in the country) so we headed back to UAE. Definitely a place on my "to do" list.
