Breathtaking Oman - Wadis & Jebels

Road to Wadi Bani Awf

Kevin - on top of the mountain

Jebel Shams

Wadi Shab

Village near Jebel Shams

Jebel Shams

Wadi Shab
Kevin with local boys at Wadi Ghul

Shangri-La Resorts - Musat
Outskirts of Muscat

The past three days in Oman have been nothing short of spectacular. Scenery that you only see in travel magazines and dream about seeing some day. A "wadi" is a valley or dried up river bed. A "jebel" is a mountain. We hired a guide on Thursday and toured Musat, Old Muscat and a new series of three hotels referred to as Shangri-La. Late in the day we rented a 4x4 in preparation for the next two days. On Friday, we drove up Jebel Shams, the highest mountain in Oman at 3,075m, went to Al Hooti Caves and visited the town of Nizwa. We left at 7:30 in the morning and returned at 9 pm at night. On Saturday we began the morning with a tour of the Grand Mosque. The carpet in the main hall took 600 women two years to make. The total weight of the carpet is 21 tonnes. The chandalier weighs 8 tonnes and is made of Swarovski cyrstals. The Grand Mosque was a gift to the people from Sultan Qaboos on his 30th anniversary. By 10 am we began a tour down the coast towards Tiwi, and visited what is referred to as one of the most beautiful sites in Oman - Wadi Shab. At approx. 50 km away from the Wadi, we found ourselves driving on a mountain trail marked with hand-painted signs - TIWI this way! Within a few kms. we saw herds of sheep, goats, wild donkeys and camels along the beach. The beaches along the Gulf of Oman are stunning....rockface cuts down to the water leading to stretches of white sandy beach. At Wadi Shab, we hiked for approximately one hour through the Wadi. Unfortunately, due to an early evening flight, we did not have time to go all the way back to the sink hole where one can swim through caves. Not so sure I would have tried that in any event! Kevin, Rick and I had an amazing weekend. It was a geography teacher's dream weekend!!