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Day 5: though tempted to stay one more night, ultimately we decided we were more in an exploratory mood, so after breakfast and a hot shower we packed up and left towards an unknown destination. Once we dropped back down to close to sea level, I pointed Ali's nose in a south-easterly direction, towards what looked like a long and interesting track and a camp spot at 2,000m but only 10km from the sea (for reference, if you're following on a map, search for "Umq Beer").
The drive started in a wadi (or dry riverbed), a barren environment of grey slate, and then started to climb through red dust. The landscape was always desolate, but incredibly varied, at times martian or lunar, suddenly descending into a wide wadi, then steeply climbing only to open onto a high plateau. Certainly very few tourists have come through here, we passed only two vehicles (both 70's, naturally), and saw many goats and a handful of people. There was no cell phone reception here, and certainly no stores. The only edifice larger than a single-story bungalow was a massive school being built, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, soon to become a hub for the Troopy's waiting for adventure.
I was starting to be concerned, actually, about my potential campsite. The track was well-maintained, the steepest sections were even sealed with concrete, but on each side there was rough terrain, and the only pullouts were awful dust-pits or inhabited places. Camping is permitted anywhere in Oman, but with Ramadan it was imperative that we stay out of sight if we wished to eat during fasting hours (sunrise to sunset...). Mind you, we ultimately ended up eating dinner after sunset every day, but even preparing food in public would be uncomfortable.
Luckily I was completely accurate in my determination of a good camping spot, and after spending over 2 hours driving on this track, we came upon a little-used road leading about 500 meters away to a water storage tank.
The welcome committee was standing guard as we proceeded slowly in 4LO, not certain where the track would lead, and more specifically whether below the tank there would (logically) be a house.
The drive started in a wadi (or dry riverbed), a barren environment of grey slate, and then started to climb through red dust. The landscape was always desolate, but incredibly varied, at times martian or lunar, suddenly descending into a wide wadi, then steeply climbing only to open onto a high plateau. Certainly very few tourists have come through here, we passed only two vehicles (both 70's, naturally), and saw many goats and a handful of people. There was no cell phone reception here, and certainly no stores. The only edifice larger than a single-story bungalow was a massive school being built, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, soon to become a hub for the Troopy's waiting for adventure.
I was starting to be concerned, actually, about my potential campsite. The track was well-maintained, the steepest sections were even sealed with concrete, but on each side there was rough terrain, and the only pullouts were awful dust-pits or inhabited places. Camping is permitted anywhere in Oman, but with Ramadan it was imperative that we stay out of sight if we wished to eat during fasting hours (sunrise to sunset...). Mind you, we ultimately ended up eating dinner after sunset every day, but even preparing food in public would be uncomfortable.
Luckily I was completely accurate in my determination of a good camping spot, and after spending over 2 hours driving on this track, we came upon a little-used road leading about 500 meters away to a water storage tank.
The welcome committee was standing guard as we proceeded slowly in 4LO, not certain where the track would lead, and more specifically whether below the tank there would (logically) be a house.
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