I just had to visit Salalah.
Located at the southern end of Oman, I had heard tales of the Khareef season, the rain, greenery, and mists, contrasting with the hot, endless summer in the rest of Arabia.
The choice is to fly or drive. From Dubai to Salalah, it’s a thirteen-hour drive of 1220km.
We drove.
Oman is a vast country, sparsely populated, small villages don’t offer many comforts, especially for westerners. It’s a tough and tiring drive, few places to stop and nothing to see. This area of Oman consists of endless gravel plains, with little to break the monotony and accidents are frequent.
A two-lane highway just south of Adam, home for the next 8 hours. Music, Kindle, conversation reduced to playing wilderness I-spy,
” It begins with G”,
“Grass?“
“No, Gravel, Stupid”.
A trip like this makes or breaks a friendship.
Which way was he going?
Haulage and coach drivers follow this route day in, day out. Service areas have rest houses, repair workshops, small goods shops, cafeterias and, of course, a mosque.
I hoped he discovered that door was open before something terrible happened…
It’s a long way to sit and wonder how much longer is it going to take. A cool box of snacks and water was our option,
“Oh, No, not another cheese and pickle sandwich, how many did you make?”
Hmm, seemingly unappreciated effort.
Comfort stops behind scrubby bushes on the busy road, snatched in breaks between the traffic are the only option. I just had to hope everyone was driving far too fast to notice the flash of white flesh.
The only overnight stops are rest houses, as yet I haven’t been brave enough to partake.
Having vowed I wouldn’t repeat the experience, I did it again several months later.
This year I’ll fly!
Travels in the Middle East and beyond 
Phew! What a Super post with such Super Pics…..Desert!!!!! To be sure! 😉 Hugs! ❤
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A lot of desert!
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Indeed! 😉
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Intrepid traveler, you. Thirteen hours on a straight-line, desert road without even the geography of nearby mountains to break the monotony? No wonder that route sees lots of accidents. How does anyone stay awake?
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Thanks Kathryn….and for 8 hours it’s a 2 lane highway. We shared driving, so each could sleep, but you see many cars pulled over with drivers sleeping inside and people just lying on the ground sleeping too!
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But was it worth the drive?
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Yes, Dave, it was well worth it, the Southern coast of Oman is completely different, wild and beautiful in its own way ….a future post!
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Looking forward to that future post.
What a drive. It sounds even worse than hour upon hour of trees, when driving up north. I would avoid an overnight stop, as well; getter done!
Flying sounds much better.
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I never had a chance to go, but saw photos from friends that did. It looked a fantastic place!
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I would fly too, long straight roads are not very appealing.
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What an experience. Long dives on straight roads are tough to deal with – way to easy to nod off! Flying sounds better to me.
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I made that trip from Nizwa to Salalah in January of 2012 with my two grown sons, and it was quite an experience. One we’ll never forget!! Oh, and of course then we had to drive back. 🙂
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Thanks, Nomad, yes that’s the problem with driving down… the journey back. However, there is now a coastal route from Mirbat & Hasik north, a spectacular road cut through the escarpment, finished early 2015, taking you along the very long coastline. It makes a good alternative. Too far to do in a day, so an overnight stop at Duqm (now developing as the alternative port to Salalah, so some decent hotels). I shall be going down again this coming Eid, Salalah at monsoon is somewhere special!
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Oh, how I wish I could drive on that road from Mirbat down the coast. I guess I just may have to go back to Oman. I’d love to see Salalah at monsoon, since I was there in January when it was very dry. 🙂
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I will write a post about it, as you can imagine I took a lot of photos! On the to-do list!
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Please e-mail me your phone number to get more detail.
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Can I get your contact details, as i plan to visit from 23 June to 28 june 2017.
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Hi Ibrar, I’m not in UAE at present, but send a mail to vicky2@cytanet.com.cy with any questions you might have!
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