Four Boys; Never-ending Road; Another World

I was in Dubai and was missing the season called monsoon we usually wait for when in India. Three other souls were in my vicinity with the same crisis. But rain, natural greenery in Dubai and around was a difficult ask. There are a few oases in UAE but they end before they start and neither do they offer any climatic change.

Salalah was quite common for the people in the middle east who want to run away from the heat and chill in the greens. It is located at almost where Oman ends and Yemen starts. There are direct flights from Dubai to Salalah but road trips are so a 'Man' thing.

This was one of the best group trips I ever made with everybody enjoying the journey and nature in their ways. Freedom to get lost in the place of travel is so relaxing. I think that is the reason we travel, to be free from all the material pleasures and hiccups of our daily lives. Let me introduce you to my group if I have praised their company so much. Raj, a fitness freak with an open but matured mind, Biswadeep, an amazing landscape photographer and the youngest chap in our group Rohit, an adventure-lover. One thing common amongst all of us was that we were bubbling with energy. Raj, I and Rohit had the UAE driving licenses which were valid in Oman as well. With an upcoming long weekend and all of the above-mentioned factors, we rented an SUV, Hyundai Tuscon for 4 days.

Our trip started an hour later than we planned because our vehicle was not ready at the Europcar centre. We insisted Rohit and Biswadip to be on their feet, ready with all our luggage so that with no further delay as soon as Raj and I get the car we can pick them up and start.

Europcar had a special vehicle permit which allowed us to cross the UAE Oman border only through Hatta. This detour would add another hour to our trip. So on paper, our full trip was of 14 hours 38 minutes.

Only 4 days leave plan and you are on the road for more than a full day, such madness is only possible when none of the group members had the word 'complaint' and 'tiring' in the dictionary. Starting at around 8 pm from Dubai we made our 1st stop in a roadside Dhaba. Raj was the only vegetarian in the group so with some roti we had to order some daal and for the rest some masala chicken. It was a Pakistani dhaba so only one roti per head was quite filling.

Raj was the most experienced and supposedly the best driver amongst us. So he decided to drive at least till we cross the Hatta Border in UAE because speeding tickets in the UAE are way more expensive than in Oman. For Indians having a UAE resident permit, it was Visa on arrival, so we needed to be least prepared in this regard. Except Rohit holding a Pakistani passport had to get his Oman Visa ready beforehand. But prepared or on arrival Visa, it was a really long queue before entering Oman where we had to spend almost a couple of hours to get our passports stamped.

After the hassles of the long queue at the Oman immigration, we restarted our drive to our destination. Raj decided to take some rest after we reached Sohar and the steering was now under my control. I had a habit of sleeping late and often be awake the whole night so the risk of a dozing driver was least with me. Sohar to Ibri was mostly a two-way road with quite a lot of turns around the rocky hills but the traffic in that route was minimum. I maintained a stable speed above 100 kmph and often where there were straight roads and supposedly less risk of a speed radar, I even accelerated till 150 kmph. All my friends were dead asleep by then. Rohit was in the front seat with me and tried to be awake for some time but after a point, he too could not resist the night sleep. I kept driving until there were some signs of blue light from below the horizon. Raj, the early riser had already taken his share of nap and was awake by then. By this time we were on a straight endless road with deserts on both sides. The road was one of the most lifeless roads I have ever travelled. We decided to stop the car when the blue colour had vanished and the sky had turned all orange with the solar aura, marking the end of the night. There was a movement of some wild camels at a distance marching from behind the cactus. It was a beautiful morning with the peaceful sky and the only human existence around were four of us, with Rohit still sleeping in the backseat. I and Biswadip were busy capturing moments from the rising sun whereas Raj was stretching and enjoying the first light. In the meantime, Rohit was awake and joined us in relishing the flavour of the dawn.

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As we restarted our journey, the day had started getting hotter. With endless desert, the temperature was rising in proportion to the hour by the watch. I have a good quality of falling asleep as per my need irrespective of what the condition is. The AC running and the road being smooth and flawless it was the almost perfect condition for me to get into a deep sleep with snores and dreams. Rohit was on the steering and when I first woke up, our car was parked and there were a few policemen discussing something with Rohit and Raj. There were speed radars somewhere which we did not notice and Rohit on his first trip after getting his license had opened his account on the fine book. Since it was Oman things got settled with 100 AED or 10 Omani Riyal. By this time I was awake. It was a straight two-way road with hardly 2 or 3 cars in an hour to overtake or who overtakes you. After the fine we paid, the second case was more frequent.

We stopped for some lunch near Haima. Some kebabs, vegetables and rotis satisfactorily filled up our stomach. The day had turned as hot and dry as we imagine the middle east is. We had plenty of juices and water bottles to keep us hydrated. The road was endless as I have mentioned several times and both the sides of the road were literally deserted. From Haima it was more 494 Kms to Salalah. We were running late and realized that would reach our destination almost towards late afternoon.

After travelling through 440 kilometres there was a dry hilly region that marked the end of this endless desert highway. The surprise after that was beyond imagination and something I never have and don't think ever will see in my life. We entered this hilly region and after a couple of curves, the arid environment vanished into a lush green foggy space. This was sheer magic and beyond any explanation. Such a change in climatic conditions in less than a kilometer was quite abrupt and suprisingly; may this is why Salalah is one of the biggest Oasis in the middle east.

While entering Salalah, there was a checkpoint as if it was a different zone. It seemed to be special in all respect. After showing our Visa and car documents we entered into this dreamland of the middle east. White fog and lush 'darakht wadiya', as Rohit said in Urdu. That was funny to our ears but excitement brings out your native language and we got an anthem title for our trip. We stopped our car at a viewpoint where widespread greenery and the cool refreshing fog was cleansing our lungs which had dried out in the heat of Dubai. There were beautiful colourful flowers, dense yet mildly travelling fog and widespread green meadows. We spent some time there, took some photos, went to the edge of the hill, sat and relaxed for some time. Then we headed to the apartment we had booked in Salalah.

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Our apartment was located quite in the middle of the city, like 800 meters from Sultan Qaboos Masjid(the main one in Salalah town). We parked our luggage took a quick shower and headed towards the Ayn Khor one of the famous waterfalls in Salalah. But the drive to this place makes you lose yourself. Cattle herds, camels, beautiful viewpoints and clean and wet roads through the 'Darakht' were immensely addictive.

Why I use the word addictive is because when we reached Ayn Khor it was almost dark yet the lush green surroundings did not stop impressing us. Some of our friends from Dubai who were already there told us that there was not much water in the waterfall and was not at it's best. Since it was already late and to reach the waterfall after a trek of 20 minutes was not very practical, we decided to skip it and spend some time in the Wadi (Wadi is the Arabic term for hills) amidst fog, clouds and green.

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We had our dinner at a Lebanese restaurant called Al Tannour near the city centre. It was good for its variety of kebabs and I was in search of a special camel meat kebab popularly known as 'mishqaq' but had to settle with all other forms and types of kebabs except that of a camel. We had to take Raj to a vegetarian restaurant just on the other side of the road and negotiate with his hunger.

Since our trip was a short one, we started our day early after some breakfast in a south Indian restaurant. The places we desired to see on that day was a long list. The choice to start the day was simple, the beautiful Al Mughsail Beach and then the fascinating Marneef Cave and Blow Holes. The beach was as serene with beautiful landscapes as anyone could imagine, but trust me the Marneef Cave and blow holes literally blew my mind away. An interesting geographical formation of limestones resulting seawater gushing through them like fountains every time the waves strike the shore. This place was quite touristy so if you are travelling during the day, expect a decent crowd. I even stood on a blowhole and drenched myself with the water gushing out from the bottom.

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While returning, to my ecstasy, I found camel Mishqaq freshly prepared and sold by a street-side vendor. I am a pure food lover and camels around even in huge number actually could not melt my heart well enough to overcome the water that was melting in my mouth due to the freshly prepared camel meat Mishqaq.

After some real refreshment then we headed towards our next destination, the famous Wadi Darbat. It is a big water body in the middle of all green forest. People often prefer boating or picnic by the river but 4 boys on a boat ride or picnic in such a crowd didn't make much sense. We spent some time in the area at a relatively less crowded end of the Wadi and then moved ahead for our next destination.

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The next destination was again an interesting one, a steep plunge waterfall. Rohit was excited to take a plunge into the water and swim till the foot of the waterfall. I and Biswadip followed him. Poor Raj who did not know how to swim was our taking care of our belongings hence missing the real fun. The waterfall called Ayn Athum was a refreshing experience to end our day.

Day 3, was our last one in Salalah. On our way back, we decided to take a plunge in the natural beauty of Ayn Sahalnoot. It was a natural water reservoir with rocky caves surrounding it and green and fog were always complimentary. People were even jumping from a cliff nearby. We were not that brave but small attempts from the nearby wall was lucrative enough. For Rohit it was like bread and butter whereas I had to accumulate quite a chunk of external courage to complete the jump. But it was amazing. Biswadip was enjoying his solitude with some nature photography and Raj was again taking care of our clothes and my camera.

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We had office the next day, so after Ayn Sahalnoot we started our drive back so that we reach Dubai by midnight. The drive back was not that smooth on my pocket. I got two speeding tickets by God's grace both of them were in Oman before I handed over the steering back to Raj.

But if have to describe how the trip went, I would run short of appropriate positive adjectives out of my limited vocabulary.

Tips forthis sort of road trip:

1. It's always safe to have more than just one drivers.

2. Take appropriate and regular breaks.

3. Enjoy the journey

4. Specific to road trips in the Middle East: Keep yourself well hydrated. We carried ample water bottles and fruit juices.

5. Lastly, drive safe and steady.

** Trip cost mentioned is divided to per person

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