I never thought a flight stop-over would become such a memorable & mesmerising vacation for me.
For one of my annual birthday vacation, we'd planned to go to Jordan and booked our flights on Oman Air. They give a stopover in Muscat for those interested in exploring the country. Since I had a friend who was living in Muscat, I decided to make use of this stop-over.
A short 3.5 hour flight and we were in the capital city!
Why Oman?
Oman has plenty of offerings for nature & adventure lovers. The country has nature which is unique & unexplored. Pristine nature - canyons, cliffs, beaches, lakes, diving sites, along with culture, heritage, architecture, food, the country offers so much & more for the intrepid traveller. The stunning landscapes & scenic beauty of this country will put a lot of other countries to shame & what's even better, all of this is still very pure & unspoilt.
Day 1 - Camping under the stars
Oman is popular & very safe for Camping, so that's what we did for our first day / night.
During the day, we drove around the Marina area & enjoyed hookahs at beach side cafes (Hookah is extremely popular here - amongst the young & old, equally).
To prepare for the night, we got food packed from Five Guys (yummm) and headed to the Finns beach area to find our camping spot :)
We found a private area near a cliff (with a beach below which we couldn't see until next morning since we reached the spot in the dark at night time). We pitched our tents for the night & setup a cosy campfire, while we sat down to enjoy our food & booze. Over 20 shooting stars lit the sky for us that night :)
With the sound of water crashing against the waves, we drifted into a serene slumber.
GPS Coordinates: 22.876232, 59.230173; 22.882761, 59.226109
P.s. When we were pitching our tent at night, little did we know we'll be waking up to the most beautiful sunrise the next morning!
Day 2: A dreamy Sunrise!
After enjoying a few cups of hot chocolate & coffee while the sun rose, we soaked in the beauty of the surrounding. Absolutely surreal!
We packed up to head to our exploration spot for the day - the Bimmah Sinkhole.
With inviting turquoise waters, this lake / is a true marvel. This site has a toilet block which we used for freshening up & changing into our swimsuits. We plunged into the cool & refreshing waters (go early to avoid crowd).
You can swim in the waters if you're comfortable with swimming. People also cliff jump into this (75ft jump) but we weren't feeling that adventurous.
After a refreshing swim & having built up our appetite, we headed back to Muscat (1.5 hours away). On our way back, we stopped at a road-side restaurant where we had some delicious food! If only, I could remember the name of this place :|
The evening we spent roaming around the city, enjoying Shawarmas & fatoushes.
Day 3: The most stunning marvel of nature - Wadi Shab!
It was here! The day we'd planned to visit Wadi Shab. (Since we couldn't carry out phone to click pictures, please Google Wadi Shab & secret waterfall / cave videos to see its stunning beauty in all its glory.)
A 2-hour drive and we reached Wadi Shab. A short boat ride took us to the point from where we started a hike to the prettiest secret waterfall + water cave. It is a full blown hike to dress accordingly with sturdy sandals or shoes.
It took us about an hour to reach the pools. On the way, we were treated with beautiful sights of gigantic canyons on all sides, & turquoise water bodies beneath - the scenery from start to end is absolutely gorgeous!
After the long hike, we reached the emerald water pool. It took us no time to jump into the water & cool down after the long hike. The pool starts off as shallow but gets deeper as you go further. Most of the people stayed in and around this pool, jumping in & out of the water. The more adventurous ones went ahead to the explore the secret waterfall and cave. To reach this hidden gem, we had to swim for 15-20 mins (please do this only if you're a confident swimming OR have a guide along & are wearing a life jacket). The exhausting swim was treated with a sight to behold - a cave with crystal clear water than shone emerald when the sun rays fell on it! A small space, it got crowded very quickly - there is not place to hold or sit inside the cave and you practically have to float or swim the entire time you're in it. Since I was feeling super adventurous I decided to try cliff-jumping here, and oh boy, it was fun! Three tiring but thrilling jumps later, we started our swim + hike back to the base of the Wadi from where the boat took us back to our car.
Wadi Shab - A truly mesmerising landscape from nature, still remains my favourite memory from all of my travels.
Again - please Google Wadi Shab & secret waterfall / cave videos & pictures to help convince why you should visit this place.
Day 4 - Of Mountain peaks, Souqs & Forts!
For the fourth day, we decided to book a tour with a guide that would take us from Muscat as a day trip to Jebel Shams & Nizwa fort.
We first went to the Nizwa fort. An ancient castle, it is worth a visit as it gives some interesting views of the surrounding city from the top. The traditional Souqs around this area is definitely worth exploring - picked up a few souvenirs from here. After this, the driver took us to Bahla city / fort which is called the city of Djinns. It is an abandoned village which has a rather ominous tale of black magic & Djinns. For those thrilled by horror stories or spooky places, this lists in World's top 10 spooky places in to visit. We roamed around the ancient ruins for a bit.
Post lunch, we headed to Jebel Shams - Oman's grand canyon, to witness one of the prettiest sunsets we've ever seen :)
Our driver knew all the views points and kept driving through those while we stopped to take pictures.
As the sun started to go down, he took us to the peak point where we sat down with our jumpers and shawls to soak in the surrounding beauty of blue sky turning shades of pink + yellow + orange.
A lot of people camp at Jebel Shams overnight so if you enjoy camping, this could be one of the spots, where you spend the night to stargaze.
Day 5: Exploring the underwaters..
After a long-ish, touristy day 4, we went to the place where we belong - the underwater. While the original plan was to scuba dive in the beautiful waters of Oman, since we had to fly the next day, we settled for a snorkelling session. Oman has some stunning dive and snorkelling sites, the most popular of all - the Dimaniyat Islands. We chose something closer to Muscat - the Al-Fahal Islands. A private speedboat took us to the spot, where we snorkelled our hearts away. While the snorkelling was great, I did get stung by a Jelly Fish - a nice long sting from my finger till the elbow. That kind of summed up our water adventures for this trip.
Tried from the snorkelling, we headed back to the Marina on our speedboat while enjoying yet another golden sunset of the way.
For our last night, we decided to camp again in yet another breathtaking spot. Leaving you with pictures of where we woke up in the morning, a few hours before we flew out of the city.
Budget break-down (approximate costs):
1. Flights (from Delhi) - INR 20K for return trip
2. Hotels (3 star) - INR 2K per night (on twin sharing)
3. Food & Beverage - INR 2K per day
4. Activities & day tours - INR 10K per activity / tour (private for a couple or group)
In case you decide to drive around, car rental (compact SUV) is INR 6K per day.
You can book tours on Viator.
Do follow me on Instagram for regular travel updates - Mentally on Vacation
Please reach out to me for any specific queries for this trip or travel, in general :)
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