Recommend this pageContact us

Scouting Oman and United Arab Emirates

Sunday, April 10, 2022 | Dieter Arnoth / Angela | News / Asia

8th riding day rest day in Nizwa (Jebel Al Akhdar)

Our hotel up on Jebel Al Akhdar, which I can't find words to describe its magnificence, is very tempting to simply stay, relax and soak in the beauty you are surrounded with here. The beauty of the hotel same as that of the landscape.

But in fact, there has been a number of riders who showed up at the bikes at the agreed time. So we went to tackle our first uphill dirt road outside of Nizwa. Afterwards we took the nice and winding paved road parallel to the dirt road to ride up the summit of a neighbouring mountain to enjoy the view and lunch.

Pretty soon, however, it became obvious that everyone felt "homesick" for the infinity pool at our hotel Said and done, we returned for relaxation to our "Green Mountain" in the early afternoon.

Our first mountain dirt road. Even though it may look a bit intimidating at first sight from the distance, it turns out to be easier to ride than it had looked like in the first place once you are riding it.
A nicely graded "non-existent pavement"
Riding up a mountain also means you got to be riding back down again
The rest day riders up on top of one of the mountains. Unfortunately, I can't name it because the area is all called the Jebel Al Akhdar mountain range.
Just shy of the summit we found this quaint little rest-house to have our lunch.
Anastasia, the driver of our chase-vehicle, found a nice place in the shade
While the rest of the group was busy inside to share the wifi password. Life without internet is hard to imagine
Having our Swiss guy Mario with us, we can even learn how to circle a coin in a bowl and, thus, making music with it.

7th riding day from the desert to Nizwa (Jebel Al Akhdar)

Just when you start feeling like a "newly baptised" desert adventurer, the adventure already seems to be over again. Time has been flying and we had to leave our cosy Desert Night's Resort again.

But most of us were not too sad about it, after we heard about the next destination, which was promised to us during our rider's meeting as a place beyond imagination. 

Along the way the desert area gradually changed from its wide and arid plains to a more mountainous region. Slowly becoming higher and higher, we ended up in the mountains of Jebel Al Akhdar at our hotel over 2000 m (6500 ft).

Before we left the Desert Night's Resort, we took the chance to get an impression of how it feels like to sit on the back of a camel. But hey ... where is the saddle for that first camel... ???
Charly and Tanja, trying to bewitch the camel to behave once they had mounted it.
Also Anastasia changed "vehicles" for a while
By the butcher's sign you can tell you are in an Arabic country. Obviously, the pig is replaced by the camel.
During the day it is nice to find a place in the shade every once in a while. The difference in temperature between shade and sunshine is strikingly big
Play video Download
Filesize: 20 MB
We took a loop through the lower mountains and were surprised to find water running across the street with these temperatures
The farmers at the date palm orchards, of course, are happy for every drop of water.
The Arabic equivalent for the pedestrian crossing sign
The last highlight of our today's riding day was the visit of the ancient village of Birka al Mouz.
It all consists of Adobe houses only. Now being deserted, the people who were living there back in time, used to grow bananas, hence the Arabic word "Mouz", meaning "banana".
For us, though, it made for a great place to rest and to have some iced coffee and other cold drinks.
At the bottom of the twisting Jebel Al Akhdar road, we got to see some great high-end, luxurious cars of various brands.
Happy riders after having been flying up the great Jebel Al Akhdar mountain road and now getting hydrated again with a refreshing boot beer.
And at the same time being awe-struck by the mind-boggling view from the hotel terrace.
The view from the terrace, of course, can also be enjoyed the infinity pool
Receiving a warm welcome at a hotel with such a fine entrance area makes you feel like a king - or a queen
Walking around the hotel at night, is as magnificent as during day light. Water combined with light everywhere.
Definitely a piece of wooden art - the ceiling of the hotel's entrance
If you still were not convinced about the hotel's grandness, the buffet dinner definitely whiped out the last doubts.
There was all you could wish for included in terms of food at this buffet.
We all agreed that we never had better food to eat.

6th riding day from Ras Al Jinz to the desert

Today, we are leaving the Turtle Reserve at Ras Al Jinz again as our desert adventure is waiting for us now. From our southern-most point in the tour we first travelled back again direction Sur, driving around the city on its south side. 

After a stretch of highway directing us back northwards, we entered into the south end of the Hijar mountains, where you will find the Wadi Bani Khalid. A Wadi, per definition, is a dried out valley or riverbed, which carries only water after heavy rainfalls. The Wadi Bani Khalid, however, has permanent water that is visited by local people and tourists alike. It simply is a treat to jump into the pools for a cool-down during the hot periods.

In the afternoon we parked our bike in the village of Al Wasil. We were then comfortably being shuttled to our desert nights camp amidst the sand dunes of the Wahiba Sands desert.

The distance between our "glamping" tents and the breakfast room is too far to not use the shuttle to the place.
The Omani desert area we are currently travelling through is not very populated. Obviously, the least they could do here was to build a wide highway that doesn't seemed to be used by very many people. On our way to the Wadi Bani Khalid we had the road pretty much to ourselves almost the whole time.
Local Omani men dressed in their typical white Disdasha
In Oman, water is a precious good and used in many ways. From the pools of Wadi Bani Khalid the water is being channeled to the nearby date palm orchards.
Definitely a scenic place this Wadi Bani Khalid
Swimming in the pools is fantastic. You could swim all the way back between the rocks.
Why the heck didn't they change into swimming gear, you might be asking yourself. Well, first of all we were sweating so much that we had a hard time getting the gear off. And secondly, it is cooling you down nicely on the bike while driving through the hot desert air.
If only you could see what's happening down there at the feet Many small fish are giving you a treatment and it is 100% tickling
Our luxurious desert camp
Once we've arrived at the desert camp in the late afternoon, some of our group went for a ride with the quads. Here is our brave Portugiese lady. Thumbs up Tanja !!!
Afterwards, the whole group enjoyed the sunset on one of the high sand dunes around the camp. Since we have the luxurious version of desert camp here, we, of course, were driven up the dune
The two lady tour guides of our Scouting tour through the Emirates and the Oman - being messed up by the upcoming wind that has covered us all in sand

5th riding day from Muscat to Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve

First of all some gravel
Play video Download
Filesize: 11 MB
Bimmah Sinkhole
…. with riding gear
Arrival at Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve

… such nice tents for the night
We're very patiently waiting for the turtle watching to start.
And finally our patience got rewarded with this huge green turtle. She was busy laying her eggs. Watching her was a pretty amazing experience for all of us.
As a contrast to the huge 1 meter large turtle, we were also lucky to see one of the baby turtles.
What an incredible finish of a great day.

4th riding day from Sohar to Muscat

Nice mountain road in Oman
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque
world’s second largest chandelier, completely covered in Swarovski crystals, measuring an impressive 15x8 meters, and weighing 8 tons.
Muscat’s corniche coastal road
Wonderful dinner
unique desert zone
Coffee shop

3rd riding day from Al Aqua to Sohar

Al Badiyah Mosque and Fort
Soon after we have left our hotel this morning we visited oldest mosque of the United Arab Emirates still in use.
Quick refresh

2nd riding day from Khasab to Al Aquah

Arrival at the seaside hotel
Coffe stop… so nice
….
Roller coaster fun at the top
The fantastic mountain road up to Jebel Jais …. 25 km (15 miles) best road conditions, … best fun

1st riding day from Dubai to Khasab

At the end of the day some gravel
nice curvy coastal road on the way to Khasap
At the border to Oman
Coffee stop along the road

Welcome Briefing

Sundown in the Desert
Welcome Briefing
Top of page

Blog search


Add a comment Rate this post
Felix Gregor Huber
Friday, March 25, 2022 at 08:11

One thousand and one dreams - what a wonderful & amazing tour! Salam and greetings to all of you,
Felix
Ps.: Freu' mich schon auf Südtirol!!!
Angela de Haan
Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 06:45

We alaikum asalam,
Thanks for your lovely comment. Indeed, they are great countries.
See you soon, Angela
Alex
Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 22:24

Does the heart surgeon get enough Coke Zero or does he have to suffer because of Diet Coke? Best regards to D.!
Angela de Haan
Sunday, March 27, 2022 at 06:46

Pepsi did its best, I guess
Markus Hellrigl
Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 13:02

Schön für mich, soviele vertraute Orte wieder zu sehen! Tolle Bilder! ich wünsche euch weiterhin eine gute Tour in einem faszinierenden Land.
Liebe Grüße,
Markus
Angela de Haan
Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 15:26

Ein sehr schönes Land der Oman!! Wir tanken ein wenig Wärme für dich mit!
Liebe Grüße, Angela
Angela de Haan
Tuesday, March 22, 2022 at 15:24

Hallo Markus,
da hast du definitiv Recht
Claudia - Nicole Wenhart
Friday, March 18, 2022 at 00:25

Great pictures!
Angela de Haan
Monday, March 21, 2022 at 14:53

Thanks, Claudia!
There are some fantastic places to be found here!
Axel Schneider
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 at 09:56

Wünsch euch eine gute Tour und hey Klaus schön dich wieder auf Tour zu sehen - na dann viel Spaß

Grüße aus dem zur Zeit mit Sahara Sand bedeckten Tirol

Axel
Angela de Haan
Monday, March 21, 2022 at 14:54

Danke Axel,
wir fühlen uns hier s...wohl
Bis auf bald, Angela
Axel Schneider
Thursday, March 24, 2022 at 10:37

Grüße an Charles from the yung Buck
Er wird glaube wissen vom wen es kommt
Daniel
Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 12:13

Happy to read your your latest "baby".
Angela de Haan
Monday, March 21, 2022 at 14:55

Hi Daniel,
it is very nice hearing from you. I will be getting in touch with you when I am back home again.
Best wishes and a hug, Angela
Sarah
Tuesday, March 15, 2022 at 11:36

Have a wonderful tour
Angela de Haan
Monday, March 21, 2022 at 14:56

Danke Sarah, auch für deine tolle Vorbereitung !!!
Liebe Grüße, Angela
Claudia - Nicole Wenhart
Monday, March 14, 2022 at 18:19

Hey everybody,
Have a great tour and a lot of fun☀️

Newsletter

Sign up now to stay in the loop and receive our e-paper with 10 of the most beautiful motorcycle roads on earth.

Edelweiss Bike Travel