Car Camping in Oman (very pic heavy)

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
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Well my 30 days in the desert (UAE) are now over and I'm now back in Canada adjusting to the 9 h jet lag. On my last weekend there I had the opportunity to do a little car camping in Oman. It was a blast and the scenery was just spectacular. This was the first time I every blew through the full 1 gig memory stick in my camera! Here are a selection of my favorites.

First - the UAE desert landscape. This pretty much says it, although the juxtaposition of sand and coast can be quite spectacular.

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As we approached the boarder of UAE and Oman, the mountains just popped up out of nowhere!

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This was the final road to the campsite. It looks tame in the shot, but the steepness of some parts definitely required 4 wheel drive.

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Our campsite was just off the beach. It is a secluded little place, but popular enough that we had a couple of good natured neighbhors.

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Behind the campsite was a graveyard, some of the gravestones being made of fossilized corals

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Some older ruins behind the campsite:

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Our neighbhors had some luck spearfishing, a baracuda and a zubaidi (butterfish)

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Sunset:

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The hypnotising flames - it was the perfect night for scotch - I had a bottle of Lafroaige that we passed around; oh and a case a beer too!

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Sunrise can be just as nice as sunset...

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Hangover cure:

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A little tour around in the morning:

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Packing it in....

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Some shots from the car window on the way back..

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Final parting shot - the interface of dune and mountain...

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On my flight out of UAE, I stayed a week in Germany and met up with my wife there. Not so camping orientated but I'll try to post picks of it next week.

Sorry no knife shots in this one - although my little buck diamond back and vic camper saw me through. In Germany I picked up a Vic Soldier - silver alox (love it) and Opinel #8 (also love it!).
 
Beautiful shots! Been out there quite a few times, but never camping. Driving around too much! Usually was in Fujaiarah or Dubai, UAE, when in that part of the Middle East, but got to Oman and several others in that area.

What was the highlight of the camping trip?
 
kgd - Thanks for posting! Those pictures brought back a lot of pleasant memories. I grew up in Saudi Arabia, and spent a lot of time camping in both the desert and along the Red Sea. Your comments about the mountains jumping up out of nowhere rang true as well. We noticed that when we travelled to the southern part of the country, near Yemen.

There was no Scotch or beer as Saudi Arabia is a dry country! Of course, there was always the local 180proof moonshine, known as Sidiki!

-- FLIX
 
Brian Jones said:
Beautiful shots! Been out there quite a few times, but never camping. Driving around too much! Usually was in Fujaiarah or Dubai, UAE, when in that part of the Middle East, but got to Oman and several others in that area.

What was the highlight of the camping trip?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comps guys. It was really a fun time. The highlight of the trip was just the ability to chill out. My work in Dubai was pretty intense and I ended up spending much more time in buisness meetings (suit and tie) compared to wet suit and field gear than I wanted to. There were a lot of political things that came up that required my becoming spokesman for my group. It all worked out in the end. The toughest part about working the politics angle is always having to be nice and being very careful of what you say and who you say things to.

The highlight of the camping trip was that it was a great stress relief. I was with my team, a good group of buds, where we could just sit back and relax. The opportunity to do a little snorkeling among the corals and reef fish (saw 1 small shark and several sea turtles) and walk around rocks was pure relaxation. I actually really bonded with that little graveyard. I'm not much of a spiritual person by nature, but the age of the place, history and exotic aspect of the culture had a real impact on me.

It also struck me, that there are fewer and fewer places where you can simply put up a tent on a beach, not pay some user fee, not worry about trespassing. There are still great places of crown land in Northern Ontario, but in the Southern part its pretty difficult get access to 'free wilderness' aside from parks and such.
 
You did a great job taking pictures. I can see why you used up the camera memory. Should have taken a spare. :)
 
Wow. Its gorgeous there huh? Loved the pic of the old boat too!
 
kgd: Excellent post and great picts. I've spent some time in Saudi around Al Kobar, Abqeq and in the northern area at Kafji and in Qatar but none of the scenery was near as spectacular as what was in your picts.

Had a great experience in northern Saudi. On our way back from visiting a customer at AOC up in the neutral zone between Saudia and Kuwait my partner and I broke down in the desert and limped into a large Bedouin camp. They were very helpful and invited us to stay for awhile. I wanted to just for the experience but my partner was in a rush to get back. Too bad there is so much turmoil there because it is a very interesting place.

Wuff
 
Great pictures, great photography! I also liked those pictures of the graveyard and the ruins. I've never thought of Oman as a place to visit for this kind of camping/tourism. Thanks for the education :)
 
very nice pics man, just reminds me that there can be beautiful sights in all terrains; desert, tundra, rain forest etc.
 
Very beautiful kgd...however 15 months in Iraq makes you long for the more lush/green camping areas:D Glad you made it outdoors there, not many get an opportunity like that,

ROCK6
 
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