Calm Oman, Crazy Dubai

"The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is to at last set foot on one's own country as a foriegn land."
-G.K Chesterton (May 29th, 1874 - June 14, 1936)

A few weeks ago the Muslim world celebrated the Eid Al Ahda holiday. The Eid celebration marks the annual Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. This journey is one of the 5 pillars of Islam and a lifetime goal for many Muslims around the globe. Rather handy for us, it also creates a week long holiday to go exploring. As you may know, in a few weeks Tina and I are getting married so we made the money-smart descision to spend this holiday around Oman.

For a month or so, we had heard rumours that there was a track would allow us to cross the Wahiba Desert from north to south along the coastline. Apparantly, this track leads through the sand dunes but adjescent to the brilliant coastline of the Arabian Ocean. We decided to head out on a 5 day camping trip to find this track and meet up with friends farther south.

Sure enough we found this track and it lead to a stunning drive. The giant powder white sand dunes soared to our right as the evening sun lit the shimmering ocean to our left. Along the jouney we passed through tiny, desolate bedoiun fishing villages that combined the hardiness of both desert living and living off the sea. It was an absorbing mix of cultures. As the sun fell on our first night we turned to the sea and set up camp along a hardened sandstone area that dropped into the ocean.

As the morning light spread it's colours over the ocean waters we were treated to a giant whale trolling for fish along the beach (less than 70 meters out). There is something serene about these massive creatures as they plod through otherwise calm water. It all happened too quickly to reach for the camera.


The desert sun warmed us as we continued travelling through the dunes the next day. On this day we saw a tow truck that had literally been swallowed by the sands. We had been warned about this as several drivers had smashed the tow of the truck as the rest has been consumed by the desert. Of course, the day had its moments of digging and being pulled out of sand but it really was a great new area for us to explore. After we got back to a paved road we were treated to the local haggling practices. As we drove along a one lane road a Bedu pickup truck screamed up beside us. Fearing for this trucks safety (and ours) we were shocked as he rolled down his window to try to buy the kayak off of our roof or as our neighbour suggested 'perhaps it was for Tina?'. All while travelling at speeds upwards all 120km/hr in the wrong lane. I love this place.

That night we met up with some friends in a beautiful area named Khaluf. This location has a calm bay that backs into rolling sand dunes as far as you can see. We've seen flamingos, dolphins and sharks at this location in previous visits but not this one. We took the kayak out a few times and enjoyed the relaxing nature on the area. We finished up our camping adventure by meeting a few other friends farther south on the white sandy beaches of Ras Madrakah. A few more tough days of turquoise water and soft sands and we were headed back to Muscat.

After we had cleaned up in Muscat we headed out for the second part of our holiday - the Rugby Sevens in Dubai. As stated in previous posts I am no fan of Dubai, or the consumerism it promotes, but the chance to see this wild event before we move from here was too much (also it was my birthday gift from Tina).


This is the 40th year of the event held 30 km outside of Dubai in the desert. Amongst a desolate landscape they have created this rugby oasis complete with a 50,000 seat stadium and 5 other pitches surrounding it. I wonder why they're going broke eh? The 16 best Sevens nations are invited annually. Additionally, this is the expat thing to do in the region and thousands of Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans,Scotts, etc descend on this place full of beer and national pride. It's sold out every year - 100,000 over two days. Crazy.

As Tina said the players are as big as doorways and unbelievably fit. The games are short, the action fast and the crowd in full roar for two straight days. An absolutely great time.

This blog got out a month or so later than planned so we have actually already arrived home from the winter vacation. In a few weeks we will update our blog with stories and pictures from our wedding.

All the best and belated happy holidays.