Petrol price

Let's see the cost of 50 liters of petrol in Oman : 6 Ryals (12€) ! i think this is just great :)

Wadi Nakhr

small video presenting a panoramic view over Wadi Nakhr.

Trekking in Wadi Nakhr (Western Hajar)

This trek starts from Al Ghub (here under on the picture) to go to the village Al Khatim down to the entrance of Wadi Nakhr.


It is a difficult trek because the ground is made a sharp rocks and you go from 700meters to 2000meters !


The first step is to pass the small Rim on the picture below.


Then you have to climb up the mountain, to reach a fabulous point of view over the Nakhr gorge, also called "GRAND CANYON" (looking at the picture below you will easily understand why).


Note : you can do this trek yourself refering to the trek number w6a in the Oman trekking explorer guide

Al ghub

Al ghub is a deserted village near Nizwa, 2,5 hours away from Muscat.


It is a very nice place to visit, and you can see how Omani people were living in this king of moutains some time ago.


But Al Ghub is above all the starting point of a very nice trek, that I will describe in next posts.

Big cars

Just a little post to point out that in Muscat the density of 4x4 is impressive. For example, I've never seen so many Hummer in a city, event in L.A. ! compact cars, as we mainly have in France, simply do not exist here, except onetime I've seen a Peugeot 206...

Camel ride

Have you ever ride a camel ? going to the desert is the opportunity to try it. Camels are "cool" animals, and I think people in the desert are considering camels as we are consideriong dogs in France.


Moreover, the camels are definitely stylish animals...

Ghala golf club

Ghala golf club is located in Muscat, near Sultan Qaboos sport complex, and in front of the Majan Hotel. It is a "Brown" golf, which means that there is no grass and people are playing on a brown ground.


Membership is about 100Ryals for the year or you can pay your "Brown fees" 5 Ryals for the 18holes. No so expensive compared to France.

Wadi Tiwi

Wadi tiwi is a city lost under the palms. It looks like a bit Nakhal but it is smaller : there is only one road very narrow climbing up the mountain.


This place is very beautifull and relaxing. You may enjoy having your picnic somewhere in the city with the young female goats.

French weather

One of my favorite program on the TV is the french weather forecast (on the french channel "BFMTV" that we can receive here). I can compare the weather in France and in Oman and I'm always winning ;)

White beach - video

I already made a post about the "white beach", but this time it is a small video to sicken some of my friends in France who are curreltly in the cold winter...

A small daily annoyance

A surprising fact about Oman compared to France, is the habit they have to use many electrical switches in their houses... In the picture above, you have a switch for :
- bathroom lamp
- bathroom ceiling lamp
- bathroom fan
- bathroom water heater
- bedroom ceiling lamp 1
- bedroom ceiling lamp 2
- bedroom ceiling lamp 3
- bedroom fan
- bedroom Air Conditionning
This thing can be a little bit irritating as you can waste a lot of time in a day trying to light a room by swithcing all the buttons. In France, you would have very less switches, as a switch would correspond to every lamp of a room, plus usually there are no fan or AC, and the water heater would not have a switch (always on).

Cheaper adventure trips in Oman

If your budget is limited, you can do all the trips I was listing in my previous post by yourself. In this case, you will need the guide book "Oman off-road" (you can find the book in Muscat bookshops such as the "family bookshop" of Madinat sultan Qaboos). It describes very clearly the many paths in Oman and how to find them with your 4x4, with some GPS data also.
In this case, your only expense will be the renting of a 4X4 (35R a day with 200km included + 0,08 per additional km + oil = 50 to 60 R). The bad point of this method is that you're on your own : if you get lost, if you're get stuck in the sand, or if you have punctures (I experienced the three during my own trips), there will be no guide to help you...

Adventure trips in Oman

I was speaking in my previous posts of Dune bashing, Bedouine camp, wadi Bani Khalid, the white beach...
All these activities and trips are available in the Muscat tourist agencies, such as the Muscat Diving & Adventure Center. The benefit of this last agency is that part of the team speaks french (which is a benefit only if you speak french of course). The prices are a bit expensive (up to 140 Ryals - 300 € - a day for 4 person) but justified by the necessary of renting 4x4 for making the trips.

Wadi Bani Khalid

Wadi Bani Whalid (2hours from Muscat) is the best wadi I've been so far.


From your car, you have to walk 10 minutes in the mountain to access small waterfalls and basins of pure water where you can swim.