Musandam

After leaving Sharjah, see previous blog, we headed for the Hilton in Ras al Khaimah for the night. The next day saw us passing through the industrial areas surrounding two large cement works and their associated pollution. Once we left this behind, the drive along the coast was pleasant with sparkling blue waters and clear skies. 

Khasab is at the top of the Musandam Peninsula and the base for communities and tourism in the fjord area.

Khasab - a rather uninspiring shot to give you an idea of this part of Oman

Oman is noted for over a thousand forts and castles, its unique geology and friendly hospitable people. This blog will give an introduction to the first two whilst the blog of our trip after Christmas will touch on the Omani's hospitality as well.

Khasab Castle.

Everywhere we went in Oman there were forts, castles and towers. So what is the difference between them? A fort was used to provide a defended, safe place for the inhabitants to retreat to in times of conflict whereas a castle was used primarily as a residence, with fortifications. Towers, often in sight of each other and forts, were uninhabited observation posts on high ground. The Omani government is doing an excellent job of restoration as you will see later.

Some examples of local craft.



The Omani flag flies proudly above the castle entrance

After an hour at the castle, it was time to find the dhow for a cruise on Khor Sham. You can do an all day cruise which includes swimming, snorkeling and lunch or a shorter 4 hour afternoon cruise. Being mid-winter, the water was a little cold for swimming so we opted for the shorter version.

Local transport - seat belts not needed but where are the life jackets?

The very mountainous terrain here leads to the locals using high speed boats to get around. About a dozen people were seen in some boats the same size as this one.

Another dhow load of tourists

Colourful tilted layers of sedimentary rocks.

Oman's geology is rather unique and very old. Oman is the only place on earth where rocks have been exposed in an obduction zone. Some rocks go back 1,300 million years! The sedimentary rock layers are breath taking! Highly coloured, tiled, faulted and folded layers are everywhere to be seen. I've chosen some of the better formations here for you - if you like rocks!

Dolphins are common in this area and seem to enjoy putting on a show.

Telegraph Island

One of the first telegraph links, dating from 1864, from London to the far east passed through The Gulf. It made landfall at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula. Although we didn't land on the island there are traces of the foundations of some of the station buildings.

Feeding frenzy.

It would have been nice to have gone snorkeling here at Telegraph Island but as it was too cold as mentioned earlier, we had to be content with seeing the fish eating bananas.

After getting off the dhow, the trip back along the coast was highlighted by a spectacular sunset.

After returning back to the Hilton in Ras al Khaimah for the night it was time to head back to Abu Dhabi for Christmas. Then it was off to Nizwa, Muscat and Sohar in Oman. See next blog.