Setting sail to Musandam

Last weekend, I went on a two day trip to Musandam - which is a part of Oman, but separated from the rest of that country by land of the UAE.

Part of the reason was to get a new 30 days visa when I re-enter the UAE, but of course this area is also a beautiful spot well worth a visit, as several people had told me. So I hopped on a bus from Khasab Tours - a slightly chaotic, but nonetheless reliable tour company.

After a three hours ride (starting at 6am Friday morning, way too early for my liking!) through five of the seven UAE emirates, we arrived at Khasab, the main city in the province of Musandam. Also on the bus: a young married couple on their round-the-world honey moon. Incredible how many stories they have to tell. One thing I will never do: go near the Ganges river. Apparently, this majestic stream is used for the disposal of anything you can think of. Yiks.

In Khasab, we boarded a dhow for a full day cruise through the many fjord-like arms of the Arabian Gulf here, with mountains rising right out of the sea on each side of the ship. Visibility was not too good on that day; still it was great just to be on the ship, see the fjord-like landscape, feel the breeze, smell the sea, have tea, fall asleep, be woken up by dozens of Indian children making a big fuss (with the parents noisily joining in) about far-away sightings of dolphin's backs and fins - I almost expected at least one to fall over board sooner or later, but was disappointed in that. I instantly became the Indians' best friend after taking pictures of the whole group for them.



At several stops along the route, we could jump into the water for a round of snorkeling - for example close to Telegraph Island, from which the British at some point in history set up a telegraph line across the gulf. And you really could see some beautiful coloured fish, some tiny, some up to 40 cm long, in dozens of shapes and colors. But of course nothing like what you may have in mind from the sea life at coral reefs. After lunch (including freshly grilled fish from the local waters) and several more relaxing and laid back hours on the water, we returned to the port - the only bit of the trip that became a bit uncomfortable, as we had to run against wind and waves along the coast, sending sprays of water over the startled passengers who tried to seek shelter under their towels.

Khasab itself was a tiny, quite barren place, even though they do their best to have plants along the streets. But with temperatures rising above 50 degrees Celsius in summer (due to the mountains reflecting the sun into the valley and getting heated up), it must be quite difficult to keep them alive. The central area was actually quite nice when the night fell, with many people outside, chatting, sipping tea, playing cards or domino.

The difference in people compared to Dubai was very obvious, with much more men wearing traditional clothes, hardly any English to be heard, and even fewer women in the streets than in the old areas of Dubai. Funny thing: the locals are also honking a lot, but less to defend their spaces on the streets, but rather to greet people they knew. And, as it is a small village, you can imagine that locals spot many people they know, accordingly there was some degree of honking everywhere, all the time. After spending some hours in the streets and trying different food places for nibbles, I retired to my hotel. Brilliant day.