Middle East

Long contemplated and in February finally realized, a 12 day trekking and cultural trip to Oman certainly met my expectations. Although KE Adventure’s offering was not a continuous trek – featuring a mid-trip cultural stop in the ancient capital of Nizwa as well as daily 4×4 transport for our luggage (and us) to each campsite – nonetheless, it was a fine experience of a location that for me was a Blank on the Map.

One does not usually think of the Arabian Peninsula as mountainous. Indeed, the Empty Quarter and the holy cities of Mecca and Medina more often come to mind. However, in the Hajar Mountains (translated as the Rocky Mountains or the Stone Mountains), Oman boasts one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula*, shared with the United Arab Emirates. They separate the low coastal plain of Oman, including its Capital, Muscat, from the high desert plateau, and lie 50–100 km inland from the Gulf of Oman. We explored some of the most dramatic sections of the Al Hajar range. Unfortunately, the high point, Jebel Shams (3009m), is closed due to a military installation, and though its slightly lower South Summit (2997m) is accessible to trekkers, it was not on our itinerary.

* – pub trivia question: what is the highest mountain on the Arabian Peninsula? Answer, Jabal an Nabi Shu’ayb in Yemen, at 3666m.

Enjoy this often overlooked outdoor destination in a safe, very friendly country!

Oman and its neighbors on the Southeastern Arabian Peninsula

Muscat Grand Mosque. We visited this impressive complex before heading out on trek.

**Day 1** consisted of a short hike up Wadi Bani Auf, a narrow gorge that is the entrance to the pretty village of Bilad Sait.

On **Day 2** we did the most popular hike in Oman, the balcony trail from Al Kateen Village though the “Grand Canyon of the Middle East”

An abandoned village along the balcony trail. Rockfall was a continuous problem for precarious villages built below the high plateau.

A pool at the terminus of the balcony trail. Spot the trekker in his yellow shirt.

Our Lebanese leader, Toufic, in lunchtime contemplation, *en route* to our 2nd night’s camp.

View from our 2nd camp. (Our 1st camp, which I termed the “generator camp,” is not to be recommended at all).

**Day 3** trek vista in the Jebel Akhdar. Apart from the balcony trail, we saw virtually no other trekkers the entire time.

View during our Jebel Akhdar village walk. The first half of our trek consisted of fairly easy days, with some long drives between the trek and camp.

Sunset view with a fort from our 3rd camp

**Day 4**, the descent of Wadi Muyadeen, was more strenuous by far, and particularly hard on the knees!

Our **Day 5** desert camp, one of our most scenic. (Note that on the previous night and day we had a cultural break at Nizwa with hot showers at our hotel. I was indisposed with GI issues and took no photos).

**Day 6** was a very early start as we climbed the Selma Plateau. This is a trailhead view at dawn.

Morning view back towards the trailhead. We gradually ascended about 1650m this day over a distance of 17km, by far the toughest day’s trekking.

Our group along the Selma Plateau route. There were 11 clients along with our guide, Toufic. Keeping the group together was challenging for him.

Vista along the Selma Plateau. Our high point was about 2150m.

On **Day 7** we continued our plateau traverse and then descended the Wadi Tiwi to the coast. Here are a couple feral burros we saw in the early morning.

Perhaps it was because of the early season, but the botanizing was disappointing on this trip. However, as we descended on Day 7 to more humid climes toward the Gulf of Oman, I finally had some limited success.

*Morettia canescens*. Another wildflower without an English common name.

*Prunus scoparia*, a wild almond primarily found in Iran and Turkmenistan, but perhaps seeds had blown across the Gulf

A not very good photo of *Aerva javanica*, the kapok bush or desert cotton

Another vista on Day 7, with the Gulf in the background. Plenteous clouds (accompanied with a bit of rain!) made the light good for photography

View of Wadi Tiwi far below. This final day’s trek was a tough descent into the heat of the day.

Relaxing at our final camp on Wadi Shab beach.

View of the Gulf from our Wadi Shab beach camp. As it was the weekend, numerous Omanis were car camping along this beach.

On the last morning we enjoyed the highlight of the trip, a walk/swim up the Wadi Shab. The three pools and waterfall at the end of the last one were absolutely amazing. Cleansing ourselves of the dirt, sweat, and salt (for those of us who swam in the Gulf) before our 4 hour drive back to Muscat was an added bonus. I did not bring my camera, choosing to live completely in the moment. Sorry.

I am now in Hastings, East Sussex, after more than 2 weeks walking in Malta. I was not planning on sharing any photos from that trip, but the wildflowers were far better than I had expected, so I will work on that post as I enjoy lovely spring weather here in the UK.

The Vagabond Hiker

Jordan was one of many hiking trips I booked for 2020, before the pandemic put paid to virtually all travel. After nearly a four year delay, over the holiday I finally managed to get there, joined by Maggie for most of the trip.

Hiking and scrambling in the Wadi Rum desert with local bedouins, visiting the magical Nabataean city of Petra, and exploring some of the archeological ruins in the east and north of the country, as well as taking a dip in the Dead Sea (the lowpoint of my trip!) made for an active 2 week vacation. Here are some of the highlights.

My journey started in the ancient city of Madaba, dating from the middle Bronze Age and renowned for its Byzantine mosaics. A three night stay near the historic center of Madaba gave me at least a little time to adjust to the 11 hour time loss on the nearly 30-hour trip from California. In addition to wandering around the city one day, I spent much of my final day there visiting three of Jordan’s eastern desert castles.

Birds mosaic at Madaba Archeological Park (admission here, and in all other cultural sites I visited is included with the Jordan Pass)

The original Tree of Life mosaic, Madaba

A small portion of the Madaba mosaic map from the 6th century CE, the oldest known geographic floor mosaic in art history. Restoration work was ongoing at St George Orthodox Church, and the tiles were difficult to photograph.

Qasr Harrana, possibly an Umayyad caravanserai

Qusayr (“little castle”) Amra. This Umayyad desert retreat, famous for its frescoes, was once part of a much larger complex.

Qasr al-Azraq, constructed from the local basalt. Strategic for its location near the only oasis for hundreds of miles, it was renovated and expanded by the Ayyubids in the 13th century. It was Lawrence of Arabia’s desert headquarters during the winter of 1917. I should have hired a local guide as there were no placards explaining the site.

On my third day, I joined up with five other clients in the KE Adventures group to drive down to southern Jordan for a week-long hiking and cultural trip in Wadi Rum and Petra.

Leaving the village of Wadi Rum (not visible to the right) on our short hike to Abu Aina

Our local bedouin guide, Selim, on our hike to Abu Aina

Our first night’s camp. Land Cruiser’s transported most of our luggage, leaving us with only a light day pack to carry.

Murat, our leader, scrambling to Burdah Bridge.

Burdah Bridge. The scramble from the desert floor to the top of the bridge was for me the best hike of the trip.

View from the top of Burdah Bridge. That’s Maggie right center.

The view up Jebel Khasch, on the third day in Wadi Rum

Climbing some angled slabs on Jebel Khasch

Maggie on the summit of Jebel Khasch (1700m)

Jebel Um Adaami, the highest point in Jordan and our next objective, seen from Jebel Khasch.

A natural amphitheatre on the Jebel Khasch massif, which we traversed

Egyptian autumn crocus (*Colchicum ritchii*) near our third camp. There weren’t many flowers at this time of year, mostly just sand verbena and this crocus.

Jebel Um Adaami summit vista towards the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia is on the left (south)

With Maggie and the Jordanian flag on the summit of Jebel Um Adaami (1854m)

Desert vista on our afternoon hike following the ascent of Jebel Um Adaami

Our final sunset in Wadi Rum, seen from Salim’s permanent camp, featuring real beds and hot showers, which felt great after 3 nights of wild camping.

After five days and four nights in the Wadi Rum desert, we drove north to Wadi Musa for for two days of walking and sightseeing at Petra.

The famous Treasury appears as we walk through the dramatic chasm of the Siq

The Treasury. Unsurprisingly, there were relatively few tourists at Petra.

The Monastery at Petra. About a 1/2 hour hike above the Siq, it it every bit as amazing as the Treasury.

Jebel Haroun, to the east of Petra. Its summit was our objective for our final hike.

Jebel Haroun chapel. Murat is on the left.

The rest of our group of six left for England at the conclusion of our two days walking around Petra. Maggie and I instead headed for Amman where we had rented an AirBnb apartment for three nights off Rainbow Street near the First Circle. From that base we took a guided tour of the nearby old town (mostly seeing a variety of markets!) and then headed north the following day for a day of archeology.

Roman columns at Umm Qais in far northern Jordan. Although hazy, we were able to see Lake Tiberias (aka the Sea of Galilee) from the escarpment.

A hall in Ajloun Castle. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of the castle itself due to low clouds and only having my phone with me.

A mosaic tile at Ajloun Castle. I love this guy’s worried look as the the leopard is eyeing his donkey.

The colonnaded Roman road toward the west gate at Jerash, one of the most extensive Roman ruins outside of Italy.

Jerash colonnades with the modern city in the background

The setting sun at Jerash. We had left it until last on a long day, which limited how much we could cover. It would be easy to spend an entire day only at Jerash.

At the Holiday Inn Dead Sea Resort. The Dead Sea is of course the lowest point on Earth, at 430 meters (1411 ft) below sea level. As with the rest of the country, tourism here has almost come to a halt since October.

This rare rainy day in the California desert enabled me to finally finish this blog post! This weekend I head down to Baja California Sur for a week of warm sun, hikes, and birding. If I get a few decent photos, I will post them in February. Until then, stay warm.

The Vagabond Hiker

PS I naughtily included one photo I took at Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada, implying that it was from Jordan. Did you spot it?

Trekking in Oman

Scrambles, Walks, and Archeology in Jordan

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