Having spent an exceptionally pleasant day in Wadi Shab, we then arrived in Sur shortly before sunset. We parked the car by the coast and took advantage of the remaining light for a nice stroll along the beach. Many of the locals did the same. Others were sitting on the sand. Others were playing football beside the waves.
We soon got back in the car and drove to the opposite side before the coast of the inlet. We took another short stroll and enjoyed some really nice views of the concluding day over the lagoon. There also was a little park on the spot where a kind of old trading vessel was on exhibition. The sunset. It was time to get some food. We sat at a nearby place and had some delicious fresh fish.
Deep darkness had befallen over the city of Sur by the time we finished our dinner. We let the car rest there and we set off to explore this exotic city on foot. It took quite a long wandering around the dark, void streets – the numerous mosques being pretty much the only things illuminated – until we wound up in the city’s vivid central market.
It was startlingly busy. Crowds of people were sauntering up and down, here and there, in and out the bounteously illuminated shops. All the numerous cafes and restaurants were full with nonchalant tea-drinkers. Unlike the norm in Oman, fairly large numbers of women could be seen stepping in and out of the lavish tailoring shops, checking out the latest niqabs and burqas in fashion. At various corners, people were haggling passionately over broods of complainingly clucking chicken.
A very peculiar to Sur thing that I noted – in contrast with the always benign and placid and fatherly depiction of the Sultan in his omnipresent portraits around the country – was that here in Sur he frequently appeared posing with a machine gun – the admiringly polite dispositions of its inhabitants, however, did not differ at all from the ones of the entire country.
We had had a cup of
I couldn’t say whether it was a nice place; the Hyundai’s high-beam lights couldn’t penetrate too far into the thick darkness. That fact made it especially difficult to find a spot to camp. As we drove gropingly around a broad open area near the sea for some time, a car approached from behind. The driver beckoned us to stop with light signals.
“What look for, habib?” asked the Arab man who stood in front of the car window. “A place to camp,” came the answer. “No problem, habib,” he said. “Follow me,” he nodded.
So we did. We soon parked the car and followed him on foot to a little shelter by the seashore. A group of fishermen was gathered there – probably brothers or cousins – loafing about, bound to head out to the sea at some later hour.
We were prompted to have a seat. They offered us a cup of tea and we smoked some kind of tobacco from a pipe: a peculiar fishermen habit in Oman, I have observed. None of them could speak many English words, but they were keen to show us pictures and some music videos made in their area on their mobile phones.
We remained there for some time, but the question of where we were going to sleep was still hanging. They offered to give us a boat ride to some sort of platform that lied out in the ocean off the inlet’s mouth. They showed us pictures of it, and it seemed a very interesting place to spend the night, indeed, though it was already late, and it would be kinda problematic to pack all our stuff and settle amid the sea, being in need to wait for them to bring us back to the shore in the morning. We had to turn down their offer.
Alternatively, we got back to the cars and he showed us to a nice elevated spot overlooking the bay. We had a home for tonight. We pitched the tents, prepared dinner, and had a cup of tea on a small wooden jetty nearby while resting our feet inside the dark sea waters.
Then I was sound asleep inside my tent. What a sweet and balmy sleep that was… before the tent suddenly began to jolt wildly in the middle of the night. Storm! Aroused by instinct, I jerked up as if to take some action in anticipation of the imminent rain… But then I thought: “wait, this is Oman, it’s not going to rain here,” and let my head rest back on the pillow.
Only when thick raindrops started smashing cogently against my tent, I was forced to interrupt my sleep for good and take that action. The wind was wild too. We moved all the stuff in the car, flattened the tents and placed stones on them, and moved to the car ourselves to continue our sleep.
We slept good in the car while the storm raged throughout the whole night. I’m feeling quite lucky to have witnessed such a rare occurrence in this country. A few last drops were falling hesitantly at sunup. A fresh dew covered every surface and cool moisture permeated the air when we left the car. The sun was soon shining strongly through a clear morning sky. Everything was back to normal. We were soon back on the road again heading towards Ras Al Jinz to watch some turtles.
Accommodation and Activities in Oman
Stay22 is a handy tool that lets you search for and compare stays and experiences across multiple platforms on the same neat, interactive map. Hover over the listings to see the details. Click on the top-right settings icon to adjust your preferences; switch between hotels, experiences, or restaurants; and activate clever map overlays displaying information like transit lines or concentrations of sights. Click on the Show List button for the listings to appear in a list format. Booking via this map, I will be earning a small cut of the platform's profit without you being charged any extra penny. You will be thus greatly helping me to maintain and keep enriching this website. Thanks!
