This mild morning found me and my friend Max sleeping inside a ruined house on the beach of Salalah city. It was the third day of our exploring the area around Salalah. After having devoted the first two days to Mughsail Beach and Al Fazayah Beach respectively, for today we had planned on heading east to Wadi Darbat canyon and Taqah town.
We packed the tents, went over to the mosque to wash up a bit, had breakfast at a small Indian restaurant up the city, and headed back down to the mosque on the beach where we had an appointment with our friend Mohamed: an incredibly kind man, indeed, even for Omani standards, who had offered to drive us around and show us places for the sake of good company alone.
We got in the car and headed straight for Wadi Darbat. We didn’t make it far. At some point in the outskirts of the city, we ran out of petrol. Luckily the nearest petrol station was only a couple of km ahead. Max volunteered to go there on foot and bring back some fuel in a plastic container. Meanwhile, I and Mohamed waited there, by the car, eating some fruit we bought from a roadside stall that was located there.
Max was fast to return. We emptied the petrol container into the tank, drove to the petrol station to fuel up completely, and resumed our way to Wadi Darbat.
We first visited Taqah town located on the way. The town itself was nothing special: just a commonplace small Omani town. The long sandy beach was really pretty though and generally empty. After having driven around for some time, we ended up on the top of the cliff by the east verge of the town. We got to chill there for a bit and enjoy some really spectacular views of the town, the beach, and the dominating mountains in the background.
We continued east for a while and left the highway at 17.0589/54.4290. There is a small road leading up to the canyon. It is asphalted and in very good condition overall.
Despite being the dry season, the mountain slopes were cloaked in vegetation and the streams abounding in water, feeding aplenty the various waterfalls rushing down the precipices. This was by far the greenest place I saw in Oman. I would definitely come back to explore the area extensively during the rain season, during which I imagine it more reminiscent of the tropics than the Arabian Peninsula.
We parked the car and hiked down to a really heavenly beautiful little spot where numerous little terraced pools were formed, one feeding another in a series of small waterfalls. Large exotic trees grew by their banks. Exceptionally large numbers of mostly Iranian and European tourists were accumulated there. Although the place retained its serene character. We chilled there for a couple of hours and took lots of nice pictures. Then we moved on.
We drove around for some time and visited a few more wonderful natural spots. I would have gladly spent there any number of days hiking and camping around if I had the time. Though, unfortunately, on this occasion, I didn’t. This was the last day of our trip to Salalah.
We drove back down to the highway to drop Max off. He was intent on hitchhiking to Al Misira island. We waited till he gets a ride (less than 5 minutes, as per usual in this country) and drove off back to the west.
As for me, I had a bus to Muscat to catch later tonight. My Omani visa was to expire in two days and I had to start planning on heading out of the country. For the remaining hours, we drove with Mohamed around Taqah and Salalah and got to wonder at several more beautiful sceneries. Then, in the evening, he dropped me off at the bus station. I thanked him for his so much appreciated kindness and company during the past two days, and boarded the bus.
Accommodation and Activities in Oman
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