Oman - Jebel Akhdar

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For my next Trekkup adventure, I joined last minute for a hiking trip to the mountains in Oman for the long weekend. I joined a car with 3 other people - new friends! We wound up picking up one other girl at the border because their car was unable to go through as a long term rental without clearance. Jebel Akhdar is about a 5 hour drive from Dubai, including a border crossing near Al Ain. This took a long time; the officer checking our passports was soooo slooooow.... Our friends from another car were quickly checked through, so we wound up about 30 minutes behind them. Just be prepared to spend 30-45 minutes at the border crossing INTO Oman; coming back into UAE was a breeze.

Jebel Akhdar / Saiq Plateau

Otherwise, the drive was pretty straightforward. You are supposed to have a 4WD car to get up the switchbacks to the Saiq Plateau, about 2,000m elevation. The road is paved and a bit steep, so I think cars actually could make the drive, but I think they do this partially as traffic control: there is limited space once you get up there and I like there is little traffic. Once you get up, it really is relatively flat with little villages throughout. The area is known for its agriculture, especially pomegranate, roses, peaches, walnuts, figs, and apricots. The villages typically cling to the cliff faces in the form of terraces for agricultural purposes. At this time of year, pomegranates are in season and we saw them being sold on the side of the road everywhere.

Wadi Bani Habib

Our first hike was Friday afternoon after most of us arrived at the plateau, driving directly to the hike meeting point. It was a short hike, about an hour or so long, where we climbed down into the wadi, up the other side, down, and back up another side. The old village ruins here were so cool and you walk right up among them. An older farmer saw us on the way down and handed us pomegranates freely. There were about 15 of us who made our way down into the wadi, partially walking the falaj, which is a water system developed in this area that delivers water to farms and people via gravity flow through culverts.

After crossing the wadi and climbing back upslope, we saw our first village ruin clinging to the clifftop. They seem to have left it in its natural condition as many of the walls were crumbling and the roofs had holes throughout. They were made of mud, stone, and palm trunks, with some impressive doors and windows, some of which were still in place. Then we hiked back down and up another slope through another ruined village where our team leader told us a bit of the history of these areas, which were abandoned. We climbed back up toward the car park and from there we had amazing views of the sunset over the ruins. Such a great introduction to the area!

Staying on the Plateau

Our accommodation was at the Jebel Akhdar Hotel, which is very close to much of the action in the area. It was a basic but very friendly hotel, with good breakfast. For dinner each night, we went to Layali al Jabal, which was very nice! The first night was buffet style, while the second night was shared plates of deliciousness. It is right next to the Anantara Hotel, which is lovely and also super friendly. The first night after dinner, we went to the hotel for drinks and to get to know each other a bit better. Everyone was pretty nice and got along very well. The second night, we went to the Sama Hotel to see the amazing sunset over the wadi and villages - just truly beautiful. However, we got kicked out immediately after the sun set because we were many and did not purchase anything (understandable!).

Lost Villages hike

Saturday morning we had our large hike into the main wadi where we would have a lot of climbing up and down to do. After breakfast, we took our convoy and followed our local guide, Abdullah, who took us to the meeting point for our adventure. It was after 9 am when we started and it was already hot. We did some minor up and down hiking along on of the wadi walls, which was totally fine for me. I slowed down a bit as we made our way down the steep steep slope into the wadi - this really killed the knees. At the bottom we all stopped and had a break before deciding to forgo the green plantation area as it was quite hot and there was not as much water as usual in the wadi. So, the wadi pool we were planning to visit was dry and we would have to find one a bit further upslope. At this point, we had been hiking for about 90 minutes or so.

It was about a 40 minute hike from our break stop to the pool. And wow, it really was a mini paradise. The water was sooooo very cold too! I mean, I figured maybe it would be cool, but this was almost freezing! I just got in fully clothed hoping it would keep me cool for the hike back up. It did for a bit, but I dried out very quickly actually! We only hung out at the pool for like 20 minutes before our leader said it was time to leave. Bummer. From here, it was all uphill. All of it. There was some minor flat bouldering, but mostly very steep sections. I slowed down significantly. We had also run into a couple who were struggling. They had joined us at the break stop and stayed with us the rest of the way. It really was hot and it turned out that they did not have enough water, food or electrolytes, so the hike up was even more difficult for them.

I am just super slow, like very slow, but I felt ok if just fking hot as hell. Thankfully, one guy initially stayed with me for the whole way up and we distracted ourselves frequently discussing the interesting geology of the area - he liked to learn about the geology and it kept me focused on something else besides the heat. Plus, he is a landscape architect who had designed for some of the hotels around here and I loved hearing some of his designs too. Soon, his friend also joined us and they kept me going. We came upon an abandoned village that was tucked into a large cave. Our leader, who was still with us at this point, said this was one of the hideouts during the wars with the British in the 50's. Very interesting.

From the village, it was direct up and the couple struggled. The two guys and I stayed with them, with my new friend carrying the guy's backpack. My new friends' wives met us at the top of the steep portion. The leader and the two ladies walked with the couple the rest of the way to the car park where apparently the girl of the couple threw up. Yikes. I was still slow and pulling up the rear wit my two new friends but felt ok. I was so annoyed with myself mostly. But I made it fine and we met up with the two wives and Abdullah then headed to the hotel. Everyone was waiting for me and gave me a beer - I was dying for something cold. They said they had almost all overheated on the way up too and that it was indeed very difficult. I think if we had left earlier, I may have done much better - I really hate the heat! Yes, I know I live in the desert! :p

Three Villages hike

On Sunday morning our last hike was supposed to be a 'walk' according to our team organizer, but I should have known as he always underestimates the hikes. It was by no means difficult, but I had sneakers instead of boots and I just brought a small bottle of water. Instead of a fairly flat walk, which I think it is for most, we went down into the farms and along the falaj system, up and down quite a bit. Again, it was hotter than I expected, and I was just exhausted. But it was absolutely gorgeous! We had seen the villages from our sunset view point the night before and seeing them up close was even more amazing. Unlike the other hikes, these were inhabited, active villages. On the way back, a few of the strongest girls went with Abdullah up the 'steps' which took you above a small waterfall straight upslope back to the car park. I was slow again, but really not far behind everyone else. We stopped at a nice little boutique hotel which had amazing views over the cliff; it was 1,000 AED per night, which included breakfast and dinner, and had really cool outdoor bathrooms. A bit pricey for the area, but it was super cute and I would stay for a night or two.

Jebel Akhdar Produce

Before leaving the plateau, we had two more stops. We first went to a coffee shop, where I got a cup of saffron tea, sitting out on the balcony with views over the wadi below. Then we went to Abdullah's brother's beautiful home. They had a small farm off to the side, where we were allowed to pick some of the fruits. I just got one pomegranate plus a big bunch of delicious garlic. So yum! My friends got some apricots too, which were green but were so good! We went into the house where we were given fresh fruit, pomegranate juice, tea and coffee. It was so nice!

Definitely a gorgeous spot to visit and I would love to return to this area for further adventures. First, I need to get back in shape!!!

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Comments

[Ake Och Emma]

Interesting read
It was interersting to reas about the hikes you did in Oman. I visited that region in January 2009 and I remember that I enjoyed it very much. My trip was quite different from yours though as I didn't to any hiking there. /Ake