Intro:
Hey Readers!
I just came back from an amazing road trip from Abu Dhabi to Oman. I'm sunburned, off course tired (because of hikes and a long drive) but couldn't wait to share the experience with you guys.
Route Summary:
From Abu Dhabi to Oman via Al Ain (Hili Border) - Sohar - Muscat (450km)
From Oman to Abu Dhabi via Muscat - Nizwa - Ibri - Al Ain (Hili Border) - Abu Dhabi (641km)
Why I choose the different route for coming back is because this route is long but more scenic. You will take more time to drive through it, that's why I kept it for coming back as you (at least me) are in a hurry to reach while you are going there. And then we enjoyed our return as well by visiting most of the live & some abandon villages on the way. Especially Nizwa & Ibri towns, the houses, roads, it felt so ancient and there are some old forts on the way you can stop by to see. The overall drive is very scenic through the mountains. Locals are very nice and helpful people. If you ask for directions, they will try to go with you to make sure you will reach there easily. And if someone ask you lunch or dinner, accept it and enjoy the local dishes. You will not regret it.
Car:
Even though I saw few sedan cars on off-road drive to Wadi's but this is crazy as it sounds. 4x4 is required for this trip if you want to see Wadi's of Oman. I was using Honda Pilot Touring - 2015 Model (GCC Specs.) on this trip.
Prerequisite:
The last thing you want on a road trip is "forgetting something important to do or carry before you hit the road". So a well-planned trip is always better and couldn't be possible without a check-list or prerequisite, and believe me guys it's not optional.
Hey Readers!
I just came back from an amazing road trip from Abu Dhabi to Oman. I'm sunburned, off course tired (because of hikes and a long drive) but couldn't wait to share the experience with you guys.
Route Summary:
From Abu Dhabi to Oman via Al Ain (Hili Border) - Sohar - Muscat (450km)
 |
| Abu Dhabi to Muscat |
From Oman to Abu Dhabi via Muscat - Nizwa - Ibri - Al Ain (Hili Border) - Abu Dhabi (641km)
 |
| Muscat to Abu Dhabi |
Car:
Even though I saw few sedan cars on off-road drive to Wadi's but this is crazy as it sounds. 4x4 is required for this trip if you want to see Wadi's of Oman. I was using Honda Pilot Touring - 2015 Model (GCC Specs.) on this trip.
 |
| My Ride |
Prerequisite:
The last thing you want on a road trip is "forgetting something important to do or carry before you hit the road". So a well-planned trip is always better and couldn't be possible without a check-list or prerequisite, and believe me guys it's not optional.
- The first thing I will write on the list is cooler to keep your drinks chilled throughout the trip. I was having a big rectangular shaped 60L cooler which I filled with three bags of Ice cubes (easily available in supermarkets) along-with 3 round ice blocks (homemade using in-house refrigerator) which I kept at the bottom of the cooler. And I never missed a chilled drink throughout the trip :).
- Sun cream and hat for sure
- Hiking shoes
- Backpack
- Your Swimsuit
- Water Proof plastic bag for camera & cell phone (otherwise you'll miss the shots of waterfalls at the cave of Wadi Al Arbeieen like I did).
- Sleepers (for night)
- Casual shoes (for shopping etc)
- Dresses (for night, for hike and some casual)
- Passports & Driving License (off-course you can't forget it)
- Vehicle insurance for Oman (normally insurance companies in UAE gives you coverage for Oman and Qatar but incase you don't have one, you can buy it at border).
- Drinks, snacks and lots of water
- Credit card (required to pay exit fee for UAE and visa fee for Oman)
- Make prior hotel booking using booking.com or agoda.com and print Hotel / Accommodation reservation.
- Oman Currency (if you can't find time to convert the currency, in Oman they do accept UAE's dhirhams 10 for 1 Omani Riyal).
- List of Emergency numbers of UAE and Oman
- Sunglasses
- ORS Sachet
- Camera & Charger
- Mobile Phone & Charger
- Memory Card for Camera & Phone
- Prescription Medications (if any)
- Analgesic - Ibuprofen, Aspirin, etc.
- Umbrella
- Anything else you want to enjoy during the trip
Trip:
Day 1:
I started my car engine at 2PM from Abu Dhabi heading to Al Ain. Petrol tank was full as I fill it last night and I also checked the tyres Air Pressure and make it balance (I'm keeping 35psi in all tyres for my car). The people who are familiar with this route (Al Ain highway) will agree with me that drive to this part of the emirates is more scenic than driving to Dubai from Abu Dhabi. Anyways, I made it at Hili Border Checkpost without any trouble.
Important: One thing you have to make sure if you are visiting Oman by road for the first time, there are three borders in Al Ain. One is called Hili (which is adjacent to Buraimi city of Oman). The other one is in Mazed Area (near Jabal Hafeet) and the third one is very near to Hili border but it is only for locals. Expatriates can't pass through it as Hili & Mazed are the only borders having passport immigration facilities for expatriates. So make sure and mark on google map or on your car GPS for Hili border if you want to use the same route as I did.
The moment you will enter in the border checkpoint area, just park the car near to the office where its written "visa issuance & cancellation". One of your group member (who is having a credit card as well) has to go out of the car with all of your passports to enter the office. Normally there are not many people there, even I went on Eid holidays and there were less than 10 people. Go directly to talk to the officer in front of office entrance, hand him over your passport. He will make exit (from UAE) stamp and will charge you around 35 AED per person. They will not check car insurance here but keep it with you along with car registration card. The officer will return the passports to you and will give you one piece of paper (gatepass for the car) which you have to give at the exit gate of checkpost. There is another security officer standing before the exit gate (custom clearance officer) and he will check your car and if he is satisfied will stamp the gatepass and you can go ahead to the exit gate. Just handover the exit gatepass to the exit checkpoint officer and he will let you through, make sharp U-Turn after the gate and heads towards Buraimi (Oman). You will face three roundabouts, follow the instructions of your GPS and follow the signs of Muscat/Sohar as you enter the highway.
Buraimi & Sohar are green cities of Oman, having many dates & fruit gardens on both sides on the road. So you will see scenic route like below:
Highway there is having two lanes each side (most of the time) and you have to keep your eyes open during the drive as there will be people crossing the road on foot and even on their bicycles frequently as you will passthrough some towns & villages. You can't just put your car on cruise and relax. :) Follow the Sohar / Muscat signs and passthrough fort shapped gates which is specialiaty of Oman (see pics below) until you reach to your hotel.
Speed Limit: Speed limit policy is same as UAE, you can go whatever mentioned speed on the road +20km/hr.
I was having the booking in Grand Hyat Hotel in Muscat and I really enjoyed the drive and sure my stay there. It took me approximately 4 and half hours to reach there (from Abu Dhabi). The main entrance is on first floor (yes you read it correct), you will face the night club entrance (as shown in below photo) first, just take left from there to reach the main entrance.
We were feeling tired after a long drive so after check-in, decided to relax in the grand suit for some time. After some rest we head out to famous Souq Mattrah to do some shopping of local artifacts and to dinner outside.
If you are a fan of local artifacts and wants to buy some then Souq Mattrah is the place for you. There is beautiful road track will lead you to it. Area is surrounded by mountains and trees and on top of that there is a Port there as well. Place is totally worth a visit.
For Shopping, you will see a small gate at your right side, just park your car on the shoulder of the road in designated car park area and enter into the gate. Immediately after entering the gate, take right as this is the street of the souq where you can find most of the artifacts with reasonable price than the main street. The area was very crowded that day (because of Eid) so I couldn't get picture of it.
After Some Shopping and dinner outside, we head back to hotel.
Day 2
Next morning, the plan was to visit Wadi Al Arbeieen (the most beautiful and famous Wadi of Oman). After taking all necessary items for the hike (don't forget to have snacks and enough water) and adding GPS coordinates of the last road point in the car, I start driving from Hotel.
(GPS coordinates of the last road point 23.033551, 58.991336)
One important thing I want to mention here that if you are using google maps for navigation in Oman then don't count on it. For some reasons, I was not able to turn the drive mode "on" on both of my mobiles (Sony Experia and iPhone 6s Plus). It was giving me only the directions. Anyways, luckily I am having GPS in my car as well as I have the premium version of Sygic World navigation on my mobile so it was OK for me.
Anyways, you can drive and easily reach there at the last asphalt road point of Wadi Arbeieen by following the signs on the road. Have a look on below pictures.
After the asphalt road, you will see an offroad track going down to the Wadi. Just step on it and enjoy the offroad drive. (becareful this road is not for beginner drivers). You will face some almost 70 degree slop and incline and very zig zag turns around the mountain.
Just follow the signs saying Wadi Arbeieen until you reach to the place where you can see rain water pods here & there.
After reaching to the coordinates 23.033551, 58.991336. You need to park your car somewhere (you will see a lot of cars parked there and families having picnic here & there). Take your backpack, goggle and hat and start hiking on the path towards the main location of the Wadi. (Make sure to have the water-proof bag for your camera and cell phone as there is a part where you need to swim your way to reach to the cave, and even sometimes if you are travelling after the rain, you have to dive through to reach to the other side) otherwise you will not be able to take pictures of the cave and waterfall, like me :(.
Coordinates for the last point (Water Fall) of Wadi Arbeieen 23.036165, 59.016457
(I will write this blog in episodes as I can't complete it in one go, hopefully, will complete it with pictures in next two days).
Day 1:
I started my car engine at 2PM from Abu Dhabi heading to Al Ain. Petrol tank was full as I fill it last night and I also checked the tyres Air Pressure and make it balance (I'm keeping 35psi in all tyres for my car). The people who are familiar with this route (Al Ain highway) will agree with me that drive to this part of the emirates is more scenic than driving to Dubai from Abu Dhabi. Anyways, I made it at Hili Border Checkpost without any trouble.
Important: One thing you have to make sure if you are visiting Oman by road for the first time, there are three borders in Al Ain. One is called Hili (which is adjacent to Buraimi city of Oman). The other one is in Mazed Area (near Jabal Hafeet) and the third one is very near to Hili border but it is only for locals. Expatriates can't pass through it as Hili & Mazed are the only borders having passport immigration facilities for expatriates. So make sure and mark on google map or on your car GPS for Hili border if you want to use the same route as I did.
The moment you will enter in the border checkpoint area, just park the car near to the office where its written "visa issuance & cancellation". One of your group member (who is having a credit card as well) has to go out of the car with all of your passports to enter the office. Normally there are not many people there, even I went on Eid holidays and there were less than 10 people. Go directly to talk to the officer in front of office entrance, hand him over your passport. He will make exit (from UAE) stamp and will charge you around 35 AED per person. They will not check car insurance here but keep it with you along with car registration card. The officer will return the passports to you and will give you one piece of paper (gatepass for the car) which you have to give at the exit gate of checkpost. There is another security officer standing before the exit gate (custom clearance officer) and he will check your car and if he is satisfied will stamp the gatepass and you can go ahead to the exit gate. Just handover the exit gatepass to the exit checkpoint officer and he will let you through, make sharp U-Turn after the gate and heads towards Buraimi (Oman). You will face three roundabouts, follow the instructions of your GPS and follow the signs of Muscat/Sohar as you enter the highway.
Buraimi & Sohar are green cities of Oman, having many dates & fruit gardens on both sides on the road. So you will see scenic route like below:
Highway there is having two lanes each side (most of the time) and you have to keep your eyes open during the drive as there will be people crossing the road on foot and even on their bicycles frequently as you will passthrough some towns & villages. You can't just put your car on cruise and relax. :) Follow the Sohar / Muscat signs and passthrough fort shapped gates which is specialiaty of Oman (see pics below) until you reach to your hotel.
Speed Limit: Speed limit policy is same as UAE, you can go whatever mentioned speed on the road +20km/hr.
I was having the booking in Grand Hyat Hotel in Muscat and I really enjoyed the drive and sure my stay there. It took me approximately 4 and half hours to reach there (from Abu Dhabi). The main entrance is on first floor (yes you read it correct), you will face the night club entrance (as shown in below photo) first, just take left from there to reach the main entrance.
 |
| Club Entrance |
 |
| Main Entrance |
 |
| Road towards souq mattrah from Hotel |
 |
| Souq Mattrah Road |
 |
| Souq Mattrah Port |
After Some Shopping and dinner outside, we head back to hotel.
Day 2
Next morning, the plan was to visit Wadi Al Arbeieen (the most beautiful and famous Wadi of Oman). After taking all necessary items for the hike (don't forget to have snacks and enough water) and adding GPS coordinates of the last road point in the car, I start driving from Hotel.
(GPS coordinates of the last road point 23.033551, 58.991336)
One important thing I want to mention here that if you are using google maps for navigation in Oman then don't count on it. For some reasons, I was not able to turn the drive mode "on" on both of my mobiles (Sony Experia and iPhone 6s Plus). It was giving me only the directions. Anyways, luckily I am having GPS in my car as well as I have the premium version of Sygic World navigation on my mobile so it was OK for me.
Anyways, you can drive and easily reach there at the last asphalt road point of Wadi Arbeieen by following the signs on the road. Have a look on below pictures.
Just follow the signs saying Wadi Arbeieen until you reach to the place where you can see rain water pods here & there.
After reaching to the coordinates 23.033551, 58.991336. You need to park your car somewhere (you will see a lot of cars parked there and families having picnic here & there). Take your backpack, goggle and hat and start hiking on the path towards the main location of the Wadi. (Make sure to have the water-proof bag for your camera and cell phone as there is a part where you need to swim your way to reach to the cave, and even sometimes if you are travelling after the rain, you have to dive through to reach to the other side) otherwise you will not be able to take pictures of the cave and waterfall, like me :(.
Coordinates for the last point (Water Fall) of Wadi Arbeieen 23.036165, 59.016457
(I will write this blog in episodes as I can't complete it in one go, hopefully, will complete it with pictures in next two days).
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