Day trip to the Jabals Part Two

After leaving Jabal Akhdar, we retraced our steps towards Bahla, and after a snack lunch headed back up into the mountains – destination Jabal Shams (Sunny Mountain).  Conversely, it was raining on the way there, incredibly heavily, and this caused the mercury drop from 38C to 23C in only a matter of minutes.  The rain was patchy and had cleared up by the time we reached the foothills of the mountain range.

I wonder if rain would have “stopped play” at their football match – the Omanis are football crazy

It wasn’t easy to spot this long abandoned village nestled into the rocks

But I guess this shop has a prime trading position, though despite their signboard I don’t expect them to be selling diamonds and caviar.

We road kept winding higher and higher, and at the scary bits I concentrated on taking some good photos, rather than the long drop-offs to the side of the road.

My friend Mehran who put the trip together promised me ashphalt roads and crash barriers “all the way”….. well apart from this bit!

Finally we made it to the top – according to google earth, it’s 800 metres to the bottom of this canyon!  Thank goodness for a safety fence at the top.

We didnt’ see too much wildlife, perhaps those camping will see some more – does an abandoned donkey count?

The trip was completed in a lovely Nissan Patrol V8, which was very suited to the terrain.  With a 5.7litre engine it took the steep climbs in its stride, and the smooth suspension and high level of luxury were appreciated by driver and passengers alike.

Having rained on the way there, we continued to see signs of rain all around but none fell on us while we were at the top of the hill

Once we came out of the mountains we had to cross a small, shallow wadi – guess it will be carwashes all around today!

We covered Jabal Akhdar and Jabal Shams in one day, but it would be much better to stay for two or three days and have more time to explore the area thoroughly.  Camping is possible year-round at both summits, plenty of spaces and will be cool in the summer, and downright cold in the winter – so do take enough blankets to keep you warm if you’re camping between October and May!

We saw 2WD cars up Jabal Shams but wouldn’t dream of driving anything other than a 4×4 up to the top.  Motorbikes can go right to the top of Jabal Shams but they are prohibited on Jabal Akhdar.

Day Trip to the Jabals Part One

In all my travels I haven’t seen much of the mountains in “mainland” Oman, so when I was offered the chance to join some friends on a scouting trip to Jebel Akhdar (Green mountain) and Jebel Shams (Sunny mountain) on Saturday I jumped at the chance.  We left Al Ain just after 7am, crossing over to Oman at the Mezyad border.  Our host, Mr Saleh, was quite tickled by the fact that we were all from different countries – as an Emirati he only needs his ID to cross but his passengers, who all needed their passports, came from Armenia, Germany and Scotland!

It didn’t take us long to cross the relatively boring plains between Al An and Ibri and soon this sign heralded that we were well and truly in mountain country!

And they weren’t kidding….

As far as mountain roads go however, this one wasn’t too bad, at least it was “blacktop” and had crash barriers on the main hairpin bends. NB – you cannot go beyond the police post at GPS 22 57.643N 57 40.671E unless you have a 4×4 vehicle.  It goes without saying that your car should be in good mechanical order, especially the brakes!

It didn’t take us long to reach our first destination – Al Ayn, high up in the Jabal Akdar area.

This area lies around 2000 metres above sea level, has much lower temperatures than the plains below and has a year-round water supply.  A wide array of produce is grown here

with falaj offering not only a useful if slightly precarious walkway, but also a water supply to the terraces.

Pools form every now and then and some local boys were having great fun swimming here – if you click on the photo below you can see a young man “mid air” as he jumped into the water.

Dates are also harvested nearby; we think the container of dates on this man’s head must have weighed 15 kilos or more!  He had parked his truck up at the car park and was now taking it down to a row of houses only accessible on foot – but I was pleased to see he took a barrow with him on his return journey.

Some of the buildings in Al Ayn were over 100 years old and we paused now and then to have a close look. I can never resist snapping an ornate arabic door

My camera captured this lizard has he darted over the rocks

and this washing drying caught my eye.  The hat drying on the pole is a traditonal Omani Kummah.

Despite being a very small village there were two mosques, the one above and this one below which was absolutely beautiful in its simplicity and setting.

Once we were back on the road we stopped to buy some pomegranates – locally grown and much cheaper than the ones in the supermarkets here in the UAE.

We stopped further up the road where Mr Saleh negotiated to buy all the apples and pears from this stall.  We think the man in the brown thobe was over 80 years old – he had heard of Buraimi (bit of Al Ain on the Omani side of the border), but not Al Ain, which is less than 3 hours away.

Part two, covering Jebel Shams to follow.

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