It's been a while since I wrote anything on here. Since I last posted, I've been to several beautiful places which deserve to be written about. One of those places is Musandam, Oman. We went there with friends on a weekend trip back in May. Musandam is only a few hours' drive from Dubai, and Canadians can get a visa on arrival after filling out some papers and handing over some money. To drive to Oman, you need to make sure your car has insurance coverage in Oman. If it doesn't, then I heard you may be able to purchase it at the border but since our friend had car insurance to cover Oman already, we didn't need to go through this process. I have no idea how much of a pain it would be, but usually in this part of the world nothing is ever so simple.
The road to Musandam is breath-taking, winding around the coastal mountains. Unfortunately we arrived when it was pitch black and didn't get to see anything (although I caught glimpses of it on the way back, trying to fight back car sickness with all the ups, downs, and turns the road made).
The place we stayed at was the Atana Musandam, a relaxing hotel set between the mountains and the Gulf of Oman. From there, it is easy to explore the area.
My friend MC and I went on a half-day dhow cruise. A dhow is a traditional wooden boat, and the one we were on did not have chairs. You just sit on cushions and have an open view of the beautiful scenery around. On the cruise we even saw some dolphins jumping around the boat! The cruise took us past a small island called Telegraph Island, which was the location of a British repeater station used to boost telegraphic messages in the 19th century. The boat stopped there and we were able to jump into the clear, turquoise water to swim around and snorkel. The scenery around the island is very dramatic - Telegraph Island is located in a fjord, with rocky mountains and cliffs with flocks of cormorants perched atop them towering around.
Other than the dhow cruise and swimming in the hotel pool, we didn't do much else around the Musandam peninsula. The hotel we stayed at was a dry hotel, so if you're looking for an alcoholic beverage you'll need to drive down the road to the sister hotel - Atana Khasab, where we had a nice dinner. If you're looking to get away from Dubai, Musandam is the perfect weekend getaway for relaxation.
The road to Musandam is breath-taking, winding around the coastal mountains. Unfortunately we arrived when it was pitch black and didn't get to see anything (although I caught glimpses of it on the way back, trying to fight back car sickness with all the ups, downs, and turns the road made).
The place we stayed at was the Atana Musandam, a relaxing hotel set between the mountains and the Gulf of Oman. From there, it is easy to explore the area.
My friend MC and I went on a half-day dhow cruise. A dhow is a traditional wooden boat, and the one we were on did not have chairs. You just sit on cushions and have an open view of the beautiful scenery around. On the cruise we even saw some dolphins jumping around the boat! The cruise took us past a small island called Telegraph Island, which was the location of a British repeater station used to boost telegraphic messages in the 19th century. The boat stopped there and we were able to jump into the clear, turquoise water to swim around and snorkel. The scenery around the island is very dramatic - Telegraph Island is located in a fjord, with rocky mountains and cliffs with flocks of cormorants perched atop them towering around.
Other than the dhow cruise and swimming in the hotel pool, we didn't do much else around the Musandam peninsula. The hotel we stayed at was a dry hotel, so if you're looking for an alcoholic beverage you'll need to drive down the road to the sister hotel - Atana Khasab, where we had a nice dinner. If you're looking to get away from Dubai, Musandam is the perfect weekend getaway for relaxation.
