Oman's Musandam Fijords Peninsula

The Musandam Peninsula is an enclave of Oman that juts into the strategically important Straight of Hormuz. As such, it used to be entirely a military area and completely off-limits to tourists. Musandam is "one of Arabia's least accessible areas, but also one of the most memorable." This was definitely among the most inaccessible places I visited, as the elevation rises from sea level to 4000 ft in the course of a couple kilometers via an unpaved road that goes virtually straight up.

Oman and its trading empire has a history and that can't really be compared to that of the UAE/the Trucial States, who until they got oil were pretty much a bunch of camel traders and date growers with a few pearls thrown in. Its not for nothing that Omanis are often referred to as the 'Gentlemen of the Gulf'. The Musandam heights are a beautiful place and the Shihu a generous and warm people.

Musandam fijords

Tropical fish at Musandam Peninsula, Oman
Geographically, the Musandam peninsula juts into the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entry into the Persian Gulf, from the Arabian Peninsula. The Musandam peninsula is an exclave of Oman, separated from the rest of the country by the United Arab Emirates. Its location gives Oman partial control, shared with Iran, of the strategic strait. In the northern section of Musandam, around Kumzar, the current language is Kumzari, which is one of the south-western Iranian languages and a sub-branch of Persian. The Musandam Peninsula has an area of 1,800 square kilometers (695 sq mi) and a population of 28,727 people. Connectivity has traditionally been a problem for the region, but this has greatly improved since August 2008 with the world's fastest passenger ferry launching service between Muscat and Musandam.

The Musandam Peninsula mainland not far from Kumzar, Oman

Dibba coastal region at the northeastern tip of the UAE - Oman peninsula

On the dhow trip, Musandam, Oman
Dibba is a coastal region at the northeastern tip of the UAE/Oman peninsula on the Gulf of Oman. It is politically divided into three parts:

• Dibba Al-Fujairah ruled by the Emirate of Fujairah, UAE
• Dibba Al-Hisn ruled by the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE
• Dibba Al-Baya ruled by the Governorate of Musandam, Oman

Having a day out in Dibba is the best experience of your life while you are on a trip to the Musandam Peninsula in Oman. A Dibba tour renders opportunities for nature and marine lovers to have amazing Sea activities full of fun and beauty.

Musandam’s largest city, Al Khasab
Musandam’s largest city, Al Khasab, is jewel-like in the brilliant contrast between its vivid shades of blue, white, and green and the more subtle rainbow tones of the surrounding rock. The term Khasab refers to the fertility of the soil. The land around the city clearly sustains agriculture as evidenced by the bright green plant-covered land. Spots of green highlight other settlements along the coast. Man-made surfaces are pale blue and white. Fishing, agriculture, and ship building are the primary industries in Musandam, reports the government of Oman.

(Taken from Wikipedia)

We began by crossing the border from the UAE into Dibba Bayah, where the road hugged the Gulf of Oman briefly. Suddenly we turned off and began heading into the mountains up a dry riverbed (a wadi).

A few miles inland, the riverbed narrowed such that the trail was only as wide as a vehicle. On both sides of us, rock cliffs rose hundreds of feet into the air. It was like the Grand Canyon less the Colorado River. We stopped to look around and noticed that the rock was very smooth on the bottom and gradually got rougher higher on the cliff, evidence that this valley was carved by water. Remember that the heat was over 100 degrees F with high humidity.

We turned off the wadi and began a steep ascent up the mountains to an elevation of around 4000 ft. The road was just rock and several times I was worried that our 4WD would slip and go careening 2000 ft down to the valley floor. This is the view from the tippy-top.

The road (visible in the far right) slowly began turning downward, heading back towards the UAE.

As we got back to the UAE, we crossed the border, which was armed by a big fellow with an even bigger machine gun strapped to his chest. Needless to say, I didn't try to take his picture. As we re-entered the UAE, we headed toward Ras-al-Khaimah on the Persian Gulf coast.