Golden Tulip Khasab Hotel Res

... still 32˚C. I went on the internet and ended up chatting to a guy called Ibrahim Dermes. He was part of a group of young football players here on trials for several clubs. He is 22 and plays Ouagadougou FC and is desperate to find a good club to make a living. He has played for Burkina Faso under 21s. When I asked him if it was not difficult to play under this heat, he laughed and said "What heat, here there’s freshness". Freshness? What the hell???

After looking at all the rock drawings we could find, we headed back out of the wadi, and along the coast road to Khasab. We passed the swanky-looking Golden Tulip resort, which has a series of small chalets for rent in the area of UAE 1,000 dirhams per night. One of our party was not partial to boat rides, so she elected to stay at the resort and enjoy some refreshments and a book while we continued on.

Khasab is also not a large town ...

Got up and ate my usual granola bar for breakfast, checked out of the hotel, then headed down to the harbor to find my boat for the dhow cruise. I checked to see if the moneychanger was open and it wasn't I drove to what I thought was the harbor, but it wasn’t exactly right (the harbor wasn’t really that big). I thought it might be next door, but I called the office since it was almost the 9am tour time. They gave me directions to their office in ...

The drive along the Musandam coast to Khasab was gorgeous! It was amazingly beautiful---the highway hugged the coast between the mountain cliffs and the sea, and every once in a while there would be a small village or a seaside beach (public). This had me stopping ever five minutes to take all the pictures I could get. I also stopped at the fort in Bukha. I really wanted to go for a swim in the ocean, but wanted to get a bit closer to Khasab. I kept being lured by ...

Area: Musandam Peninsula is the northern tip of UAE but in Omani territory that is separated by UAE from the mainland Oman. Khasab is the main town in this area that boasts the highest mountain of this area i.e. 2200m called as Jebel Hareem. Travel Month: Jan 2009 Country: UAE and Oman Attractions: Mountain driving, Fjords, Coastal drive, Ocean, Camping Total Distance Covered: 475 Kilometers total out of which 125 Kilometers was dirt track and ...

6.00am saw us standing on the corner outside our apartment building waiting for our booked day tour to the Musandam Peninsula in the country of Oman. Another country, another stamp in the passport..... easily done from Dubai as distances are not great and cars travel at amazing speeds down sleek highways. Our driver's name was......yes, you guessed it, Mohammed! We've lost count this trip of how many Mohammed's we've met ...

It was an early start as our convoy of 25 people and 7 4WD's headed north towards Oman. Our destination was Khasab Harbour in the Musamdan Peninsula (Oman) for a day of dhow cruising around the Khors (Islands). We were to be there for a 9.30 departure....little did we know that it would take us 6 hours to arrive (usually only 2 and a bit!). When we finally arrived at the border we found mayhem and chaos ...

After the boat trip many people were going back to Dubai, but I had planned to stay with Canadian Graham, Polish Jan, and Aussie Ella. We had Graham's jeep to go around, and more importantly Graham himself, who had already been exploing a fair bit of the area. In the evening we looked for the souk, but eventually settled at a restaurant and had dinner outside, on a square. Once that was dealt with, it was already 11pm, and we had to decide between sleeping on the beach and sleeping in the ...

Whle I was trying to organize a trip to the Musandam peninsula, book a boat, possibly dive, etc..., Graham told me about a french guy who was already organizing something. In fact, he had arranged directly with a boat owner to leave later in the day, and to install a "sound system" on the boat. After a bit of organisation, there were 30+ people joining. The drive from Dubai to Khasab, the main town in that part of ...

... home.
The trip back was very relaxing with more refreshments served and everyone watching the world go by at the prow of the Dhow or on the cushions on deck. We also saw more dolphins on our return journey which was an added bonus.
Back in Khasab it was time to say goodbye and the convoy split up to head home (via the Ras Al Khaimah Starbucks!).
A great weekend with good friends in a really unique environment!