O-man, What A View!

The biggest benefit to living in Dubai (if you aren't a shopper) is the convenience for travel possibilities.  Being the gateway to three continents - four if you factor in that flights to Australia and New Zealand generally operate through the UAE too, opens up the amount of places you can visit without much forethought and planning.  With multiple daily flights to Nepal, India, SE Asia, East Africa, Europe and all parts of the Middle East, this very modern metropolis is the very definition of a  'travel hub.'

For my latest trip however, I didn't need to take a plane as I was going someplace closer to home.  In the farthest reach of the Emirates is the Omani exclave of Musandam, very much a part of Oman despite being cut off from it.  It's location gives Oman partial control of the Strait of Hormuz, an important trading route shared with Iran.  Musandam is also only a couple of hours away by car from Dubai, making it a popular day-trip destination for residents and tourists in Dubai.

The major draw to the peninsula is Khasab, a port town built by the Portuguese as a strategic point for their naval presence during the 17th century.  Khasab has been tagged as the 'Norway of Arabia,' owing to it's fjord-like cliffs and rock formations.  Although I haven't been to the Scandinavian country, I doubt the Omani version stands up to the comparison, but seeing as much of the surrounding region is desert, then the enthusiasm for other geographical features is understandable.

Crossing over the border into the exclave, the scenery gradually changed from the bland desert plains to a more eye-pleasing mountainous region.  Fishing villages, sandwiched between the Gulf and the crags, whizzed by in seconds due to being home to only 3 or 4 families at a time.  Without a doubt, Oman has the most interesting landscapes of the various Gulf states and made a nice change.

My journey continued along the winding roads until we reached the harbour, just before the city of Khasab itself.  Here, our party of day-trippers swiftly transferred to a traditional dhow (an Arab sailing vessel) for a tour of the aforementioned fjords.  For a few hours, our ship cruised along and allowed me to get lost in my thoughts while watching the cliffs and peaks go by.  Numerous times during the trip, dolphins would swim nearby and play in the waves generated by the boat.  Needless to say, watching them dance and jump in such close proximity was the highlight of the trip.  Taking a cooling soak in the water and the chance to try our the snorkelling gear was also a blessing in the summer heat.

Although not an action-packed day out, the tour to the Musandam peninsula turned out to be quite a pleasant way to spend a day-off from work.  Seeing something other than sand and shopping malls can never be a bad thing, especially when replaced by dolphins.