ok
these were taken on my oman trip in the first week of september
all photos taken within 1 day only
unfortunately we were in a rush, i couldn't take too many photos, trust me, there is so much more

i hope they can motivate you to go there, but please always go with 3 cars

ENJOY! :)


in chronological order of the trip

muscat, big bosses' sultan qaboos palace
http://tinypic.com/fkcrkm.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcrps.jpg

francincense burner in the bay
http://tinypic.com/fkcrrp.jpg

muscat is pretty big, covering a huge area
this is what you can call downtown
http://tinypic.com/fkcrwp.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcs3c.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkctns.jpg

the souq in muscat
http://tinypic.com/fkctpw.jpg

al bustan palace hotel very close to muscat
http://tinypic.com/fkcs5g.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcth2.jpg

nizwa
http://tinypic.com/fkchlk.jpg

nizwa fort
http://tinypic.com/fkck08.jpg

nizwa as seen from the old fort
http://tinypic.com/fkck6b.jpg

the fort's guard tower
http://tinypic.com/fkckdl.jpg

nizwa souq
http://tinypic.com/fkckg1.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkckkm.jpg

wadi gul and a very old village
http://tinypic.com/fkckmu.jpg

grand canyon of oman, jabal shams
http://tinypic.com/fkckuf.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkckyw.jpg

al hamra
http://tinypic.com/fkcl5c.jpg

jabal akhdar range
http://tinypic.com/fkcl81.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkclcw.jpg

off-road in the mountains
it's so much fun to drive really fast there
http://tinypic.com/fkclew.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcllw.jpg

jabal akhdar range
http://tinypic.com/fkclrd.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcn4y.jpg

it's extremely steep and lots of gravel, driving in 1st gear is a must
gradient of more than 25% is nothing special here
http://tinypic.com/fkcnc1.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcnsj.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcnxy.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkco08.jpg

bilad sayt village
http://tinypic.com/fkco5f.jpg

and finally down in wadi bani khalid
http://tinypic.com/fkcobt.jpg

and now speed up to 100km/h and eat dust!!!
i can tell you, our 3 landcruisers suffered, this is why we rented some and didn't take out own
http://tinypic.com/fkcoer.jpg

i told the driver, go slowly, i need a photo of the car, and don't want to have the wadi full of dust
http://tinypic.com/fkcoxx.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcq9x.jpg

only a short drive from wadi bani khalid to nakhl and it's awesome fort
we sometimes have gala dinners here at night, lovely
http://tinypic.com/fkcqis.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcql1.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcqqe.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcqs3.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcqw7.jpg

http://tinypic.com/fkcqyh.jpg

I love oman :shocked:

I didnt go there for a long time now. what is really interesting is how simple and clean the area is.

Really nice place!

mashallah

You reminded me of my time there, man it's really been a while, 7 years now, man time flies.

Oman is beautiful mashalla.

Truly a land of mystery and culture.

Great shots...

Seems like an interesting place...Wouldn't like to live there though!

Wow, thats really beautiful! Great shots!

It really is a beautiful place :D thx for sharing

really nice pics...any unidentified flying objects in nizwa? :P:P

I heard that it's a great place for diving?

Amazing shots. Oman is not a country getting much attention. But to judge by the picsit's very interesting. And so clean!

Nice pics! ;)

impressive!!

Awesome !

Oman used to be a popular summer destination for UAE ppl in the 50’s and 60’s. Would love spending sometime there, discovering these old forts :horse:

do u increase the saturation of the pictures DL...the colors arent normal

Excellent selection of photo's of Oman D-L, looking forward to my first visit to Oman in June :) , the scenery looks very dramatic :eek2:

Oh gosh ! Dubai-Lover, I took exactly the same path as yours ! I visited Muscat, and oh yea, I went to that Sultan palace in Old Muscat, did some shopping at Muttrah Souq, then climbed up the hightway till Nizwa --visited Nizwa Castle, joined the excursion to Jabal Shams and Jabal Akhdar, but unfortunately it was raining on that day so I couldnt get a great sight. But you missed one great place which is Salalah. What a wonderful place it is ! Standing next to Arabian Sea, Salalah is a place that offers a more traditional feel of Oman.

Had my first taste of Omani hospitality, 5 nights at Al Waha (part of the new Shangri-la Bar Al Jissah Resort which comprises of 5*Al Waha , 5*Deluxe Al Bandar & 6* Al Husn, approx 20 Minutes from Muscat Town)
. . . . this experience comes highly recommended :)

A few photos of my visit June 2006

Al Waha from under Al Husn/Turtle Beach walkway
http://xs302.xs.to/xs302/06250/DSCF4148AlWahafromCliffsLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

View from rooms balcony to Al Huns on cliff top (Al Bandar is in the middle)
http://xs302.xs.to/xs302/06250/DSCF4182ViewtoAlHusnLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

Al Waha pool & gardens from hotel reception area
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4289AlWahaPoolThroWindowLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

Al Bandar Reception
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4153AlBandarReceptionLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

Part of Al Bandar Piazza area (restaurants, coffee shop/cafe, bars & shops)
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4269AlBandarPiazzaLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

Down town Mutrah Souk
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4305MutrahSoukLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4310MenInMuscatLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

Dolphin cruise off Muscat
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4350MuscatDolphins1LR.jpg (http://xs.to)
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4332MuscatDolphins2LR.jpg (http://xs.to)

We pass a Tuna fisherman
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4380MuscatTunaFishermanLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

And one of the many impressive Forts along the coast
http://xs102.xs.to/xs102/06250/DSCF4385MuscatFortFromSeaLR.jpg (http://xs.to)

Among 24 countries ive visited until now, Oman is the best. The most beautiful country that deserves infinite media attention.

:) I have finally got round to producing a short video on my trip to Muscat; Oman, in June 2006. A contrasting change from modern Dubai.

The video is hosted on googlevideo:

Shangri-la Hotel Resort Muscat, Oman (http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-2708706556404579299&hl=en-GB)

http://xs105.xs.to/xs105/06356/ShangriLaMuscatLR.jpg

Enjoy :)

Ive read about an island in the strait of hormuz where a kingdom/state controlled the traffic in and out of the gulf and became very wealthy. So my question is, does this island still exist with the old buildings/settlements?