The silence in the desert of Oman experience

May 2, 2019

It is the first Morning in the desert, as the Land reveals its most beautiful secrets. A majestic calm is located above the valley, it is quiet, so quiet as it can be, if you stop in the middle of the deserted of the Al-Jabal-al-Achdar mountains and out of the car rises. Somewhere a Cicada together, rubbing your legs, up in the sky a hawk calls, otherwise there is nothing, not even the Wind.

As a man appears. Between the thorn bushes and rocks, he is at once, as if he had materialized itself right in this Moment. He wears a white disch Dasha, the traditional male robe, and a beard like a Sultan. And asked if there was any problems with the car. Oh, no? But maybe search the help in finding the way? No? He tilts his head to the side, his Keffiyeh, a scarf that falls over the shoulder, he smiles, pensive, as though he could learn everything about the visitors, if he look only a couple of minutes.

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Dubai: Al Maha Desert Resort & Spa

Al Maha is the Arabic Name for the Oryx antelope and actually you can meet these graceful creatures out here. The Desert Resort is located in the middle of the desert in a nature reserve, 45 minutes ‘ drive from the hustle and Bustle of Dubai. Visually, a Bedouin camp modeled – only of course very much luxury, the pavilion-like, with hand-crafted furniture and equipped apartments picturesque in the champagne-colored sand dunes. Camel riding? A Desert Safari? Or prefer to shoot a bow? Every day guests can choose different offers, always in the morning and in the evening, before it gets too hot and it cools better in the private pool.

address: Dubai, Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Al Ain Road, Tel. 4-832 99 00, www.al-maha.com, DZ from 635 €

©Till Bartels

You’ve actually stopped just to feel the silence of the desert? The man nods his head in a direction and says that he was living back there. There’s nothing back there except rubble. A ride he doesn’t want to. No, he says, he’d rather walk. And Nothing goes into this. After a few moments he no longer see to look.

teapots and pastries

Maybe this is the formative impression of a trip to the Oman, You will feel in good hands in this country. No matter, whether on the beach of Qalhat, on the market of Nizwa or somewhere on the coast at Taqa, even if you stop in the middle of the old Testament Gesteinsödnis and off – almost always someone who inquires after the well-being.

waving is Often a part, sometimes people teapots or pastries out of the car, get always gets you a Smile along the way. It is as if the people were happy, in fact, anyone who visited you and your home. As you be thankful that someone makes the effort to drive the rental car in the remote mountain valleys, to experience the silence of the desert. Oman is the peaceful model country in the Middle East – if there is restricted freedom of expression and freedom of the press prevail, homosexuality is officially prohibited.

love at second sight

pampered Luxury guests are not disappointed on arrival, maybe only once. The back should be the capital? Without a Skyline, without the helicopter, the guests to Rooftop Bars fly? Of Oman, one quickly realizes, is not to throw himself ran to his visitors, the flashy Higher-bigger-more expensive-posturing of its neighbors is completely foreign to him.

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the stones and the stars: in the desert of Oman, the silence of the desert can know

In comparison to other Peninsula destinations on the Arab of Oman is something of the silent Cousin at family gatherings on the balcony and look up at the stars, while the Rest of the affinity brags on the inside with new possessions or luxury holidays. There are no ski slopes in shopping malls, no artificial hotel of the Islands, and no towers, whose peaks disappear in the clouds.

Instead, you can see in the first two hours: a front bröselnde fortress, and approximately 15 cafés, the point with neon ads like in the 70s. Fishermen mend their nets, a musician with Saz. And a gang of youngsters, the playing a the Ball and “Özil, Özil!” call.

the Whole of Muscat, one sees by the way. Oman is almost as large as Germany, and its capital, but lets loose on a morning walk to explore. For the city of Matrah next time is in the afternoon. That’s why you are sitting already on the second day of the trip in the car and drives off.

the terrain

enough half An hour in any direction and you are traveling in a country that seems endless and, above all, empty. As long as you stay on the motorway and similar roads, one must pay attention not just on sand drifts, and on dromedaries, which seem to meditate on the road.

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Complicated it will be on the side lines and into the Wadis. The access to these narrow mountain valleys, tempting the traveller, usually with only seemingly good conditions: the runway is wide, the gravel, not so bad, you think, will not be. It is but. It is very fast, already behind the first bend. Instead bravem gravel of different bulky chunks of rock are now in the way of gentle troughs depth of the crater are holes, the track sets slant or passes close to a gaping abyss.

soon, we would like to thank the Providence that you have chosen at the airport for the more expensive all-wheel drive car. And one of the locals, motorists, offering fresh dates and the note, take the next junction on the left of: an abbreviation, hardly any stones, and beautiful panoramas.

It is the way that you can discover on such slopes, the soul of the country, and maybe that’s true. Havens such as Birkat al-involving MOFTEC or Misfah, for example, protected wagging against the sun and prying eyes by a matte green roof made of palm. The people here have learned ages ago how to turn with little ground water or spring water in a dust – dry piece of desert into a garden of Eden. Narrow channels to distribute it in any angle, anywhere in the oases, a faint rippling in the air. And a hint of incense perfume, if a woman goes by. Or a man.

incense – tears of the gods Fullscreen

a Gnarled frankincense tree in the desert

This fragrance was the one who made the Land prosperous. The resin of the frankincense tree was needed in the temples and churches of the Roman Empire. On the incense road, one of the oldest trade routes in the world, transported by caravans from the present-day Oman to the port of Gaza. 2000 years later, the scent still wafts through the air. Dishes are seasoned with incense, shops with him beräuchert, the water in the hotel fountain is mixed with him. And in the Souk of Salalah and have specialised in a number of stores, the dried resin in various grades.

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The city, whose Name sounds like a forgotten pop song from the sixties, is located in the South of the country. Salalah is a popular holiday destination of the Omanis; the foothills of the monsoon bring rain in the summer sometimes, over night the desert turns green. In the rest of the year but it is still quieter than elsewhere in this peaceful country. To see there is not that much, an endless beach, in front of which the sun is hanging from a rope in the evening as a ball of fire into the sea, and a Bazaar, where you will be courted gently. You put up! You eat with us tonight! Try our incense spiced tea!

Soon you can’t resist, takes a seat, drinks, eats, and buys, for the equivalent of a few euros: those resin pieces, which the Romans once called the “tears of the gods”, packaged in small cans. Who opens it later at home, close your eyes and take a deep breath, and returns in the Sultanate of Oman. And for a short time in the deserts and Wadis of the country in which he has cared for and sheltered feel.