ME3 nov7 4/11/08 15:28 Page 84
knowledge Oman
ttglive.com
Wahiba Sands
Looking for
Lawrence
There’s more to Oman than Muscat. Dave Richardson
discovers the desert and, overleaf, heads further south
T
here are no scorpions at Desert out, then we drove seven miles back to the
Nights Camp, I was assured while main road, in time to visit a Bedouin family.
being greeted with juice and a cool The Bedouin are no longer nomadic, and
towel, but there are plenty in the many live in smart houses and have 4WDs
giant sand dunes that surround it… rather than camels parked outside. The
My idea of the desert is based on Lawrence family of five I visited also have their own
of Arabia films, and I had made the 100-mile, desert camp, where they keep camels, cows, Dave camped out in style at Desert Nights
two-hour journey from Muscat to see if goats, chickens and rabbits and spend cooler
Wahiba Sands could capture some of the winter nights. The masked woman of the weaving handicrafts for tourists, but stayed
magic. The endlessly fascinating dunes household does most of the work, including in the background. I felt I had been given a
change colour with every phase of the sun or glimpse of an ages-old lifestyle.
are bathed in moonlight under a clear night
Sample prices
A trip to Desert Nights can be combined
sky. But my vision of a tent and a camp-fire with a visit to Nizwa, once Oman’s capital,
proved a touch too romantic, which was just A double room at Desert Nights Camp costs where a 16th-century fort was the power
as well considering the creepy crawlies. about £330 including taxes, dinner, breakfast, base of a local imam. The nearby village of
Desert Nights is the first luxury tented sunset dune drive and camel ride. Birkat Mouz has abandoned houses made
camp in Oman, and has been open for less ■
desertnightscamp.com of mud and stone dating back hundreds of
than a year. The other camps in Wahiba years, occupied until the 1970s when Oman
offer simple tents with a shower/toilet block, Muscat-based Golden Tours, which hopes started to modernise.
but Desert Nights has 30 air-conditioned to work with UK operators, offers private car A drive up Jebel Akhdar, which means
cabins with private bathrooms. A buffet escorted tours for about £200 a day, for up to Green Mountain, offered superb views, the
dining room, bar (not yet licensed) and four passengers, including lunch. temperature dropping from 33C to 18C as
lounge are available, but on this occasion ■
gt-oman.com we climbed to 2,000 metres.
there was no entertainment and few other We returned to Muscat at the end of a
guests. I returned to my cabin in a pleasantly Etihad Airways flies three times daily from long day, and the bright city lights seemed
cool breeze, intent on a long night of star Heathrow to Muscat via Abu Dhabi, and daily a world away from Desert Nights Camp.
gazing, but soon fell asleep. from Manchester. I hadn’t slept under the stars like Lawrence
By eight in the morning, it was already ■
etihadairways.com of Arabia, but I thanked my lucky stars for
hot. I took a short camel ride before check- a wonderful experience.
84 07.11.2008
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