Mobility challenged visitors in Oman - 10 things to do and see
Oman is all about the outdoors, hiking and adventure - not your typical destination for a mobility challenged person. If we did not live here, my mum probably would had never visited Oman - but since we are here, she decided to come and see us. She went through a complicated knee surgery and she has been recovering the past 2 years - she still needs sticks to walk and she certainly cannot hike. She stayed here for 2 weeks, so we needed to come up with some ideas about what to see and where to go - also considering that in March the weather slowly started to get warmer. I wanted to show her how beautiful this country is and I also wanted her to move so I set the target to walk in average 3km every day. The visit was very successful, she had a great time - she had time to relax, but she was active at the same time. We did walk in average 3km per day, in fact in many days we walked much more than that. She also gained confidence in herself and her abilities - she managed to do much more than she ever thought!
Here are the things we did, scroll down for details!
02. Be blown away by the stunning coastline around Muscat
This is a staple Muscat program we do with all of our visitors and it is always very popular. The Grand Mosque never fails to impress anyone (even younger kids!), the Opera is so pretty with the blue sky background. We usually go to the mosque first thing in the morning, then head over to the Opera where we have brunch in Fauchon. We walk off the food in Al Bustan village and finish the day visiting the Sultan's Palace and Muttrah souq. The only difference with my mum was that we did all these in 2 days.
We visited Bandar Al Khairan but there are plenty of other options to choose from: Yitti, Yenkit, Qantab just to name a few. My mum is not that keen on going into the water and certainly not one to go under to snorkel, but for those who like swimming it can be great.
There are many of beautiful ruin-towns all around Oman, some bigger some smaller. Basically in every oasis you can find a few old scrambling houses. We choose to visit the Al Minzafah neighborhood in Ibra on the way to the desert. This is probably one of the lesser known sites but the houses are just stunning - the details and decorations are amazing. Other similar sites are Birkat Al Mouz, Al Hamra old town, Manah, Imti just to name a few.
The desert is a fascinating place and the best way to experience it is to stay over. Camping is not an option for my mum but we also did not want to go for one of the luxury resorts - swimming pool sounds just not right in the desert. We choose the Nomadic Desert Camp - a Bedouin family turned their compound into a desert camp and they did it wonderfully. The huts are basic, there is no air-condition and the toilets and showers are in a separate building but everything is clean and the people are super nice and friendly. Abdullah took us to a chilling dune-bashing and we did go for a short camel ride what my mum skipped. In the evening we gathered around the fire, where Abdullah's brother made fresh flat bread and shared stories of their lives - it was very cozy. My mum and our daughter had to go to the toilet in the middle of the night and they said it was absolutely magical to see the stars studded sky - felt like being in a snow globe!
The available options are endless and over the course of 2 weeks we visited two of them. Al Mudhaireb is a lesser known oasis but a great stop to or from Wahiba Sands. They have a half renovated castle, a very old souq which apparently gets filled with life on Fridays and many old houses and beautiful doors. Wadi Al Maawil is a fantastic daytrip destination from Muscat. Fort, heritage house, mud brick ruins, lush gardens, falaj - it does really have it all.
If you say Oman, I say wadis. None should leave the country without visiting at least one - if possible more. When you can hike the difficulty comes with the decision where to go, which one to pick. But when you cannot hike and even walking is challenging than there is only one option: Wadi Al Arabeieen. This is one of my favorite wadis (the other one is Wadi Bani Kharous) for its diversity, beauty and water-pools. With my mum we drove into the village, stopped to see the pool with the small waterfall, walked a bit around. We drove in at 23.1081,58.9816 and exited at 23.0781,59.0445 - it is a nice round trip and the two routes are vastly different. It does give a good feel of what a wadi is for anyone really. The wadi has a great guest house as well. We did this as a daytrip and visited Bimmah Sinkhole, drove up to Salmah Plateu and stopped by at Al Hinn Sulphur Springs.
The other must do thing in Oman is off-road driving and one of the shorter but absolutely thrilling routes is the one up to Salmah Plateau. From sea level in 45 min you are up at 1400m and if you drive further in eventually you will reach 2000m altitude. The road is steep with hairpin turns and the views are just stunning - you can see the whole coastline if the weather is clear. The plateau is home to fantastic caves, ancient tower tombs, beautiful scenery and also perfect for camping - you can read more about it here. With my mum we came for the drive, the views and walked around a bit - she enjoyed it a lot. A strong 4WD with low gear option and an experienced driver is a must!
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