We woke up very early this morning to meet our driver at 6 am to head to Khasab, Oman for our tour with Khourshem Tours. There are two countries at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula below Saudi Arabia that are roughly the same shape and size: Yemen and Oman. But in addition to making up the eastern half of the bottom of the peninsula, Oman actually curves northward toward UAE and the Persian Gulf - and has two parts that are unattached to the rest of the country. Khasab is one of the main cities in the northernmost portion of Oman - a region known as the Musandam - although according to our driver it has only a couple of thousand people. The below map shows the Musandam region of Oman above the UAE and across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. On the left is the Persian Gulf, on the right is the Gulf of Oman.
The below map zooms in on Khasab, which is settled among the fjords of the Musandam.
Our driver was great - very safe and very helpful with the border crossing (for which we had to get exist stamps from UAE and pay a fee, then get an entry stamp from Oman 100 yards later and pay another fee). We got to Khasab after about 3 hours - which was a bit earlier than expected, so we first checked out Khasab Castle, which was originally a Portuguese fort from the 1600s. The castle is now a museum with letters dating from the 1300s and examples of shipping vessels, pottery, tools and traditional fishing equipment. There are also prehistoric stone paintings from the region.
We headed to the dock at 9:30 and got on board our dhow. Then we took off for an all-day tour with a couple of other families through the impressive limestone fjords. We sat on the top deck, which was laid out with Persian rugs and pillows. A brusk wind offset what was an extremely hot day. After an hour or so, we anchored off a reef and did some snorkeling off the coast of Telegraph Island, named for its prominent role in British communications in the 1800s and 1900s. The fish were quite abundant. We then had a lunch on the boat of rice, chicken, pita and humus. After lunch, we headed back among the fjords to the dock, and then rode home, sleeping on the top deck most of the way. Although we did not see any dolphins, there was certainly an abundance of cormorants.
It was a great day out on the boat in the sun and with a warm wind blowing.
When we got home, we showered and then went for dinner at Fume Neighborhood Eatery - a trendy new restaurant in the complex attached to John and Alexis's building, which was delicious.
Alexis is back to work tomorrow, but we are going to head to the markets in Old Dubai before heading to the airport for our flight back late tomorrow night.
The below map zooms in on Khasab, which is settled among the fjords of the Musandam.
Our driver was great - very safe and very helpful with the border crossing (for which we had to get exist stamps from UAE and pay a fee, then get an entry stamp from Oman 100 yards later and pay another fee). We got to Khasab after about 3 hours - which was a bit earlier than expected, so we first checked out Khasab Castle, which was originally a Portuguese fort from the 1600s. The castle is now a museum with letters dating from the 1300s and examples of shipping vessels, pottery, tools and traditional fishing equipment. There are also prehistoric stone paintings from the region.
We headed to the dock at 9:30 and got on board our dhow. Then we took off for an all-day tour with a couple of other families through the impressive limestone fjords. We sat on the top deck, which was laid out with Persian rugs and pillows. A brusk wind offset what was an extremely hot day. After an hour or so, we anchored off a reef and did some snorkeling off the coast of Telegraph Island, named for its prominent role in British communications in the 1800s and 1900s. The fish were quite abundant. We then had a lunch on the boat of rice, chicken, pita and humus. After lunch, we headed back among the fjords to the dock, and then rode home, sleeping on the top deck most of the way. Although we did not see any dolphins, there was certainly an abundance of cormorants.
It was a great day out on the boat in the sun and with a warm wind blowing.
When we got home, we showered and then went for dinner at Fume Neighborhood Eatery - a trendy new restaurant in the complex attached to John and Alexis's building, which was delicious.
Alexis is back to work tomorrow, but we are going to head to the markets in Old Dubai before heading to the airport for our flight back late tomorrow night.
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