After spending a while in Muscat, the capital of Oman, it was time to see more of the country! It was time to do some exploring in Oman!
What was the route?
The start was in Muscat, from there it was time to do some hitchhiking to get to places! Our first destination should have been Wadi Shab, which is one of the most famous places for tourism in Oman. The plan was to get to Salalah, which is at the other end of the country, but that was changed during the trip.
It was changed, to go slowly back to Muscat, to continue the trip, which ended in ending the trip.
The first hitchhiking day
Starting at the outside borders of the capital, it made it easier to get a ride. The first person, who stopped after not even ten minutes, told us to drive us all the way! That was perfect, he barely spoke English, which made the communication a bit tricky, but with hands and feets everything is possible.
After we were on the highway with him, he started to get nervous and wanted to drive back, because he forgot something. We had a weird feeling, because it felt a bit dangerous, but getting out of the car didn’t work. This made the feeling worse.
Luckily he really just wanted to pick something up and drove then further in the direction of Wadi Shab. On the way there, we arrived at the Bimmah Sinkhole, which is a huge sinkhole near the water. He really wanted to show us this place, which was a nice thing to do. Also there was a child, who was presenting art from his school project. The artwork was really impressive. In their age, my work would have been trash. This kind of trash, out of which they would build the artworks.
We reached Wadi Shab and realized it was extremely touristy! This was not what we expected, because it wasn’t the weekend yet. We decided to go to Wadi Tiwi, which was also known by locals, but not for that many tourists. Also Wadi Shab costs money and Wadi Tiwi doesn’t.
The night in Tiwi
It was too late to get up to Wadi Tiwi, so sleeping nearby was necessary. On the way to the beach, it was time to also eat something. Some falafel sandwiches, which actually tasted in the little place in Tiwi, were super bad. At least something to eat, which wasn’t possible the whole day due to the hitchhiking and stress.
The Pebble beach Tiwi was the one we chose. While we built our tent, the owner of the hotel next to the beach was inviting us for charging, internet, water and a shower into the hotel, free of charge.
We felt weird taking that offer, but took it then, after swimming in the water.
The water in the ocean was at first a bit cold, but amazing after a while. It was hard to get into the water, due to the surface and the waves. Also many dead puffer fish were laying on the beach.
In Oman you can put your tent almost everywhere, without needing to risk fines! It was our first time using our new tent, which was perfect at this place. We were near the water, but it wasn’t cold at all. Also we had so much space in the tent, which was just amazing!
When interested I will put underneath everything in this article the link for the tent we were using.
Lets go to Wadi Tiwi!
Super excited in the morning. The day started with a morning swim from Krystal and quick packing up the tent, because we didn’t know how the day would go.
We were walking to the entrance of Wadi Tiwi. The sun was a bit strong, which we felt even early morning. Luckily someone was stopping for us, to drive us up to Wadi Tiwi. He said to visit his father and we were hitchhiking. No problem!
When we arrived on the top of the huge mountain, we were happy that we didn’t have to walk all of that, even though we wanted to do some hiking. When arriving near the most famous place of Wadi Tiwi, we still had to walk many stairs down, which was annoying. The sound of the water was motivating us to keep going!
It was amazing, just amazing. Super beautiful and just peaceful. We wanted to just swim and the guy who drove us kept staying there. Even though I sometimes said thank you and that he didn’t need to wait for us, he could visit his father. It didn’t matter, he just waited.
We went swimming, the water was amazing, and I assumed he would just leave, which didn’t happen. I started wondering if he wanted money, so I asked him indirectly. He asked them for money and left annoyed after he realized we didn’t have any cash on us. That’s why we were clear from the beginning.
The day at Wadi Tiwi
We stayed the whole time at the same spot and often went swimming, but other times, we just relaxed, which was necessary to do. To always give 100% isn’t healthy.
Krystal didn’t feel great, bodywise, which made much movement a bad thing as well, so I tried my best not to let her move much. It worked a bit, but yeah the night wasn’t good for her. We were sleeping at Wadi Tiwi, on the top of a mountain.
At the tent it was possible to remove part of the tent, to be able to watch in the sky. We tried it out and it was nice! Air was coming from all sides and if the clouds wouldn’t have been there, it would be possible to see many stars as well.
It was very peaceful, almost no tourists the whole day and not many locals living there, which was also great.
I liked it there a lot and wouldn’t mind it to stay longer, but moving on was the next thing to do.
Back in the direction to Muscat, with a little local stop
It was time getting down from the mountain again, which wasn’t easy first. We were walking the first kilometers, because nobody was driving. It was peaceful, because nothing was going on, just hard to walk. Many goats were walking around as well, which wasn’t my personal favorite.
The sun came out and it was warm, he had to cover a bit more, to not get more destroyed by it. In total we received two rides down to the valley, which was helpful!
The local stop
The first person, who stopped on the road to Muscat, was a local of our age. He wanted to invite us to some breakfast, which we agreed to after first saying no. The sun would have been harder later on, that was on our mind.
Also he spoke good English and was a great person. He invited us also to stay overnight and spend the day with him, sadly we had other plans near Muscat at the end of the day.
We still were spending some parts of the day with him, because his family wanted to meet us as well, so we were driving after having some amazing breakfast with local food, like dates, to Sur. This was a known city in that region. He was showing us around there and bought a big fish, which he was bringing to his mother then.
We were staying for lunch as well, during which his mother prepared the fish to serve us traditional food out of that region.
We were sitting on the ground and were eating with our hands, which was great for me, it reminded me a bit of my last trip to Africa. For Krystal it was a bit weird, but she did it anyway, which was cool to see.
We wanted to stay, but couldn’t due to other plans, which you will find out in a bit, changed as well.
Let’s go to Bandar Al Khairan
The local, who we spent the day with, helped us also get a ride back to Muscat. The guy, who drove us for a long section, was giving us really weird vibes. It was about an hour in the car and we felt really uncomfortable, super happy when getting out there.
We got out on a desert road which, Google Maps, which gives sometimes weird routes, was suggesting. No car was driving through the road, at least not many. A German overlander was stopping, but telling us they couldn’t help, drove through. We saw during this trip many Germans, who were driving through there from Germany, which was cool to see.
It was time to start walking, around 30 km to go, which wasn’t exciting, but we had some water with us, so it seemed to be enough to survive. After walking for a while, in the hopefully right direction, the Germans came back to drive us, because they wanted to help us.
The time in the car with them was great, we really enjoyed the time and even received some dates after, which tasted amazing.
Bandar Al Khairan
When we arrived in Bandar Al Khairan, it was crowded by people, which wasn’t good at first, but we found a beach, which was basically just for us.
The tent was put up near the beach and we waited for our host, who we had in Muscat, but he didn’t show up, which was not nice.
We went swimming in the water. Also there were many dead puffer fish, which was sad to see, but we already got used to it. At most beaches, there were many of them. It was hard to get into the water, due to many big rocks, which was even further still a problem.
The night was really peaceful, but the location was a bit weird. It was surrounded by big mountains on which people just appeared out of nowhere. So nude swimming was not an option, because it would have been illegal in Oman.
After spending the night there and also part of the upcoming day, it was time to go back to Muscat, where we found a new host, before we would have to get to the Filipino host, whom we met for the hike at the beginning of the trip in Oman.
The new host
We were hitchhiking to the new host, without a long waiting time and arriving directly in front of the place. He wasn’t home, but gave instructions on how to get in the apartment without him.
The place was great and we already felt like home. After our host arrived home we were getting along really well and went out for a walk, including getting some food. We spent a lot of time with him after work and stayed for two nights. Staying longer would have been cool but that was fine. Even creating a Couchsurfing event, during which many attended.
It was decided that we would probably finish our trip together, which made the atmosphere a bit worse, but that was the way it went.
The last days together
After staying a night at the last host, we had to stay for another night somewhere, because he wasn’t home. We decided to do some camping on a beach nearby the place we were staying. It was hot during the day and the atmosphere wasn’t the best, because of being soon separated and wanting to make everything perfect, which isn’t easy in general.
It was nice spending time on the beach, watching movies and spending time together and on the other hand it was sad.
The flights were booked and that needed to be expected, Krystal would fly to Australia and for me it would go back to Germany. No idea if that was a goodbye, which would last for the rest of each other’s life or not. Now there is not even contact, which is sad for me. Especially during a time, where I would need support, but maybe I was holding on to something, which is different to what I was expecting.
The separation
We did a last time hitchhiking to the airport together and all other things were something which felt like a last time. I went with her earlier to the airport and was on her side through the process. The goodbye was painful for me and I was really sad that she didn’t want me to fly with her to Australia, but she needed that. I was waiting for my flight, while I was not really there.
After arriving in Abu Dhabi, the waiting time was almost a whole day, which was very annoying, but cheap. At this time spending a bit more money would have been beneficial.
My flight went to Vienna, where I was meeting a friend of mine.
Vienna
I was in Vienna and arrived really late, due to the delay of the flight. It was good to not be home so soon, because I was feeling like I was falling into a deep mental hole. I needed to be around people I like and with my friend there it was possible. We were spending some quality time together and also meeting friends of his. I was not really there, but needed to be distracted.
My bus home was taking 16 hours, which was long as well, especially after I heard from Krystal, that she wanted to have less contact. My hope of seeing each other in June was decreasing more and more.
How is it now?
Right now I am recovering a lot. It was important for me to get more help, then my therapist can give me. I went to a hospital for mental health, to get back on my feet. On the first day of me being here, there was the decision made that Krystal doesn’t want this with me anymore. This happened at the worst time possible, because her support is needed in this situation, but it is something I need to accept.
I want to become a better me and it is the right decision to get here. My whole life wasn’t that easy and I struggled with many things. A lot was able to get better from my therapy, but everything needs time to heal. The separation from Krystal made me realize that there is a lot to work on, so I am thankful for seeing it, before it would have been too late.
In general I am happy for all the amazing things I was experiencing with her and for all the things I learned. Just the way it ended is something I was hoping it to be different, which is sadly not able to change.
Let’s see what the next trips are going to look like and my upcoming life. That’s why I will post the next personal blog post a bit later on, because it is until the end of May. Still articles will be uploaded every four days, like always, stay tuned!!
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