Exploring cities, mountains and deserts on a tour of Oman

During the fam trip, agents stayed at Anantara’s two resorts in Oman

1. Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar
This luxury property on the Sayq Plateau has 82 canyon-view rooms and 33 private pool villas starting from £418 per night. Its highlights include Diana’s Point, an infinity pool with uninterrupted panoramic views of the Hajar Mountains and a zip line that’s cast across the canyon. Other activities include archery, mountain biking hiking, painting, photography, cooking classes, star gazing, spa treatments and alfresco sunrise yoga sessions held against the mountain backdrop.

2. Anantara Al Baleed Resort Salalah
It’s a long 11-hour drive from Nizwa to Salalah (an overnight in Duqm is recommended), but this Anantara resort is worth the journey. Set back from a private white-sand beach and freshwater lagoon, it offers 136 rooms, villas and pool villas, which have private swim-up pools, from £223 per night. Activities include dolphin watching, a “cinema under the stars” experience, stand-up paddle-boarding, Jebel safari, city tour, bird watching and an Ayurveda spa.

After spending time in Oman’s energetic cities, a change of scenery is in order. I take the winding road that leads to the serene Sayq Plateau in the Hajar Mountains. It climbs to 2,000 metres above sea level, the well-built highway so steep and snaking that visitors are only permitted to navigate it in a fourwheel drive.

En route I’m treated to astounding views and, once on foot in the terraced town, the vistas get even more breathtaking. It’s late afternoon and the sun is low in the sky, casting a golden lustre across the canyonside herb gardens. I follow the town’s water system (a foot-wide canal) past apron-clad women hanging washing on a line, pattern-tiled doorways and pomegranate and papaya trees to Diana’s Point – a canyon-top platform where the princess once stood at Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar – just in time to see the sun disappear behind the mountain range.

The sultanate is famed for the diversity of its landscapes, so no Omani road trip would be complete without an excursion into the desert.

Sharqiya Sands stretches for 4,800 square miles south-east of Nizwa and it’s here, in the northern corner of this Bedouin territory and on the way to Salalah, that I get a taste of dune bashing in Avis 4x4s.

The highest sand dunes in Sharqiya Sands tower to 200 metres, but when my car plummets from atop a 150-metre dune, it feels more like 1,500 metres. Sand sprays up and over the windows and across the windscreen blocking the sunlight, the engine revs and the car is tilted so far to the left I’m sure it’s going to topple. But it doesn’t and, when we come to a halt, I look out over a seemingly infinite sea of russet sand and feel the heat of the desert rise from the floor.

As I’m leaving the sandy wilderness for the final leg of the trip, I notice it’s not just the middle of asphalt roads that wild camels have an affinity for – it’s the desert tracks too. Looking at an equally disgruntled camel crossing my path I think, “this really is the heart of Arabia”.

Book it: Travel 2 offers a six-night self-drive break for £1,359pp, including Heathrow flights with Oman Air, accommodation at Anantara and Crown Plaza properties, and car hire and transfers with Avis. Offer valid for travel June 3-24, 2019.

travel2.com

Kel Patel, country manager UK, Oman Air

WHAT ARE OMAN AIR’S USPs?

We currently operate double daily connections from Heathrow and daily flights from Manchester direct to Muscat, Oman, as well as operating routes to more than 50 destinations, direct from the hub in Muscat.

DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW LOUNGES?
There is a new lounge at Muscat airport where Oman Air first and business class guests can enjoy Omani hospitality. Spread over two storeys, the lounge includes food and beverage services, a luggage room, entertainment area, smoking room, prayer rooms, business centre and a wellness area.

ANY RECENT UPDATES TO THE FLEET?

In the past 12 months, we have acquired eight new aircraft including five Boeing 737 MAX 8s and three Dreamliners. Oman Air plans to increase total aircraft from 53 in 2018 to 71 in 2023.

WHAT DEVELOPMENTS CAN WE EXPECT IN THE NEXT YEAR?

Following the reintroduction of the Maldives service in October, Oman Air plans to extend the service until April 2019. With all flights connecting via the airline’s hub, Oman’s capital city Muscat, Oman Air stopover guests can explore not just one destination but two.