Now that the heat has come to stay, visiting the mountains is one way to escape it. That is what I did a couple of weeks ago, with a weekend camping trip to my favourite camping place in Oman. I had not been there since October 2024, so I was excited to go back. This time, instead of taking the adventurous gravel road coming up from the north side via Wadi Bani Awf, I took the leisurely tarmac road that starts in the southern side, near Hamra.
Arriving in time for a late picnic lunch, I setup camp and took a stroll to the edge of the mountain, admiring the fantastic view over Jebel Shams, Wadi Bani Awf and Wadi Sahtan. I never tire of this scenery. First time I was here was in February 2003, during my first time in Oman.
The hill in the previous photo is a privileged spot to admire the view; the small tree at its top provides an interesting photographic subject too. The village of Hat can be seen nested against the mountain, way down.
After this initial photo session, I rested for a while and had a nice dinner by a fire. My plan was to set up my camera and wide-angle lens to photograph a star trail; however, a strong wind forced me to cut the session short, and I only got about 30 minutes of total time. In the distance, roughly 30 km away, I could see the lights from the Jebel Shams antenna station.
Following a good night´s sleep in the tent, I woke up to photograph a beautiful sunrise. To the north, the light started to illuminate Jebel Shams, slowly creeping down towards the village of Bilad Sayt. I always enjoy this time of the day, when everything is still quiet with no wind and crisp atmosphere.
This type of light is brief, but while it lasts it is magical. After a well deserved breakfast, I packed my camping gear and left. I know I will return, of course. In the meantime, that day I drove down to Hamra to visit the picturesque village of Misfat Yabreen, but that will be another blog post.
