Travel | Oman
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Dawn shoots a fountain of golden light over the emerald valley . My jeep and I follow the sun for four hours towards the Arabian Sea .
1 Villages high in Oman ’ s Jebel Akhdar mountain range .
2 Local tribesmen are the only souls who can navigate through the shifting sands .
3 The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque towers over timeless Muscat . be a different story by bicycle . The Tour of Oman ( an annual cycle race organised by the Tour de France ) regularly climbs the route . Top riders Chris Froome and Vincenzo Nibali have both won the week-long tour .
I ’ m in Jebel Akhdar to stay in accommodation that exemplifies Oman ’ s tourism strategy . The mountaintop Alila Hotel is a vision of 21 st -century Arabia : it combines stone floors and traditional Omani construction techniques with handmade copper fixtures and luxurious pools .
Aside from morning yoga and starlight meditation , the hotel also pairs guests with locals for a taste of the real Oman . I join a local guide for a five-hour hike through Jebel Akhdar ’ s green wilderness , then try a Via Ferrata , a cliffside climbing trail that once formed the only accessible route through the surrounding mountains .
Dawn shoots a fountain of golden light over the emerald valley . My jeep and I follow the sun for four hours towards the Arabian Sea , a region of the northern Indian Ocean . Oman ’ s diverse topography comes into its own along
4 Fishermen at the Muttrah fish docks .
this route . Soaring cliffs fade to wadi rock formations , then endless groves of palms , plus asphalt roads that ribbon like Arabic calligraphy through my journey ’ s first dunes .
The food changes too . Inland cuisine includes harees ( wheat porridge ) and machboos ( fried rice topped with pine nuts and sultanas ). Coastal food means fresh tuna hauled in by barefoot fishermen , all seasoned with cardamom and tamarind , a remnant of the Omani empire that once stretched to the spice island of Zanzibar .
Sea life abounds at Ras Al Jinz , the country ’ s most easterly point . Humpbacks , whale sharks and dolphins bask in the same warm seas that lap against nearby Iran and Pakistan . I ’ m here to see the thousands of loggerhead , hawksbill and green turtles that lay their eggs on the sandy shore .
At midnight a guide wakes me from my Australian-built safari tent at Ras Al Jinz Turtle Reserve . We join a moonlight group of eco-tourists to watch the nation ’ s most magical sight : massive mother turtles laying scores of eggs into sandy hollows , plus baby hatchlings making a mad dash to the safety of the sea .
5 Senses – Sight MUSCAT FISH MARKET
The 21 st century meets the timeless at Muscat ’ s brand new Fish Market . In 2017 , Norwegian design firm Snøhetta installed this arabesque UFO , which shields 100 seafood salesmen from the searing sun . The daily catch is alluringly photogenic . Giant snapper and Indian Ocean tuna are hauled inside by barefoot fishermen , then hawked to Muscat restaurateurs . Visitors are also welcome in the new seafood café .
Konsep Pasar Ikan yang baru di Muscat memadukan gaya modern dan klasik . Pada 2017 , perusahaan desain Norwegia Snøhetta membangun atap mirip UFO bergaya Arab untuk menaungi 100 pedagang ikan dari matahari terik . Hasil tangkapan laut menjadi objek menarik untuk difoto . Ikan kakap raksasa dan tuna dari Samudra Hindia diangkut oleh para nelayan yang bertelanjang kaki dan dijual ke restoran-restoran di Muscat . Pengunjung juga bisa mencoba kafe seafood-nya yang baru .