Mussandam, Oman

A couple of weekends ago I went om yet another camping adventure! This time there were about 20 of us and we went to Mussandam, Oman. Khasab, the "local capitol" of Mussandam, is a town built in a natural harbor on the coast. It was once a prime fishing and trading town but has since become old and run down. It does boast a couple of wonderful hotels.



On the first night, we drove to a beach just across the border, but not yet in the town of Khasab. It was here that we camped first. We literally drove on the sand next to the coast, found a camping spot, set up our tents and camped. No questions asked.

(this was in the morning, but is a good view of our campsite)

We got to the beach at around midnight, and by the time we set up camp, went for a night swim, and hung out by the fire it was nearly 4 am.

It was beautiful to camp on the beach. I fell asleep to the soothing sound of the waves lapping against the shore.

If I hadn't woken up every 15 minutes paranoid that the tide would come in and sweep me away into the sea, it would have been perfect.



After a short sleep, we woke up around 6:30 to climb up the cliff overhang before the sun got too hot. From there, we had a phenomenal view of camp and the beach.





We spent the rest of the morning in the water, swimming and jumping off rocks.


Around noon, we drove into the town of Khasab. The road to Khasab wound through mountains and along the coast. We saw some fishing boats and visited the Khasab Castle, an old fort. Then we met up with our tour guide for the day.





The "tour" I'm referring to was a Dhow cruise along the coast. A Dhow is a traditional Arabian sailing vessel, historically used for fishing or carrying trade goods in the ocean. We spent the day lazing against the cushions, eating lunch, spotting dolphins, swimming, jumping, and snorkeling.







What I found most interesting was the lingering Bedouin fishing culture.

The Bedouin is the name for the tribal cultures historically originating on the Arabian Peninsula. They were divided into tribes and there was a hierarchical method to sorting out issues. Loyalties were first directed toward the nuclear family; then toward the lineage; then the tribe; then, in principle, to the entire nationality. *Side note: This has been a source of much fascination to me as I discover the ways in which these roots have blended with the Islamic faith. In fact, many Western stereotypes of Islam are based in the remnants of Bedouin culture.

In any case, Khasab preserves some of this culture. There are still some Bedouin villages in the cliff sides, both in the tow accessible by road, and on the coast accessible by boat. These villages survive by fishing and making their own clothes. They now have electricity and water. For the villages along the coast, it is too difficult to make the trip to and from the town of Khasab in the summer, and it is very hot, so they move to a village in town for a while.



We also saw some fishing boats, and stored fishing nets along our journey.



After a day on the boat, the dhow dropped us off at another campsite somewhere in the fjords of Oman, only accessible by boat.




We had a low key evening as we were all exhausted from the day. We just sat around the fire and hung out. The next day it was blazing hot by 6:00 am, so we were relieved to see our boat coming to pick us up around 8.