For various reasons, I ended up doing the marathon journey from Salalah in the south to Muscat by car this weekend - a 1000km journey through the desert inland of the country. This really is MAMBA country - Miles And Miles of Bugger All ...
View Salalah to Muscat Road Trip in a larger map
But having said that, and against all expectations, this was not a long boring journey - I had good company, but there was also plenty to keep the senses engaged, even if the landscapes didn't change very fast - it's amazing how exciting it is to spot a lone tree or a settlement when the rest of the view is so empty, and with all the road signs to read and holes in the road to avoid, it actually involved a certain level of concentration ...
The mirages in the desert also gave the journey a surreal twist - following lorries gliding in mid-air and driving past floating sand-dunes.
And then every now and then, there's something bizarre that leaves you wondering ...
View Salalah to Muscat Road Trip in a larger map
But having said that, and against all expectations, this was not a long boring journey - I had good company, but there was also plenty to keep the senses engaged, even if the landscapes didn't change very fast - it's amazing how exciting it is to spot a lone tree or a settlement when the rest of the view is so empty, and with all the road signs to read and holes in the road to avoid, it actually involved a certain level of concentration ...
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| The sign warns us to beware of ... nothing |
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| cracks appearing in ... nothing |
 |
| A single large set of dunes in the middle of ... nothing |
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| Sand dunes encroaching ... |
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| A lone tree and tracks to ... nowhere |
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| Some landscape! |
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| scrubby nothing (variation on a theme) |
The mirages in the desert also gave the journey a surreal twist - following lorries gliding in mid-air and driving past floating sand-dunes.
 |
| floating dunes ... |
 |
| follow the floating lorry |
 |
| an oil field transformed into a magical city ... |
And then every now and then, there's something bizarre that leaves you wondering ...
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| Blofield's new lair? |
At least the area isn't ripe for a Tesco Express!
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