Three years back today, we returned from Jebel Khawr. Jebel Khawr is about 300km from Muscat. Wilfred Thesiger mentions it in his book Arabian Sands. He saw it from afar while he was on his crossings through the Empty Quarter. Jebel Khawr and Jebel Misht are separate from the Hajar range and therefor are also called “exotics” by Oman geologists. Jebel Misht is a relatively small massif compared to Jebel Khawr. Jebel Khawr has a plateau on top and several peaks. There are wadis that flow down from Jebel Khawr and there are wadis that flow into two internal depressions on top of this mountain. The mountain is named after these wetlands or khawr in Arabic. This mountain is formed like a fortress with steep walls on all sides. There are few villages on top but all are now abandoned. Habitants have moved to villages and towns in the plains where facilities are easy to build and maintain for the government.
We were three Indian city folks, me, Vikas and Sachin. All working a 8 to 5 five days a week job in Muscat. Vikas had been on several treks in Himalayas and some cycling expeditions. Sachin was a sturdy Shetty, a “yes sir” kind of personality and a default driver for our trips. Me and Sachin had been together on some multi day treks in Oman. Three of us had climbed Jebel Misht a month before. From logistics and fitness point of view we were 7/10. Weak points were our car and the unmarked ancient route. We were too bored in the city and we wanted to be outdoors before Omani summer begins. So here we are, driving towards Bahla at 9 pm on Thursday, after finishing the work week and hauling our trekking gear in Sachin’s white Yaris.
Vikas and Sachin in Khawr. Peak is the bump behind them
The route we decided to take starts in Nadan. Nadan is very remote but still inhabited. The village is at 1200m. We started from Muscat on Thursday evening. We needed two full days if we wanted to reach Ma’wal and also enjoy our journey over Jebel Khawr. The last bit before reaching Nadan was too steep for our car. This forced us to camp at 900 m. This unplanned stop also added 300m ascent to our planned route.
Next morning we started early. We walked 3km on a dirt road before we could see the palm grooves of Nadan. Nadan is just 10 km from a major highway but the mountains surrounding it are so steep that it must have been a task to built this road. There were three of us and I was the chief planner of the trip. I charted the route by reading the popular blue book Adventure Trekking in Oman by Anne Dale and Jerry Hadwin. I lost my bearings when I looked at the sheer cliffs in front. It didn’t look like this on Google Earth! I normally use the book to get GPS coordinates and then plot points on Google Earth. I draw a rough path joining the waypoints and load it to my Garmin. This looked amazing and intimidating at the same time. We had not even started to walk on the planned route and we were exhausted. Our bags were heavy with water for 2 days.
We met a party of kids who started following us. When I was inspecting the cliffs with my binocs, one of the kids walked up to me and asked to see them. His name was Abdullah. He was suffering from a skin disease which made his skin very dry and rough. Later we got to know that he even went to Thailand for treatment but it didn’t help. His nose dripped continuously and he wiped it with his sleeve. I handed my binocs to him. Abdullah was all ecstatic seeing through it. And he didn’t want to return it. Then it occurred to me and I asked him in my 123 Arabic “take us to the top of the mountain and you can keep it”. He agreed, but first he invited us for coffee.
Abdullah scanning his territory
We needed rest and a guide, so we agreed. We followed Abdullah to a mud house where about 10 people greeted us in the court yard. Women came and shook our hands. This was one of the few times I shook hands with an Omani women. Other times had been in the city with some western educated friends. I didn’t expect this in Nadan. We met Abdullah’s father and siblings. I counted about 5 similar faces to Abdullah, I am sure there were more but my Arabic prevented me from getting too curious. We sat on a plastic mat and had kahwa and dates while quarter of the village habitants looked at us. They seemed so happy to see us. I think it wasn’t often that someone visited Nadan. It was only two year later that I visited Nadan again. This time with with an Arabic speaking friend. We found that very rarely visitors came up here and for good reason. Once a car was stuck there for 2 years. The owner drove up and it rained heavily afterwards. The only road was washed and it was only after 2 years that the road was repaired and he could get his car out. Back then we didn’t know this and we were enjoying Abdullah’s hospitality. I had already bartered my binocs so we were relaxed about route-finding.
We found that this was not Abdullah’s house because he ran to put the binocs at “his” house before he accompanied us up the mountain side. We started with Abdullah and 4 of his friends. These kids were hyperactive running all the way up and sometimes jumping down from high rocks. But only Abdullah seemed to have a purpose. He said he needed binocs to find his goats. They sometimes got lost in mountain. Sometimes they got stuck in cliffs and could not come down by themselves. So he would use the binocs to spot them. I knew from the map that beginning was very steep. This was a killing ascent with our heavy rucksacks. The kids kept us entertained though at some point I was irritated with all the shouting. They didn’t carry any water and they never asked us for water.
Suleiman, Khalifa, Asad, Hamoud and Abdullah
By midday we reached a point from where the ridge didn’t look far. Here the path clung to the side of the mountain. A deep wadi ran to our right. Abdullah told us to follow the wadi and after some distance cross it to the other side while continuing climbing. He said there was no chance to get lost. All the kids asked us if we had food enough for the journey. We offered them water but they refused. They were bedu and even at this young age they knew that we would need it much more then them over the next two days. Then the kids returned. We found our way to the top only after 2 hours. We literally came out of a hole covered with bushes on to a flat area which was the eastern ridge of Jebel Khawr. We were happy to walk on level surface. Hereon we had to follow north westerly direction staying on this ridge until we reached the khawr, wetland.
Only I had GPS and the guys were following. At one point I looked back and could see no one! I waited for a while but no one appeared. Then I called there names but no response. It was a flat dry land and wind was suppressing my shouts. All the time I was cursing my mates who didn’t keep up and were now lost in this dry expanse. I kept shouting while I backtracked my GPS traverse. Only after half an hour I heard voices. Then I saw them. I realized how easy it was to get lost in this place. I am sure that without a GPS, I could not find the opening through which we came to the plateau, if I wanted to return the same way. Now on we decided to keep an eye at each other and if someone is slower all three slow down or stop.
We could see some familiar scenery to the east. The villages of Sint and Sant and Wadi Al Ala. We trekked in Wadi Al Ala few months back. We could see Jebel Shams to the North. Despite being 300m higher than Jebel Khawr Thesiger never mentions it in his book because he couldn’t see it behind Jebel Khawr. Now we were walking on a ledge which was supposed to take us to another flat area where I saw a village on Google Earth. We also asked people in Nadan and they confirmed that there are houses up here. We wanted to reach these houses. It was getting dark and it was quite cold. If we could sleep near houses it would keep us warmer. The wood was plenty. We kept walking but village was not in site. we decided to camp. We found a wide space on a ledge and put our tent there. To reduce weight we carried only one tent. We cooked noodles and ate watching the crimson sunset. We lit a fire and chatted for a while. We joked if Sachin and Vikas were lost today then I would eat the noodles alone here. They would probably sleep with Abdullah because the tent was with me. The night was very windy.
Next morning we reached the village in twenty minutes. Few neat houses built on a cliff overlooking Nadan. I didn’t have binocs else we could spot Abdullah from here. We were very unlucky yesterday for not reaching here. But this happens on all remote unmarked trails. It is a gamble between losing a nice campsite which is in front of you and finding an amazing campsite which you don’t know how far it is. We spent time to explore around and then moved on. We had a long day ahead of us. We had to walk 20 km if we wanted to reach Muscat today. Hereon the progress was quick as we could see the trail and terrain was level. We reached the khawr before lunch time. It was a large flat area with deep soil unlike other parts of the plateau that were stony. There were big Juniper trees dotting this depression. It was not actually a wetland but could turn into one if it rains. The soil was caked with few wet patches where there was moisture from last rains. The highest peak of Jebel Khawr 2700m was on our right, about 2 km of moderate ascent. We decided to skip it because of lack of time. Someday I would like to go over the peak to the other side and look at Jebel Misht from there.
At noon we reached an abandoned village at 2400m. Next day we found out that this was Habootiya and an old man lived here until he died recently. We looked around if there was a water source but couldn’t find one. There were some teepee like structures made from tree branches. I am not sure if these were houses or just wood storage. We cooked noodles sitting inside a broken house and enjoyed our lunch. A plane passed over us. the sky was spotless blue.
We were still 10 km away from road in Ma’wal but there was no ascent. Ma’wal was at 550m. We continued descending. Most of the way was undulating dry and rocky. At one place we found a single tepee in a flat area.with some rags hanging on a tree. This could be an excellent campsite. I realised this was a much easier approach to Jebel Khawr. Path was not always visible but we knew a general direction and we followed GPS.
We continued descending at a good pace. The terrain was firm rock and no lose gravel. We could see Ma’wal few hundred meters below but it was getting dark. We could see the city lights and cars on the road but we could not see the path in front. After a while it was pitch dark. We were afraid that we might lose our way and come to a cliff. We decided to stay where we were. I was sure we missed the path somewhere because we were on a very steep slope with big rocks every where. I pulled out my sleeping bag first and lay down. I kept slipping because the ledge I was inclined but finally I put myself into a position where my limbs could rest. I could hear guys struggling nearby with there bags and sharp rocks. It was like sleeping on a sloped roof. I was actually dreaming as if I was sleeping on the roof of our old house in my village.
I woke up at 4 am with a bright moon. I woke the guys and we started to walk again in moonlight. There was no path but we were just walking in the direction of city lights. I was always thinking that we might come to a cliff from where we have to return. I didn’t want to climb up this slope. Slowly we managed to descend through a wadi to plain ground. It was 7 am. We walked another kilometer to the road. Next challenge was to find a ride to our car in Nadan. We saw a pickup truck coming and we waived at it. He stopped and I asked him to take us to our car for 10 OMR. It was a company car and the guy was probably driving to work site. He hesitated a bit then agreed. Probably he was early today or most probably he didn’t bother to be on time at his job. Just like us because it was Sunday, first day of Omani work week and we were finding our way down a mountain 300km away from office.
We reached our car and drove down to a coffee shop. Here we charged our phones and called friends and office. Friends in Muscat were worried because they were expecting us to arrive a day before. Now they were more excited to hear our story. In the coffee shop we met two guys who were born in Habootiya. We showed them pictures we took and they were very excited. Sachin drove all the way back to Muscat.
wanderIngY 