Arabia does to summers what Arctic does to winters. There is no spring in Arabia. All of a sudden, mild winters give way to a torrid summer. Desert turns into a huge mirror, reflecting every ray of tropical sun which makes the air simmer. Technology has found ways to make it more bearable mostly by keeping us indoors.
One such summer Friday we were sulking at home. Browsing aimlessly I read a news item about rains the previous day in Samail, a small town about hours drive from Muscat. Out of curiosity I checked the weather forecast for Nizwa. It was to rain today with thunder! Probability was 60% and from past experience of Western Hajar mountains and foothills, I was sure it would rain.
Nizwa is about 2 hours away from Muscat. It is the biggest town of Dakhliya Governorate, also called the capital of interior. The town lies at the base of Western Hajars. Nizwa is also famous for its 17th century fortress, one of the most visited national monuments in Oman. Today we were not exploring Nizwa. Our aim was to catch the rain! In fact we bypassed Nizwa by taking the Hay Al Turath exit from the Muscat – Nizwa highway. This road brings you to the other end of Nizwa. Tanuf is a popular village in this area, famous for its ruins from the Jebel Akhdar war.
We also wanted to enjoy showers with cool mountain air. Therefore we were aiming for Sharaf Al Alamyn. This is a mountain pass that crosses Western Hajar range from North to South at 2000m. Views from up here are astounding. On a clear day you can see the entire Wadi Sahtan and Jebel Shams. It is always windy and cool here even when plains are simmering. We arrived here around 2 pm. As expected it was 20C. It could start raining any time now. There is a hotel here whcih also has a decent restaurant. We went straight to the restaurant and ordered lunch. By the time our lunch arrived, it had started to rain We ate outside in the veranda, looking at rain.
After lunch rain halted and we went to the Sharaf cliffs. Wind had picked up. More rain was on the way. The chill in the air felt blissful. We walked for a while and then ran back to the car as it started to rain again. We drove down and during this time the rain had halted. At the base in Al Hamra the air was warm again. It seemed it wont rain anymore. We had driven about a kilometer on the plains when it started to rain again. It was heavy rain. It was highly likely that a wadi would fill up anytime and make it impossible to drive across until the water subsides. This could be a wait of several hours. Nizwa was still about 50km. We could be completely out of flash flood area only if we reach Nizwa. I could not drive quick because it was impossible to see the road. The downpour was not letting the wipers rest. They were moving like arms of an elite runner. We managed to reach Nizwa before the wadis could fill up, which I am sure did, perhaps few minutes after we passed. The plan to catch the rain and get out in time, worked perfectly. We enjoyed every bit of it. We reached 40C Muscat at 7 pm, in time to watch the Brazil-Belgium Quarter Final 😎
wanderIngY 