Rocky Roads

The Desertscape Of The Jebel Shams May Make For A Bumpy Ride, But The View Is Worth The Hair-raising Adventure, Finds Vissa Venkata Sundar

- Vissa Venkata Sundar

What if you had an awe-inspiring mountain range almost entirely to yourself? Throw in some inspiring views, a few tender young bleating goats for company, and no milling tourists for miles. An irresistible idea, isn’t it?

Welcome to the Grand Canyon of Arabia, located in the Jebel Shams mountains in Oman. It is one of the country’s well-kept secrets, a premier attraction that offers eye-popping views. A rare geological formation with stark, barren and breathtakingly beautiful dark hills, Jebel Shams or the ‘mountain of the sun’ is 9,872 feet high, and extends hundreds of miles into the Western Hajar Mountains.

After driving away from the capital city, Muscat, on impeccable roads for 200 kilometres via Fanjah, Izki and Nizwa, our land cruiser takes a detour and enters the craggy and jagged mountains. The inclining roads give way to imposing landscapes, their greyish hues unfolding and dominating the view. In a rare display of defiance, I see a speck of green here and a shrub there. Mostly thorny acacia is all that grows on the otherwise bone-dry, rocky mountains. As we zigzag through the flat mud roads, native goats playfully gather to feast on these patches with great relish.