Valley below the highest mountain of Oman
Wadi Sahtan is a wide valley just north of the highest mountains of Oman, including the Jebel Shams (3,009 m above sea level). Until a few years ago, it was only available for off-road vehicles. Today, there is a beautiful new asphalt road in most of the valley. It is definitely worth a visit because the mountains from here look like an indomitable wall exceeding the bottom of the valley by more than two kilometers
Journey through the gorge
The start of a trip to the Wadi Sahtan Valley will take you through a beautiful gorge surrounded by palm trees. Thanks to the road, however, there is not much space left. The water made its way through the mountain ridge, exceeding the bottom of the gorge by hundreds of meters.
Riding through the gorge
The landscape along the road is really dramatic. You will find a lot of blue tanks carrying drinking water on your travels in Oman.
Wadi Sahtan
After passing the gorge, it is definitely worth looking back. The ridge through which we got comfortably by car looks really monumental.
Roads to remote mountain villages
If you want to expand and diversify this trip by driving to remote villages directly below the Djebel Shamu ridge, count on the gravel waiting for you. The ATV is really suitable here.
Views of the highest mountains of Oman
The surrounding countryside is really spectacular
Ride through the center of the valley
Ul Al Mahda valley does not look like a valley at all as wide in all directions. Wadi Sahtan is basically something like a huge funnel, where various valleys converge from the mountains on all sides, so that in the spring the water drains away through the gorge we drove a while ago.
Living in Wadi Sahtan
Here, too, we find typical Omani family houses – surrounded by a high wall. The mountain views are great anyway.
House with bus
The better Omani houses have an extra floor – would the local owner still drive a minibus in his free time?
View of Djebel Sham
The most breathtaking view of the Wadi Sahtan Valley is, of course, the Djebel Shamu wall, which exceeds us by more than two kilometers. How different is the view from here than from the other side of the mountains. We found a nice view at the very end of a settlement
Mosque and Djebel Sham
You can safely recognize the top of Djebel Sham by the white military radar on the top. But he can't climb on it from this side. The other side is significantly less steep.
Under the mountains
Even if you don't have a terrain player, you can easily get to a mountain village, where the asphalt road leading through the valley ends. You can sleep comfortably on one of the plots and enjoy the beautiful sunrise and colorful mountains in front of you in the morning.
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