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Oman …every bikers paradise
Biking to Jebel Shams
Courtesy Pinaki Chakravarty
Website:
www.pinaki.info
 We're
300km from Muscat, revving almost 9,000ft high towards the highest
point in Oman. We've done this journey many times before, camping
out on the edge of the Grand Canyon, looking up at stars. Just ahead
was the ancient village of Al Khatim, just a handful of people
clinging to the side of a cliff. You could walk on the inside edge
of the canyon to an abandoned village, or make your way up to Jebel
Shams, the summit. These trails had been explored for thousands of
years, but this trip was different as we were on motorbikes, and it
was an entirely new experience.
 My
bike, a Honda XR650L, was made for the hard dirt tracks and didn't
look out of place at all, but people couldn't quite believe my
partner's. Partho was on a little Honda CGL 125cc, something you
usually wouldn't imagine outside the bustling bylanes of Asia. Made
in China, this little suggestion of a bike was running on everything
it had, reaching a top speed of around 120kmph on the highways and
not skipping a beat off the road either.
The
bikes couldn't have been more different. Strangers would stop in the
streets and give me the thumbs-up, while the CGL is usually
 relegated to municipal duty within the city. I was at the top of the
food chain, and it was almost an embarrassment to be associated with
the CGL. Most looked down upon it, wondering how Partho, who lived
and breathed bikes, could possible think of not just riding it, but
riding it on a journey like this.
Bikes
are best on the smaller roads but highways are worst, with cars
whizzing past you at speeds you can't compete with. You're a sitting
duck, and it's no fun. At some points along the way, especially down
the Samail Gap before Nizwa, the wind would be so strong it would
blow the bikes sideways, and we'd hang on for dear life. And when
you drive on off-road tires over blacktop for hours, it feels like a
zillion bees buzzing like mad under you. But on a bike, the
journey's the experience.
In a car, its just time spent looking out of a window.
 And
so Partho and I made our way out of Muscat, past the airport, turning
south at the clock tower roundabout, towards Nizwa. We turned off
early, made a quick detour into Birkat al Mawz, which translates
into Opools of bananas', after its plantations. You can ride up the Jebel Akhdar from here, with a permit to get past the military
checkpoint. Just after Nizwa is a terribly boring straight stretch,
but once you finally turn off towards Al Hamra the ride on a bike is
fantastic. It's a smooth, gently curving road, with the beginnings
of the Western Hajar range just ahead. The last stretch is
fantastic, a little ribbon of a road that climbs steeply up the
mountain, disappearing into a dirt track towards the end. At the top
of the mountain is the Grand Canyon, and you can look out over the
edge thousands of feet below, into Wadi Nakhr.
After
hours spent on the bikes, though, its nice to just kick off one's
boots and enjoy the evening. We met an Austrian couple up there and
spent the night chatting with them, around a campfire. That's her
there in the photos Partho insists her standing closer to me was
just a coincidence.
But in the end, he was the real hero of the ride. He didn't care
what bike he had under him the journey, and experience was enough.
And if you're man enough to attempt 600km on the CGL, that's quite
something.
Everything else, even my bike, seems to pale in comparison.
 Route: head west out of Muscat, past the airport. Turn off towards Nizwa at the clock tower roundabout, and head down the Samail Gap.
Lot of petrol pumps along the way to tank up on fuel. Head into
Nizwa and straight through it, until you come to the second petrol
pump to the right, with a huge Toyota sign on it. Turn right here,
to Al Hamra. Stop at the roundabout just before the town a`nd fill up
petrol at the Shell, the last filling station on the road. Turn left
and head up the mountain,
all the way to the Grand Canyon. You can camp out in the open, or
stay at the motel up there, in a room or, even better, a tent that
they pitch for you. |
