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Braving the Muscat-Salalah Road! Only for

the Adventurous!

Posted on July 25, 2010 by andydbrown| 6 Comments 

Most people

are wise enough to take a plane down to Salalah from Muscat and then rent a car from

there. I never learn. This was my 3rd trip to Salalah by car; driving the 1040 km

distance this time by rental car. It’s a pleasant enough drive although some complain that it’s

“boring” as there’s nothing but desert in all 4 directions. Depends on which stretch of roadyou’re talking about. There are actually 9 segments of road (barely passable as a

“highway”), each with their own beauty and challenges. The first stretch is Muscat-Nizwa

which covers 285 km of trip. Two bonuses of this highway are the smooth, well-paved road

and the scenic mountains as one enters Nizwa!

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  The 2nd part

is Nizwa-Adam which is only 56kms. (There is always the fear of being stuck in the middle

of nowhere without petrol, so I make it a rule to gas up at any petrol station I drive by if I

have travelled more than 100 kms since the last one.) 3rd, Adam to Al Ghabah (this is where

the excitement of the ride begins to fade off….time for COFFEE!) which covers 119

kms. Al Ghabah to Hayma (4th part) is another 199 kms. After 4.5 hours of driving, it starts

to feel like you’ll never make it to Salalah with another 491 kms (or 4 hours of driving) to

go! My mind fades in and out of images of me on a comfortable flight to Salalah and slaps tothe face are occasionally necessary to keep this Canadian boy alert! I’m not sure where the

BAD STRETCH of road starts exactly, but there are ridiculously damaged segments of 

highway with signs promising “under  maintenance” but those PERMANENT signs have

been there for the past 3 years with no signs of any improvements. 200-300 kms of the road

are so terrible, that you really have to make sure you have strong new tires to brave this

adventure! Here is a short video showing you just HOW bad I mean!  Sometimes you even

get to experience a light sandstorm which is pretty cool to drive through!  Here’s a better idea

of what most of the undamaged road is like.

  Hayma to Al

Ghaftayn makes up the 5th leg of the journey, lasting only 90 kms. Al Ghaftayn to Muqshin

(6th) is even shorter at 65 kms. Muqshin to Qatbit (7th) is another short stretch at only 64

kms. Some visitors chose to shack up at the Qatbit Resthouse before moving on to Salalah

the next day. If at all possible, avoid it. There’s nothing there and it’s a boring hole in the

wall. That’s why it’s best to leave Muscat nice and early so you’re not tempted to “give in”

at Qatbit! Qatbit to Thumrayt (8th leg) is a long stretch at 195 kms but no problem as the

realization that you are indeed finally going to arrive in Salalah gets the juices flowing! Themost beautiful part of the drive (and well worth the 8-10 hours it took to get there) is the final

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(9th) part through the Dhofar Mountains coming in to Salalah. Incredible!!…that is if it

isn’t TOO foggy to see due to the Khareef like on my drive in on this trip. I arrived at the

police checkpoint (at the start of the mountain range just before Salalah) at about

10:30pm. This was my view for the next hour driving in:

  On a positive

note, it was SO refreshing to roll the window down and feel the COLD air of the Monsoon

rains! Salalah, oh là là!!!