Rustaq, the date said New Year’s Eve!

The date could have fooled me; no sign said it was New Year’s Eve, but I still had a pleasant stay in Rustaq, this relatively small city in Oman. However, the “struggle” to reach it was most exciting. The night before, I had slept in Al Hamra, and since this was my hitchhiking trip through Oman, I was excited about whether I could cross the Hajar Mountains that way.

An early start

In my research, I saw it was about 80 kilometres from Al Hamra to Rustaq. But, the road was crossing a mountain, and it was marked on the map that a short distance from the road was a dirt road. So, my silent question was, did anybody cross this mountain road? I did not have anybody to ask this about. Therefore, I packed my things early in the morning, bought some water and started to walk. When I had left the centre streets in Al Hamra, I began to hitchhike.

I got a ride fast, and that car took me to where the road for the mountain crossing started. Then I began to walk, and I had my luggage on my back. There were not a lot of cars driving upwards, and I know from experience that there is no point hitchhiking with local cars with women inside; they would never stop. A few tourists pass as well, and they do not usually stop. When I saw the slope in the picture above, I was dreading it, but luckily, I got A hitchhike just after I took that picture.

Anything goes

This ride was for a few kilometres with a truck driver. Then I had to start walking again; I got a hike for a few kilometres with a workers bus. This means that Oman has many foreign labourers who build up their country. They are often “taken good care of” by being driven from their living shelter to where they do work. These buses are in a terrible state. I will not try to imagine what their living conditions are like. The driver was friendly and took me for a short ride, and then I was ready to walk again.

After walking for 30 minutes, a car came, and I hitchhiked. It stopped, and it was a gay couple from Italy. They were my age, one Jordanian, the other Italian. They were going to a city near my destination, which was perfect. After maybe five minutes, we came to the change of road, as you can see in the picture. They were unprepared for a dirt road and had a rented car, not four-by-four. At the same time, an oncoming vehicle came, so we stopped it and asked how the road was ahead. They were also tourists, and they did not recommend driving that road.

Should I stay, or should I go?

The guys decided to turn and drive the road around the mountain. This would be at least a three-hour-long journey. I had the option now to ride with them or get off and hope someone would pass my way. I opted for the first and joined them for the long journey around. This meant we came from the opposite direction, and they would not pass my destination. But I had a pleasant time with the guys and quickly got a new ride for the last kilometres to my destination.

Rustaq

I arrived at my hotel, next to another of Sultan Qaboos Mosques. The city is not very large, and it is a bit special in that it is divided into two parts, with a mountain in between, so it is almost impossible to walk the high road from one part to the other, so you will need a taxi or hitchhike.

Rustaq may not be the most exciting city, but they have a few interesting sites. However, there are many lovely places and wadis for hikes in the area, but those places are more complicated to reach without a car, and shortage of time. The Rustaq Fort was closed at the moment, and so was the Al Kasfah Hot Springs. I did go to the springs anyway, even if I could not enter. Maybe it was just as well closed because it was a warm day, and it was possible to put your feet in a little stream of hot water, and it was SO HOT. I would not have been able to dip my whole body in such a hot pool.

New Year`s Eve

Finally, I reached the heading subject matter—New Year’s Eve. I know the Arabic world does not celebrate our new year, even though they follow our calendar in most ways. However, I thought I would see some signs of turning a page. But, none so ever. Anyway, I had some takeaway food in my hotel room and went to bed early. The following day was a new year, and I hitchhiked with an army officer back to Muscat. I spent my last evening there before I took the bus to Dubai early the following morning.