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One of the most beautiful places in Arabian Peninsula, Musandam is only two hours away from Dubai.
available. Hotels,
tours and more!
How to get there: From Dubai, drive on the Emirates road (E 311) towards Ras Al Khaimah. This
should take you less than an hour and half. From Ras Al Khaimah follow the signs to Al Rams and Khasab.
In about 30 minutes you should cross the border (Ras Al Darah checkpoint).
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Very important: Before you leave on this trip, make sure you have your passport with you. For UAE partner? Want to sell
residents or GCC nationals there is no need for a Oman visa. If you came on a Visit visa to UAE, you more your old equipment?
than likely, need also to have an Oman visa in your passport. On top of that, your UAE visa must have Travel experiences?
multiple entries, otherwise you will not be able to return to UAE. For more information on Oman visas, Come to The Lounge!
call the Oman’s embassy at 02-446-3333.

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The road in Musandam is very dramatic, offering you one of the most scenic drives you ever seen in
this region, always following the coastline. On one side of the road you have the sea and many small
beautiful beaches, on the other side you have the mountains, reaching over 2000 meters high.

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You will find few beautiful small villages on the way and two towns: Bukha and Khasab. If you’re not in
hurry, you should stop and visit some of these villages. As you drive on the road to Khasab, they will be
on your right side. Not all of these villages are right by the sea, so you will have to drive a little bit inside
the mountains.

One of the most beautiful villages is Ghumdah, only 2 km away from the coast. Situated on a sunny
plateau and surrounded by the high mountains all around, it’s really a magnificent place. The sand slope
you see in the picture above is still used by the kids from this village to go downhill on “improvised”
slides.

Bukha is a small but pretty town. Near the road, by the coast, you can see Bukha Fort. Built by the
Portuguese, centuries ago, and renovated in 1990’s, the fort is nothing short of amazing.

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There are many things to admire at this fort: high exterior walls, the round and square towers and the
beautiful plasterwork decorations as well as the traditional carved doors and shutters set inside the
inner walls, surrounding the courtyard.

Al Qala’a Fort is up on a hill, overlooking the town of Bukha. The views here are quite impressive and it is
worth to visit. It’s not far from the main road, only a few minutes drive.

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There are few plantations in Bukha, located in the shadow of the mountain. You can get a nice view of
them from Al Qala’a Fort, as well as the whole town bellow.

Bukha is also the home of Al Shehi tribe (You will find many spellings of this name). They’ve been here
for many centuries and they are probably the only ones who know the real history of this interesting place.
Even now, most of the people in Musandam belong to this tribe. Recent archaeological discoveries shows
that people have been living here for thousands of years.

As you continue driving, you leave Bukha behind and head on to Khasab. Small beautiful beaches are
scattered along this road.

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Each one of these beaches is

quite unique.
Some are long and narrow, some
are wide and sandy, some are
covered in dark rocks.
But each one is more dramatic
than the other and it will reward
you with some stunning views.

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Before you reach Khasab there is a 4 star, award winning, Golden Tulip hotel. It’s an ideal place to
stay while visiting Musandam. Located right by the sea and surrounded by high cliffs, the views from
here are impressive.

It is also a great starting point for many adventures in Musandam. Swimming, family games, dhow
cruises, mountain safaris, diving facilities and fishing trips are few of the things you can do here.

But even if you just drive around and stop from place to place you to admire the beauty of Musandam,
you will feel so rewarded and is guaranteed that you will make the promise to return one day.

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Khasab is like the “capital city” for Musandam. In Arabic, khasab means “fertile” so this area is
pretty good for growing fruits and vegetables. But the main occupation of the people from this area
is fishing.

If you have time stop and visit Khasab Fort. Overlooking a small harbor, the fort was built in the 16th
century, by the Portuguese. At that time, they occupied the Straits of Hormuz, and this fort was used
for defense purposes.

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Khasab is where the paved road ends. But there are few gravel roads that go to some remote villages
like Sayh, a beautiful and quiet village situated at an altitude of 1100 meters above sea level, or Rowdah
village, where you can see a pre-historic graveyard. Another interesting place to visit is Wadi Tawi,
where you can see pre-historic rock paintings, showing camels, boats and warriors.

A very easy trip from Khasab is to Khor Najd. There are many fjords in the north part of Musandam, but
Khor Najd is the only one accessible by road. As you can see in the photo above, even if it’s a gravel
road, it is in pretty good shape, so even if you don’t have a 4x4 you can still drive there.

It is helpful to have a good map or GPS and, if you can read Arabic even better, as you will find

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that some signs are only in Arabic or if you need to ask for directions. From Khasab to Khor Najd it’s
about 30 km, and the road will take you through wadis and wide valleys flanked by high peaks.
You will also find few isolated settlements here and there, along the road.

This is Khor Najd (above). The view is impressive. These clear blue waters are very calm, protected by
the surrounding mountains. If you have a kayak or an inflatable boat, the reward is doubled. You can see
lots of fishes and even sea turtles swimming around. Close to Khor Najd, you can see a small forest of
acacia trees. It’s quite a pretty site but careful, if it rained before your trip, the area can get flooded.

You will see many goats on this trip to Musandam. They are everywhere: on the roads, on the trees, on
the cliffs and even on the roofs of the houses. But they are cute and quite friendly.

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Driving back to the UAE border gives you the chance to see the coastal road from a different angle.
Now is the time to explore everything that you missed at the beginning of the trip. From Khasab, you can
hire a speedboat for about 300 dirhams and go to Jazirat Al Maqlab (Telegraph Island). You have very
big chances to spot those playful dolphins that are always chasing the boats.

You can see many things in just one day. But if you have the chance to spend at least two days, it will be
much better. And, guaranteed, you will fall in love with Musandam.

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Bellow you will find the map of Musandam and the major points of interest shown for this trip.

Musandam - Al Ain - Hatta - East Coast - Fossil Rock

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