What’s all this I hear about a canyon, second only to THE Grand Canyon in Arizona?
Yes, it’s true, there really is a Grand Canyon-esque canyon in Oman. It’s not remotely as vast but it’s undoubtedly a very grand canyon.
What’s it called?
This is a bit confusing, especially if you don’t speak Arabic. I had initially thought it right to refer to it as Jebel Shams. But “jebel” means mountain and “shams” means sun. Jebel Shams is Mountain of the Sun. That’s the part which is 3,009 metres high, atop which is an no-go-zone military base (a shame if you’re someone who aspires to climb to the top of mountains rather than almost to the top). Jebel Shams is part of the Hajar Mountain range. Around 1,000m down from Jebel Shams is Wadi Nakhr (also referred to as Wadi Ghul, which is adjoining). I used to think a wadi was a river. That’s not entirely correct. A wadi is a kind of dried river bed at the bottom of a valley. They are dry most of the time but during and after heavy rainfall they fill up surprisingly (and thus, often, dangerously) quickly. Their ability to collect water is why areas around wadis are often inhabited and/or far more green and lush than the dry deserty surroundings.
Is it worth going to see?
Most definitely, yes. If you visit as part of a tour (as my friend and I did), you will stop at a kind of viewing area with a small but sturdy fence. It’s stunning up there and changes colour almost as you look across the canyon (different shadows, times of day; the rocks change the general feel more than you might expect).
So what do you see?
Down into the canyon and across to the military base at the top of Jabal Shams and, if it’s not too hazy, the town of Nizwa between the two sides of the main wadi “walls”. And goats, birds of prey and lots of sky.
Right, so a nice view, a few photos and off you go?
With a guide, the guides send you off walking along a slightly sloping, fairly smooth rocky plateau along the edge –
Hang on, “the edge”? I have vertigo and there’s no way I want to walk along a cliff edge.
At the fenced area, I couldn’t get very near the fence, I obviously expected to fall off the edge, vertigo kicking in big-time. Somehow, a bit past the fenced area where it’s kind of slightly uphill to the first stage of the edge, it’s actually strangely ok, far easier when there is no fence. I even jumped up and down about 5 meters from the edge for some dramatic-backdrop jumping photos. There is a drop off the edge but there are a few sticky-outty rocks before it drops away into the wadi below. After that, I walked along the near-edge all the way up to the highest point and along a bit further too. No problem. Really. My vertigo is pretty bad usually.
Sorry, back to what to do up there?
The guides all leave their people to wander at leisure. Yes, there are lots of photo opportunities (make sure you take photos with either yourself in them or someone else, you really appreciate those photos when you look at them later). But what I most enjoyed was the quiet (at one time, probably only a maximum of ten other people wandering about) and taking in the vastness of the canyon below and across and the sky above and around you. The more you stand or sit and look out across the canyon, the more you see. I saw some birds of prey that were dark but with a distinctive area of white on their underside. I believe they were eagles. Eagles. How cool is that?! And there are a lot of goats, and they’re fun and sweet and full of character. One particularly hairy and photo-loving goat totally photobombed a picture I was taking of my friend sitting near the edge of the canyon. It’s a lovely place to sit and reflect. My friend and I both realised that while we were there we thought of nothing else but the view, the place, the feel and the sense of peace. Priceless.
Did you hike anywhere?
No. That wasn’t what our trip was for and neither would my vertigo allow me to take, for example, the Balcony Walk, which, from reading a selection of accounts of the walk, seems to be appropriately named, and is indeed one of the most famous and dramatic hikes in Oman. There are a lot of marked walks along, up and down the canyon.
Are there any shops or facilities up there?
No, thankfully. Well, there is long, low hut divided into a few stalls where locals sell some handicrafts but there is nothing in-your-face, lit up, advertised or thrust upon you.
No toilets then?
Not as far as I’m aware but the Jebel Shams Resort is a very short distance away (probably less than a mile) and that’s where the guides take you for lunch.
Ooo, you can eat up there?
Yes. Our lunch was included within our package, either a buffet or from a snack bar menu (very basic, of the crisps and hot dog ilk). It was the only disappointing part of our trip. You need to see the food stop there as a fuel stop rather than an opportunity to sample some exemplary Omani dishes.
So you can stay up there?
Yes, though there was something a bit too – I was going to say “quiet” but that would kind of be the point of staying at the top of a mountain range, but to me it felt kind of deserted in a slightly “ooo, what’s happened here?” kind of way. But, hey, the people who stayed there probably saw sunrise and sunset over and around the canyon and mountains and probably a beautiful clear sky for seeing stars, and that, I’m sure, would be memorable.
So if there’s a hotel up there, it must mean it’s fine for cars as well as 4x4s to drive there?
Well, we certainly saw quite a few non-4×4 cars, though maybe tellingly they were all occupied by tourists.
Oh, so you do need a 4×4 to get there?
I had read before going up there that you needed a 4×4 so if I had hired a non-4×4 car I wouldn’t have driven there. Having been there (in a Land Cruiser, expertly driven), I can see that IN DRY WEATHER ONLY a car could be possible but you would need to be confident and savvy about driving off-road up and down fairly steep roads with an uneven surface that requires driving slowly for – I can’t think now how long it took us to go up, for example, in a 4×4 on the off-road part but definitely more than half an hour. And we were able to drive faster (but still not “fast”) than the cars we passed or were tediously stuck behind as they slowly and laboriously, out of necessity and sense, drove in front of us. Would I do it in a car? No. If I had to? Yes. If there was even a slight suggestion of rain on that day or in previous days? No way.
What is the weather like up there usually?
We visited on 9th November. At the bottom of the mountains it was around 28 degrees. At the top of the canyon, it was 20 degrees but we were told it should have been cooler than that for the time of year. On the following Thursday, an Omani friend sent me a video of maybe an inch of snow on all the ground and roads, so the entire surface of the edge of the canyon was white. It should always be cooler up there than at the bottom, so if you go more into “winter” (the “s being because winter to me is not in the mid-high 20s) be prepared for – well, there could be snow, it turns out. I expect evenings and mornings are significantly cooler. I also think tours possibly don’t go up there in winter, but that could be a rogue memory.
The goats. What’s with the goats?
Considering how many goats we saw on the way up and at the top, I am fairly confident it’s impossible not to see goats (we saw sheep too). They have long fur, are clearly very hardy and can generally be seen with camera or phone-toting tourists chasing after them for “look how near the cliff edge the goats walk” kind of photos.
Why are there so many goats?
I don’t know, but the Omani goat population is roughly 1.2 million, which, to give it perspective, compares with a human population of around 5 million. A lot of the thick, course, very warm-looking hand woven rugs you will see for sale are made from goat hair.
Anything else you found out about the canyon and Jebel Shams?
The canyon was created by two continental tectonic plates colliding, the Arabian and Eurasian. While the Grand Canyon is far bigger and a significant tourist destination, the Wadi Ghul/Nakhr canyon is actually deeper, apparently by about 200m. It is also seemingly unspoilt by tourism, and anyway there are few tourists who go there. As I said, I think we saw ten at the most at any one time and it was always possible to take photographs with no one else in them.
It must be a great area to photograph?
It is, but from where we were it is hard to take a photograph (actually, I managed none) that gives a real sense of the depth and enormity of the canyon and surrounding mountains. The best photo I took for that perspective was probably a photo of my friend, who was, unplanned, wearing black with bright pinky-red trainers. She looks small with a backdrop of the other side of the canyon and a sense that something vast and deep is in between.
Ah, clothing? Anything to consider?
Only that, probably most noticeable in the more wintery months, it can be quite significantly cooler up there. If you’re not doing a hike, the terrain is rocky and pebbly and dusty. Trainers or similar are fine, just something with a fairly robust sole (I would think and hope it obvious that it would be a bit awkward and, frankly ridiculous, to wear high heels). It’s also fun if you happen to be wearing dramatic colours or black or white. I was wearing billowy white clothing and my friend took a photo of me that I really love.
Having visited once, would you go again?
Yes. As I’ve said, I have quite bad vertigo and I couldn’t do any of the major trails, though I would love to see some of the abandoned rock villages. I would like to be able to go there and sit for ages, watching the changing light and the birds and enjoying the quiet and the feeling of privilege to be in the midst of such a majestic and vast natural wonder.
What kind of tour did you go on and would you recommend them?
I spent ages looking at tours and this one ticked the boxes and ended up being excellent (in part because our Omani guide, Yahya, was friendly, knowledgeable, fun, a good driver and spoke excellent English). It is, however, expensive, far more than I would ever usually spend on a day trip. But on the plus side, it was just my friend and I and we enjoyed chatting to Yahya and asking lots of questions. We also weighed up the cost because taxis cost a lot and two years previously three of us took a taxi from our hotel near Muscat airport to and from Nizwa (which is where this particular trip starts) and that cost 100 OMR (so a £200 round trip). On that basis, c£400 to go to Nizwa and almost two hours further up didn’t seem bad, and on top of which we had lunch, Nizwa Fort entrance fee (not that it’s much) and a great guide in a new, comfortable Land Cruiser.
Yes, I would recommend them. Especially if you too are lucky enough to have Yahya as your guide and driver.