Time Travel in Wadi Shab

Location Coordinates:
22°50'27"N, 59°13'52"E
Wadi Shab,
Ash Sharqiyah North Governate
near Tiwi, Oman

     Leaving our last destination of Wadi Dayqah Dam we continued along the Muscat-Sur coastal road eastward toward the town of Sur. We drove along next to the Gulf of Oman taking in vistas of both sea to our north and mountains to our south. I was hoping to see groups of grazing camels, something my daughter, who had traveled the road numerous times, mentioned was entirely possible. But alas, no camels were to be found. Goats, yes. Lots and lots of goats. But no camels. We left the main road at an exit near the town of Tiwi and made our way to a nearby parking area alongside the water of Wadi Ash Shab, or Wadi Shab.

Wadi Shab

     One of the attractions of Wadi Shab is gaining access to beautiful pools in which to swim. But swimming was not on our agenda this day. Our plan was to hike just a short distance up the wadi simply to see this unique setting. But first we needed to hire a boat to take us the short distance from the parking area to where the pathway began.  For one Omani rial per person (approximately $2.60) we were taken by small motorboat to a rocky spot on the opposite shore where we could begin our hike up the wadi.

Palm-thatched roof on an ancient looking shack

     Wadi Shab is a popular spot for recreation, with swimming and hiking being primary attractions. So on a typical day you would find an abundance of people. But we were fortunate in that we found ourselves
virtually alone as we started through the reeds and palms. Our solitude allowed me to pretend that I was walking back in time because my impression of the scenery was that it had essentially looked the same for thousands of years. There were a few buildings along the way, and they helped me play out the fantasy of time travel. What I was seeing resembled illustrations I'd seen in children's Bible story books: stone walls, buildings appearing to be made of clay and rock, palm thatched roofs, and emerald pools from which you could imagine robed women drawing water with clay pots.

Wadi Shab

     After about thirty minutes time we reached a point where the walls of the wadi narrowed considerably. Here the water became much deeper, both in depth and color. The pathway continued and moved from the wadi floor up and along the cliff side with the water below. Apparently this particular spot is a popular place for daring souls to jump or dive, something we also chose not to include in our experience that day. From this point one would continue hiking up the wadi to get to the really popular swimming areas, including a hidden waterfall grotto accessible only by swimming through an underwater passageway. But our time was short and the temperature was climbing so we decided to turn back and retrace our steps back to the boat drop off point.

Jumping off point for the brave

     I wasn't able to play my back-in-time game on the way down as we met up with some American expatriates from Qatar that were also heading back after having hiked further up the trail. We made it back to the boat pick up point, with five of us piling into the same small boat for the short ride back to the parking area. We picked up some snacks (Chilli-flavored Chips Oman and waters), turned up the car's A/C, and hit the highway again continuing east toward Sur.