Wadi Aday and Yiti, the nearest town, is an off the beaten track, yet comfortable 1 hour drive, south of Muscat. So the day hasn’t exactly gone to plan so far. Not that I can complain – I spent the morning at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque while my husband ran the kids around in 40+ degrees Celsius at the nearest park and then got picked up and taken to lunch. Still, my youngest is sick, it’s hot and nothing is open because it’s Eid.
“Let’s just go for a drive” I say with enthusiasm. About 40 minutes later the kids are whinging in the back seat and a toilet stop is imminent. Very fortunately we stumble across the Shangri’La Barr al Jissah Resort and decide to ‘pop in’ for a coffee. The emergency stop taken care of, we’ve just finished lunch and we’re a little early for the all day buffet that’s on offer. We opt for the quiet little cafe off to the side and order a coffee. Within minutes, my youngest is asleep and it seems best to leave him that way for a bit. Luckily I have my book at hand and my husband and oldest so are happy to go for a walk and explore the resort. The coffee is good, not something you can take for granted around here. I relax back into the upholstery and admire the ability of my small child to sleep anywhere – he’s currently sprawled out fast asleep on the bench seat. No one seems to mind.
My husband and oldest return from their exploring with reports of a very cool lazy river, pools, an inviting looking private beach and access to the sea arch that we sore on our recent snorkelling trip. I gathered from the lobby and the restaurants that this might be somewhere I could flag for another weekend getaway. There’s also a kid’s club which sounds perfect!
The little one is still asleep and my husband and oldest eye off the ice cream in the window, ordering a scoop of the cookies ‘n’ cream (both of their favorites). It’s delicious and I forego another coffee for a scoop of the strawberry flavour which is even better.
A two hour coffee stop and afternoon nap later we’re back on the road heading south. It’s only another 20 minutes or so and we hit Yiti, a tiny village with donkeys grazing under the date palms and goats wandering the streets.
There’s no one around and nowhere enticing to stop so we keep going, shortly after pulling off at the mouth of Wadi Aday where families are swimming and fishing. It’s late afternoon and we can see around to Yiti beach which is packed but here the crowds are less and we get out to have a look around.
Unfortunately it’s just a bit late in the day for us. If we’d gotten here a couple of hours ago, we could have laid out the towels and gone for a swim, built some sandcastles and enjoyed being somewhere much more authentic than a private resort beach. But the kids are fading and we know we don’t have enough time before we have to head back and seek out something for dinner.
Driving back I am gobsmacked. Where did all these people come from? The street (yes, singular) of Yiti is teeming with people – all men – and the road in and out is practically alive with groups of men walking to and fro. Where to, we can only guess.
We get back into Muscat and it’s the same. Where, just hours ago the streets were deserted, the Esplanade and Corniche is heaving. Whether just out and about because it’s a holiday and ifar (time to break the Ramadan fast at sunset) is at hand is hard to tell but the air is filled with an celebratory atmosphere. We stop for dinner back at the Fast Food ‘n’ Juice centre and it’s electric with excitement that just appears to be the beginning of something. Unfortunately it’s time for us to head home and get the boys to bed but I wonder how long the night time festivities will last and wonder if, next time, we can stay up long enough to take part.
Would I Return?
No. I was keen to check out some wadis in Oman and Wadi Aday was easily accessible. However, my preference would be to try out one of the freshwater wadis in the Hajar Mountains. There are lots more wadis to explore in Oman and I’d like to check out some different ones.