We’re finally out of Dubai!!
Before leaving we managed to get the Africa Twin fully serviced and thanks to the fantastic crew at Honda Dubai, we got it done free of charge (including a good discount on parts). A big THANK YOU to Vinod and the gang.
After just over 30,000km the service included: a new chain and sprocket set, new sparkplugs, replacement of a damaged (for the second time) rear wheel bearing, ‘upgrade’ back to a Yuasa battery, fix of a leaking head gasket, change of brake fluid and brake pads (third set), oil + filter change, cleaning of air filter and fitting of a fresh (third) set of tyres - Continental TKC80. Our next major service should be in Cape Town…

Leaving Dubai, we headed drectly for Hatta and the border with Oman. Iza’s visa had run out so we didn’t have any time to spare in UAE. We expected the day or so ‘overstay’ to be simply ignored by the border officials, but they demanded we pay a $US60 fine before they stamped Iza out. We knew about the possibility of being fined but played dumb and argued we were told the visa was supposed to be for 1 month. They were unmoved and said they could not overwrite the computer system (that’s modernization for you…). We worked our way from one senior officer to another more senior officer until they finally gave in. Amazingly they didn’t wave the fine but paid it out of their own pockets!! We felt a bit guilty, but its not everyday that border officials give you money…

On the Oman side we found an immigration post complete with ATM, tourist information office and Pizz Hut. It was the most modern one we’ve seen so far, despite the goats grazing outside the entrance A 30 day Oman visa can be picked up at the border for US$18. Motorcycle insurance also has to be purchased but we just showed our Carnet and said it included international insurance. It worked.

We spent our first night in Oman under some huge palm trees by the beach. It was good to be camping again Leaving the next morning, we found the back tyre had a puncture. As we began to fix it a couple of local Omani youths pulled up in a car insisting they want to lend a hand. Helping someone in need especially a traveler, is the cornerstone of the muslim faith. These guys got us some food and water, helped get the tyre repaired and invited us for lunch. It was a good first impression of Oman.

Once on the road we decided to skip the Omani capital of Muscat (we’d had enough of large towns for a while) and headed for the mountains. Among other things we checked out some cool 5,000 year old tombs and rode up to the summit of Omans highest mountain (Jebel Shams).

From there we went to the desert sands of Wahiba, for some off-roading…

…and sandboarding.

The next two days were a monotonous ride of over 1,000km through the desert that divides Muscat and Oman’s second largest town Salalah, our current location. At half way we overnighted on the beach of a really cool bay and had fresh squid given to us by some fisherman.

Oman has seen dramatic development over the last few decades. 30 years ago only a 10km stretch of road was sealed and camels were the main form of transport. These days its the camels being transported…

Last night we camped in what seemed like the middle of nowhere…

…and this morning we got a reminder that we’re in the Middle East (just a step away from Yemen), as two military jets whizzed past a hundred meters over our heads. At first we thought they’re going to shoot at us, but once they passed and we caught our breath again, we figured they must be in training. Just in case (before we enter Yemen tomorrow) we’ll have a look on the net to see if anything ‘funny’ is going on.

Petrol continues to be cheap in this part of the world at only US$0.35 per litre.