Wilfred Thesiger and Oman’s Desert

Crossing paths through Oman

I arrived at Aiyun around Sunset. The mountains were cracking as they cooled down after the day’s intense heat and, in answer, birds called .

Wilfred Thesiger stayed here
Wilfred Thesiger stayed here

Wilfred Thesiger first arrived here in the Autumn of 1946, descending through the same pass as I had taken. The place hasn’t changed since his visit. The beds of Reed still flourish and the water in which, he was told, a monster serpent lived and would sometimes seize a goat when it came to drink, is still deep and suitably mysterious & dark.

The next morning I took a few photos – of a magical place, serpent or not.

Returning to Muscat I took in the Aeolianite Coast – the fossilized sand dunes of Oman that underlay both desert and sea bed . Here they form cliffs which crumble into the sea, probably retreating meters every year.

Wahiba Aeolonite
Wahiba Aeolonite
Oman

Author: Tony Walsh

Book author including the current Bradt guide to Oman