Fodor's Expert Review Wahiba Sands Desert

About 3½ hours from Muscat, the Wahiba Sands is a gorgeous sea of sand dunes whose only inhabitants are Bedouin tribes, who still maintain a semi-nomadic lifestyle. It is one of the most popular destinations for domestic tourism. Dune-bashing—driving over the mountains of sand in modified four-wheel-drive vehicles—is a favorite activity for locals, who happily queue to race up the hills, a tricky task that takes practice so as to not get stuck in the drifts. Desert crossings are done in convoys of 4x4s that crawl through miles of dunes over a period a days, camping along the way; it's another popular pastime in the winter, when the weather is mild. The Bedouin who live there are friendly and open to sharing their culture. Women set up tents near the beginning of the dunes, where they sell their traditional woven handicrafts. Their vibrantly colored dresses and curvaceous black face-masks are beautiful. The men will often visit camps in the deep desert to share a meal or a drink, or simply to meet visitors camping in their desert. From mid-October through April there are camel races as well. In season, numerous desert camps are set up to enable visitors to get a taste of desert life. If you haven't already arranged a tour from Muscat, many of the desert camps will pick up day-trippers without their own 4x4s from the town of Bidiyah for a fee. READ LESS