Khasab isn't the most obvious of choices as a cruise ship destination, perched at the northernmost tip of Oman where it splits the Persian (or Arabian) Gulf and the Gulf of Oman by creating the relatively narrow Strait of Hormuz. This mountainous region doesn't have much usable land to grow anything so fishing would seem to be its main source of sustenance, but oil revenues obviously help and the fledgling tourist industry seemed well organised.
We awoke to a stunning set of views of rocky mountains from the relatively tiny harbour, only just big enough for little Boudicca. It was a far more informal port than most; later in the day a small herd of goats were idly roaming around the empty car parks and roads of the port area in search of scraps.
There was not much quayside in front of the bows .....
and even less behind our ship ......
Close inspection of the dry inhospitable rocky slopes revealed the occasional hardy acacia tree perched on a ridge or clinging to a nearly sheer face, but otherwise this did not look to be an easy place to live.
Looking at the port of Khasab on Google's satellite/aerial view one can see it's not the most hospitable of regions, there is a conspicuous absence of anything green .....
Boudicca was moored facing south on the leftmost edge of the harbour - one suited to only the smaller cruise ships and only one a at a time unlike Dubai. Looking at the same part of Oman from a bit further away the ruggedness of the terrain is very obvious, but also the similarity to Norway's fjords.
Of course the 'fjords' are not remotely similar in their formation to those in Norway - glaciers are a bit uncommon at these latitudes, but the tectonic movements (Arabian tectonic plate moving under the Eurasian plate) in this region have forced seabed limestone layers up in irregular ways to create this unusual landscape .......
But enough lecturing, our tour here was on one of the local dhows, specially adapted as tourist boats, although the traditional Arabic style of low level seating was a bit of a problem for quite a few of the less mobile amongst our numbers ....
The upper deck had even better views, especially of the cliffs towering over the dhow in places, but most people seemed to gravitate there for a bit more sun worship.
Here's an external view of our dhow or one very much like it ....
Setting off at some speed, another two boats followed us once loaded. It was obvious from the speed we were achieving that this was not a particularly traditional dhow and had some rather powerful engines under the deck somewhere.
The fjord we would explore is the big one in the centre of this view, Elphinstone Inlet or Khor Ash Sham. Quite a large expanse of water in the middle of which is a moderate size island and a much smaller one where we would later anchor for a break.
On our way there, as predicted by our captain .......
We encountered our first pod of dolphins. The captain knew exactly what speed to maintain and where to find them in the expanse of water. Here's a bit of video of these dolphins.
Some also appeared on the other side of the boat .....
After looking at some incredibly remote villages where the only access was by boat, we anchored off the lee side of Telegraph Island, a desolate rock used as a telegraph repeater station in the 1870s, but abandoned fairly quickly due to the difficulties of working there in the heat and with hostile tribes all around, leading to the madness, and in some cases, death of operatives there. See the link above for its credit for the phrase 'going round the bend'.
Our anchorage was chosen for its safety, clarity of waters and suitability for swimming & snorkelling, which many of our, even quite elderly, passengers, enjoyed promptly.
Despite warnings from our interesting guide about the sharp rocks and sea urchins, several intrepid passengers climbed onto Telegraph Island for a closer view of the ruins there.
Before leaving, yet another dhow arrived, this one with more local tourists ....
The children were especially delighted that most of us waved back enthusiastically when they waved to us - the adults being a little more reserved. They probably didn't approve of our semi-naked mixed sex swimming and moved on fairly quickly!
Some locals were very approving of our presence though. The crew have discovered that the local zebra-fish like bananas, so little bits of banana were liberally sprinkled over the side and within seconds, the sea was almost boiling with swarms of these shiny little fish. They undoubtedly have come to associate dhows with a free lunch .....
And with that we had a fairly fast cruise back to the home comforts of Boudicca, against a strong wind which was surprisingly cold despite the strong sunshine.
Magical Muscat tomorrow.
We awoke to a stunning set of views of rocky mountains from the relatively tiny harbour, only just big enough for little Boudicca. It was a far more informal port than most; later in the day a small herd of goats were idly roaming around the empty car parks and roads of the port area in search of scraps.
There was not much quayside in front of the bows .....
and even less behind our ship ......
Close inspection of the dry inhospitable rocky slopes revealed the occasional hardy acacia tree perched on a ridge or clinging to a nearly sheer face, but otherwise this did not look to be an easy place to live.
Looking at the port of Khasab on Google's satellite/aerial view one can see it's not the most hospitable of regions, there is a conspicuous absence of anything green .....
Boudicca was moored facing south on the leftmost edge of the harbour - one suited to only the smaller cruise ships and only one a at a time unlike Dubai. Looking at the same part of Oman from a bit further away the ruggedness of the terrain is very obvious, but also the similarity to Norway's fjords.
Of course the 'fjords' are not remotely similar in their formation to those in Norway - glaciers are a bit uncommon at these latitudes, but the tectonic movements (Arabian tectonic plate moving under the Eurasian plate) in this region have forced seabed limestone layers up in irregular ways to create this unusual landscape .......
But enough lecturing, our tour here was on one of the local dhows, specially adapted as tourist boats, although the traditional Arabic style of low level seating was a bit of a problem for quite a few of the less mobile amongst our numbers ....
Here's an external view of our dhow or one very much like it ....
Setting off at some speed, another two boats followed us once loaded. It was obvious from the speed we were achieving that this was not a particularly traditional dhow and had some rather powerful engines under the deck somewhere.
The fjord we would explore is the big one in the centre of this view, Elphinstone Inlet or Khor Ash Sham. Quite a large expanse of water in the middle of which is a moderate size island and a much smaller one where we would later anchor for a break.
On our way there, as predicted by our captain .......
We encountered our first pod of dolphins. The captain knew exactly what speed to maintain and where to find them in the expanse of water. Here's a bit of video of these dolphins.
Some also appeared on the other side of the boat .....
After looking at some incredibly remote villages where the only access was by boat, we anchored off the lee side of Telegraph Island, a desolate rock used as a telegraph repeater station in the 1870s, but abandoned fairly quickly due to the difficulties of working there in the heat and with hostile tribes all around, leading to the madness, and in some cases, death of operatives there. See the link above for its credit for the phrase 'going round the bend'.
Our anchorage was chosen for its safety, clarity of waters and suitability for swimming & snorkelling, which many of our, even quite elderly, passengers, enjoyed promptly.
Despite warnings from our interesting guide about the sharp rocks and sea urchins, several intrepid passengers climbed onto Telegraph Island for a closer view of the ruins there.
Before leaving, yet another dhow arrived, this one with more local tourists ....
The children were especially delighted that most of us waved back enthusiastically when they waved to us - the adults being a little more reserved. They probably didn't approve of our semi-naked mixed sex swimming and moved on fairly quickly!
Some locals were very approving of our presence though. The crew have discovered that the local zebra-fish like bananas, so little bits of banana were liberally sprinkled over the side and within seconds, the sea was almost boiling with swarms of these shiny little fish. They undoubtedly have come to associate dhows with a free lunch .....
And with that we had a fairly fast cruise back to the home comforts of Boudicca, against a strong wind which was surprisingly cold despite the strong sunshine.
Magical Muscat tomorrow.
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