Oman is a treasure box with endless hidden gems!
It was a long weekend, so we took advantage and took a long 3 and a half hour long drive to Wadi Bani Khalid located in the Northern Governorate of Oman.
The trip itself was smooth, we didn’t need a four wheel drive but it sure helped at moments. We decided to start our discovery of Wadi Bani Khalid with a trek through the Wadi itself and through the river to see how far down through the valley we could go.
What started off as an easy walk, ( a little rocky and uneven at times) turned into a little test of strength when we climbed up a palm tree fashioned into a ladder. We were greeted by friendly faces from boys and girls enjoying a day at the river and they helped us map our our route. Getting into the water wasnt as difficult as we thought, it was moderately cold but after baking in the sun and sweating the cold water was a refreshing welcome. This trek is a little more challenging than Wadi Shab, but with a little bit of arm strength and fearlessness clambering over the boulders was fun (I’m pretty sore). We reached a beautiful water fall that over looked a baby blue pool of water. There is a spot you can jump from near the water fall, not from the mouth exactly (unless you’re brave enough!). Getting back up after jumping down to the pool is a bit of a scavenger hunt, if you look on your right hand side you can lift your back up to the tip of the waterfall only to jump again.
Once you’re down there there’s another waterfall that you can see from the higher rocks as well. The valley from that vantage point seems to go on for days, but it’s gorgeous. The view from the higher rocks is breath taking, and there is another jumping spot, which is significantly higher than the first (we hadn’t done our research to see if people had jumped from there before, but we might go back to be the first ones!).
After our trek here we went to the swimming pools and cave area, which is a 20 minute drive from our first spot. This spot is more touristy yet later on in the day its less crowded. We decided to jump in to the water and then we walked our way to the cave on the rocks above. It was a great experience, so beautiful and breathtaking. According to the news outlet Oman Observer, during the National Day Holidays Wadi Bani Khalid “received nearly 18,000 visitors”.
Check out the pictures below!
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