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Ice
The benefits of slivers over cubes

“This is good ice,” says one of the boys as the ice shards cascade into his cool box.
“It’s the kind of ice they’d use for a heart transplant.” This is stretching it, of course, but he’s right about one thing: ice slivers beat cubes any day. Being smaller than cubes, the slivers can be crammed more neatly and evenly into cool boxes, and don’t stick together in great clumps. Anyone who has ever set out on a boat or travelled inland to camp in the desert will understand the importance of ice. Uncooked burgers destined for the campfire or barbecue need to stay cool prior to cooking, to say nothing of the drinks, and bought ice is the best way to keep things cold if you have failed to put ice packs in the freezer in advance. Ice slivers are available at Al Duf Duf, a small ice factory in Sidab (between old Muscat and Marina Bandar al Rowdha), which lies tucked behind a mosque down a lane. The factory has been open for eight years, says Kumar, who works there, and caters mainly to fishermen who purchase ice shards in large sacks (RO1 for a 50kg bag) for packing in among the day’s catch. Before Al Duf Duf made shards readily available, fishermen would buy mammoth blocks of ice and chip pieces off; and before that, they simply dried and salted their fish. The ice shards are not suitable for drinks – Al Duf Duf sells bags of cubes for that purpose – but they are ideal for cool boxes, and if 50kg is too large a quantity, you can buy a shopping bagful for the princely sum of 100bz.

smart streets
Fake trees and phoney foliage

On the road leading to Mumtaz Mahal and Qurm Amphitheatre stands an unusual palm tree. What makes this specimen noteworthy in a city liberally scattered with palm trees is that it is a fake, and there are others about, too. The phoney evergreens belong to Oman Mobile, which constructed them in order to screen from view a piece of kit described by the company as ‘cells’ – essentially transmitting towers for mobile phone calls. There are many towers around: look up to the roofs of buildings in Muscat and you’ll spot other, undisguised examples. The fake tree is a brilliant bit of illusion and blends almost seamlessly into the streets of Qurm. A spokeswoman from Oman Mobile says it is all about social responsibility – people want to make telephone calls but not in a city made ugly by towering telephone paraphernalia.

hiking
Prints in the soft, kicked-up dust

Five gazelle passed by like a dream a stone’s throw to our right, gliding over loose rock in perfect synchronisation. Two seconds of luck meant we were looking at the right place at the right time. That was just the amount of time it took to let out a gasp or hold a breath, or begin to think of the camera deep inside a zipped and shouldered backpack. There would be no photographs, only fleeting memory.
Barely five minutes of drive up from the innards of Hamriya, turn into a deserted wadi and start walking. Fifteen minutes later you could be anywhere in Oman, with a series of wadis and corresponding ridges unfolding in front of you. You will not be alone. Once you get over the first ridge and climb higher, you will find patches of level ground scratched free of stones, with the tell-tale signs of gazelle everywhere: the little hoof prints in the soft, kicked-up dust, the handfuls of pellets left behind and even the occasional lost horn.

Follow our GPS waypoints and you might get lucky too:

Park your car here
40 Q 0659499, 2605920
Elevation: 190m

First ledge
40 Q 0659550, 2605330
Elevation: 260m

Top, beginning of ridge
40 Q 0659848, 2605249
Elevation: 306m

End of ridge
40 Q 0660412, 2604775
Elevation: 268m

Happy campers
Camp opens in Sharqiya Sands

No visit to the sultanate is complete without a trip into the desert. Among the handful of organised camps within easy reach of Muscat is Desert Nights Camp in the Sharqiya Sands, a slick initiative from the OHI Group of Companies which was inaugurated last year, on December 12, at the camp in Al Wasil.

There is nothing primitive about Desert Nights Camp. Accommodation comes in the form of several picturesque tents that are loosely modelled on Bedouin shelters – loosely modelled in the sense that although each tent features a quantity of canvas, all are equipped with air conditioning and have a beautifully decorated bedroom, bathroom and cosy sitting area. Visitors to the camp can enjoy a number of activities, including camel riding, dune bashing and desert safaris, as well as visits to sites such as Wadi Bani Khalid. In the evening guests are invited to sit around the campfire and enjoy food from the barbecue.

Desert Nights Camp tailors packages to individual tastes. One night’s accommodation, including dinner and breakfast, costs around RO120 for two people. For further details, call 92 818388 or 24 489789.