Jebel Shams is regularly listed as one of the highlights of Oman, and rightly so – the view down into the immense Wadi Ghul is impressive and justifies its tag as the “Grand Canyon of Arabia”. You’ve also got the drive up there with a spectacular mountain landscape that makes it very hard not to stop regularly for photos.
There’s a lot of writing about carpet sellers and that sort of stuff, but they’re really only a very minor part of the experience. In reality it’s all about looking over the canyon sides and walking deep into the canyon on the gorgeous Balcony Walk and, if you have a spare day, hiking up to the peak of Jebel Shams itself (3009m / 9872ft).
Top tip #1 – its all about the Wadi Ghul canyon and the Balcony Walk. The maps and general tips for the place can be super confusing. What you are basically looking to do is look over the edge in the Wadi Ghul canyon (Jebel Shams View Point 3 is great for this) and walk the Balcony Walk (aka W6) which is a 1.5-2.5 hour walk (there and back) along a light to moderate slope that starts near the wide point of the canyon (Balcony Walk Guesthouse) and ends at an abandoned village at one of the end points of the canyon (very clearly signposted). Even if you’re not keen on the full walk, it’s still worth just walking the first 15mins or so as that has some of the best views.
Top tip #2 – you can drive up to the Jebel Shams plateau without a 4WD. For sure it’s easier in the 4WD, but as long as you are a confident driver and it isn’t raining you will be fine. You’ll have maybe 20 / 30mins of unpaved road, with only a couple of sections you’ll need to pay attention to.
Where to stay – I stayed at the Sama Heights Resort, which was really nice and fit in perfectly with the surroundings. It’s only a 5min drive or so to the first views of the canyon
I say this trip is supercharged because it doesn’t leave much time for chilling. But, if you’re like most of us and only have a limited amount of vacation, then this is a fantastic weekend to weekend trip that takes in the world famous sites of Jerusalem, Petra and Wadi rum; while providing time for some fun experiences like floating in the Dead Sea, scuba diving in the Red Sea, driving through sparse deserts and a party in Tel Aviv.
You’ll need energy for these 7 days, but you’ll be rewarded as, in my opinion, its one of the world’s best week long trips in the world.
I was hesitating in going in winter as I’d seen low temperatures. Don’t. The winter helped with reduced crowds, not needing to book far ahead and not getting exhausted by the heat. Perfect trip for a week-long winter break and a maximum Wow-factor score.
The otherworldly red desert views of Wadi Rum
No wonder they filmed The Martian, Star Wars, Dune and Prometheus here – Wadi Rum does indeed feel like being on Mars and driving around in 4x4s with the wind in your face watching the sandstone cliffs and red desert pass you by really gives a sci-fi feeling of adventure. Expect to find yourselves regularly stopping to gawp at the latest stunning vista throughout the day.
I’m sure there is a bunch of ways to extend Wadi Rum to be a multi-day trip, up, but we had half a day plus staying over night in one of the Martian tents, and that felt like the right amount of time. Especially as we had time for both the sunset and the stunning first light.
The whole experience was brilliant – a real mega wow.
My girlfriend and I went on a 6month trip around Latin America (excluding Brazil). Started in the far South in the Tierra del Fuego in Argentina and, broadly, made our way up the west coast to the Yucatan Peninsular of Mexico. Best large scale trip I’ve done, and wanted to share the overall itinerary and tips here to hopefully help those who are considering something similar
A few high level points:
- Other than the flights there and the first hotel, there were only three things we booked in advance: the Inca Trail (which we knew we needed to for permits); plus for Patagonia a trip through Torres del Paine National Park and a ferry through the fjords (as we were going at peak season and only a couple of weeks after we landed). Everything else, we booked when in Latin America and, in our opinion, that is the best way to do it – gives you the freedom to relax in the places you find that you love and be super flexible to do what you want to do
- Total costs – my girlfriend and I went in our 30s, with no kids and on sabbaticals from work. We’re not poor, but certainly not mega wealthy. We didn’t stay in super expensive hotels (other than for the occasional splurge), flew economy and used a bit of common sense for timings of certain expensive items, but never held back on doing the things we wanted to do. Some examples of big ticket items: US$5k for a week diving in the remote Wolf & Darwin Islands in the Galapagos; US$1.2k for 4 days in Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia; US$800 for a helicopter trip to see the El Mirador Mayan ruins in the Guatemalan jungle; US$700 for the Inca Trail. Total cost of the whole trip was US$34k each. This included all flights, transport, hotels, activities, food, drink, guides, screwing things up, credit card fees – the lot. Expensive, but so are most Experiences of a Lifetime
- It’s not about trying to “do everything” – in a place as large as Latin America, you couldn’t even if you tried – so don’t think of things as a big tick box exercise. Brazil, for example, we knew we couldn’t do justice whilst also trying to enjoy all the other amazing places we’d heard of, so left it for next time
- In the similar vain, make sure you give yourself big chunks of time to chill out. Not only to recharge the batteries, but also because most places are enjoyed when you spend time to soak up the feel for the place. There were some places . . . like Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, Buenos Aires in Argentina, Isla Mujeres in Mexico, Bocas del Toro in Panama . . . where I could have spent weeks there just because the general vibe of the place was so wonderful
- Safety – we weren’t robbed, but many people do either having a bag stolen or, unpleasantly, get robbed face to face. Other than a couple of cities, we generally felt super safe the places we went and tried to just apply common sense to reduce our risks
- Learn a bit of Spanish before you go – the app DuoLingo was great for getting us to a basic level that made a lot of difference. But also don’t be afraid to pull out google for simultaneous conversation translations to really be able to have a conversation with someone – some long trips became some of our highlights just from being able to properly talk with the driver / locals. I particularly remember a long taxi ride in Colombia where we went back and forward for 2 hours with the driver on everything from his home town to politics to football to his favourite movies to his family problems- never could have done that without Spanish or google. In a similar vein, and using the right level of common sense, don’t turn down an invite for drinks / dinner / house visit with locals. There are some truly unforgettable natural and cultural spots to see, but similarly an evening with a local family will be something likely to be just as unforgettable
- Whenever checking out a place or must-do-site, its easy to get templed / churched / ancient site / beached out. Always do a very basic bit of research to see if there is a more out of the ordinary way to experience it – by bike / drinking tour / kayaking / helicopter / whatever. Thats what we tried to do, and I hope it reflected in some of the cool stuff listed below
This below 9 day itinerary is a good combination of some of the best things about mainland Ecuador – the old town of Quito; stepping back in time to a Lord of the Rings-style adventure around the Quliatoa Loop; a major challenge in summiting Cotopaxi; and getting to meet a range of local people along the way
Obviously, for many people Ecuador is all about the Galapagos Islands (see Island hoping through the main Galapagos Islands and Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos for tips on these wonderful experiences). But it also has some world-class experiences to be found on the mainland
We’ve all seen the famous customary silly photos . . . but what I didn’t expect was quite how much fun it would be splashing about taking these customary silly photos! Right from when you first put your feet in the water to feel the slightly crunchy crystals of the salt beneath you, through to gazing across the water into the distance at this vast temporary sea, its a great experience and an absolute must if in this part of the world
This part of the world is high on the tourist radar for the Bolivian Salt flats (Salar de Uyuni) – they really are stunning, unique to just about anything I’ve seen anywhere in the world and fun to play around in. Crucially, they are also big enough so that you can avoid other tourists and so stand around with a nice feeling of magical awe in the middle of them (see the individual travel entry The Bolivian Salt Flats in Rainy Season for tips).
But . . . the real wow factor comes when you combine the salt flats with a 4WD trip between Uyuni (the Salt Flats, in Bolivia) and San Pedro in the Atacama desert (in Chile). Right up front – this is a long drive, the altitude sickness can be real and definitely don’t expect luxury, but seeing the AltiPlano – the Andes’ High Plateau (typically 3,800m / 12,400ft and second tallest after the Himalayas) of volcanoes, lakes and jaw-dropping vistas – is such an otherworldly experience that it comfortably falls into the top Wow-factor category. An unmissable adventure.
Views of the Andes Altiplano on the route from San Pedro de Atacama to the Salt Flats of Uyuni
You typically read about Patagonia in its extremes – how far south, how remote, how windswept and desolate. The Tierra del Fuego is the extreme of Patagonia as the southernmost tip of the Americas and is as strange as it is alluring. Mountains and volcanoes surround you as you arrive in Ushuaia, the southern most city on earth, and you find yourself in the centre of a big playground of glacial lakes, channels and echoes of past culture of the original Fuegian natives. All giving you a chance to explore and feel what it must have been like for the first explorers, like Magellan and Captain Fitzroy, as they passed through this otherworldly place
Many only arrive in Ushuaia as their departure point for the Antarctic, yet find this little-known to be the highlight. We opted for doing a combination of taking a tour company for their 4x4s etc as well as doing parts on our own and found that to be the right mix
The Tierra del Fuego – the southermost tip of the Americas and as strange as it is alluring. Mountains and volcanoes surround you as you arrive in Ushuaia, the southern most city on earth, and you find yourself in the centre of a big playground of glacial lakes, channels and echoes of past culture of the original Fuegian natives. Take the chance to explore by taking a 4×4 to see some of the lakes, national parks and breathtaking scenery. You can usually do this in a day, but give yourself two so you can check out the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego and some of the lakes further afield and more remote like Escondido and Fagnano
Fraser Island is the world’s largest sand island and, with practically no development, it is a truly maximum wow-factor ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ experience when you head off for 2-3 days in a 4 wheel-drive to explore the pristine creeks, freshwater lakes and lush rainforest. Its all interlinked by the magnificent eastern stretch of 75 mile beach that runs the near full length of the island and acts as the “highway”. Plus, Lake McKenzie, with its clean mesmerising colours, perfect white sand and backdrop of the rainforest, is worth the trip alone. The highlight experience of Queensland, if not all of Australia, and a must for an East Coast visit.
