Fjords popular in Musandam

Ten hours or more, there and back, on the road. But the trip to Musandam was worth it.

The journey is at best unspectacular, at worst a combination of dicing with death (Abu Dhabi to Dubai) and enduring the dullness of the coastal plains north of Dubai.

But this, or as best as I managed to capture it, is what awaits you on arrival in the mountainous chunk of Oman that is cut off by the UAE from the sultanate's main territory to the south.

As some of you will have seen from the photos already posted at Salut!, it is a remarkably beautiful corner of the Gulf.

We had only one night there, but this was followed by a magical day afloat as our crew navigated a slow course around the striking fjords.

It was a welcome relief from city life. Nothing happens in a hurry in Musandam.



And as a bonus, my Blackberry had no signal all day.

All photos are clickable for a better view....the hanging text will have to wait (in other words, I have no idea how to fix it).

One minor irritation. The dolphins are becoming blasé.

Cajoled by the spirited handclapping of our crew, they broke surface several times but then flatly refused to put on anything approaching a full show of tricks. Shame on them!