Our hotel up on Jebel Al Akhdar, which I can't find words to describe its magnificence, is very tempting to simply stay, relax and soak in the beauty you are surrounded with here. The beauty of the hotel same as that of the landscape.

But in fact, there has been a number of riders who showed up at the bikes at the agreed time. So we went to tackle our first uphill dirt road outside of Nizwa. Afterwards we took the nice and winding paved road parallel to the dirt road to ride up the summit of a neighbouring mountain to enjoy the view and lunch.

Pretty soon, however, it became obvious that everyone felt "homesick" for the infinity pool at our hotel Said and done, we returned for relaxation to our "Green Mountain" in the early afternoon.

A nicely graded "non-existent pavement"

Riding up a mountain also means you got to be riding back down again

Anastasia, the driver of our chase-vehicle, found a nice place in the shade

While the rest of the group was busy inside to share the wifi password. Life without internet is hard to imagine

Just when you start feeling like a "newly baptised" desert adventurer, the adventure already seems to be over again. Time has been flying and we had to leave our cosy Desert Night's Resort again.

But most of us were not too sad about it, after we heard about the next destination, which was promised to us during our rider's meeting as a place beyond imagination. 

Along the way the desert area gradually changed from its wide and arid plains to a more mountainous region. Slowly becoming higher and higher, we ended up in the mountains of Jebel Al Akhdar at our hotel over 2000 m (6500 ft).

Before we left the Desert Night's Resort, we took the chance to get an impression of how it feels like to sit on the back of a camel. But hey ... where is the saddle for that first camel... ???

The Arabic equivalent for the pedestrian crossing sign

Receiving a warm welcome at a hotel with such a fine entrance area makes you feel like a king - or a queen

Today, we are leaving the Turtle Reserve at Ras Al Jinz again as our desert adventure is waiting for us now. From our southern-most point in the tour we first travelled back again direction Sur, driving around the city on its south side. 

After a stretch of highway directing us back northwards, we entered into the south end of the Hijar mountains, where you will find the Wadi Bani Khalid. A Wadi, per definition, is a dried out valley or riverbed, which carries only water after heavy rainfalls. The Wadi Bani Khalid, however, has permanent water that is visited by local people and tourists alike. It simply is a treat to jump into the pools for a cool-down during the hot periods.

In the afternoon we parked our bike in the village of Al Wasil. We were then comfortably being shuttled to our desert nights camp amidst the sand dunes of the Wahiba Sands desert.

If only you could see what's happening down there at the feet Many small fish are giving you a treatment and it is 100% tickling

Afterwards, the whole group enjoyed the sunset on one of the high sand dunes around the camp. Since we have the luxurious version of desert camp here, we, of course, were driven up the dune

The two lady tour guides of our Scouting tour through the Emirates and the Oman - being messed up by the upcoming wind that has covered us all in sand