Salalah Trip 2018

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alshamsi_m
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Hello Everyone

I believe a trip report is unfair for this trip but I have to write something. When you come back from Salalah or Liwa you have these mix emotions where you don't want to come back to reality " You just want to stay there ". in love

More than 8 hours a drive everyday , You have a plan on the other hand, the weather have other plans but one thing for sure "once you lay down in bed , you sleep in NO TIME ".


We have managed to visit 22 locations from our overall plan which was acceptable having in mind the fog in 4 days nevertheless, the group was having the most fun out of every day. The whole group was positive and cooperative all the time which made the job easier without radio communications.

You might see the videos or the pictures on our social networking but you can't understand the experience unless you are there.

I think from Salalah 2019 it will be named " Salalah 2019 adventure ".

Till next time take care and see you soon in sand

Cheers
Adventurous League of Mountains, Oceans and Sand Thrills
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Rashidjass
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Straight Roads Do Not Make Skillful Drivers yuush
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Johanna
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For me it was the first trip to Salalah, and the experience was very intense. The place is fascinating, especially the first impression after crossing the mountains after the empty quarter was just WOW.

This week was a total escape from my daily Dubai life, a new adventure every day together with the second family. Reality hit me hard when I came back to my empty flat and I am already looking forward to next year.

Thank you all for this fantastic week and special thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and [mention]Booy[/mention] for having me and Karolina as passengers. Next year the Patrol will be ready

See you all in the clouds
BR, Johanna

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Mohanad
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last year before visiting Salalah i used to be surprised when i hear people saying that they visited Salalah 3 or 4 times ! well i visited Salalah last year, and i visited again this year and planning already to visit it inshallah in 2019 !

the trip is not only about the place, the most important is the people you have around you ! we have established bounds with each other which makes us feel that we know each other for a very long time.

interesting information about Salalah 2018:

1. Surprisingly, this year there were no mosquitoes ORLY the locals say that the mosquitoes were all killed by the hurricane which hit Salalah this year ! (I think [mention]Adam[/mention] may disagree with me).

2. Due to the Hurricane, some of the waterfalls and lakes had great flow of water.

3. Again, due to the Hurricane, some of the areas we visited had demolished roads grin and thanks to that and to Bu Salem, we had some really nice offroading !

Thanks to our Founders, Marshals and Crew members who worked hard to make this trip a successful one. and special thanks to Bu Salem who always goes the extra mile to prepare and plan this trip !

see you in Salalah 2019
If you Hesitate, Accelerate !
Chris Rothmann
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It was indeed a great adventure for both Rainier and I. A FANTASTIC week with a great bunch of people. I even had learned a few new “Parkour” tricks during our hikes😄😄. The diverce scenery was breathtaking and I particularly enjoyed going of the main routes and onto the lesser used tracks, it was great!!

THANK YOU to all the organizers, club leadership and founders who made this a truly UNIQUE, MEMORABLE and WELL PLANNED experience 👌👌

Chris and Rainier
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Adam
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It takes a lot of organizing and dedication to try to get a bunch of people to meet, drive and still enjoy the trip especially when it covers over 4000km (5044km in my case) so I would like to personally thank all those who prepared the coordinate booklet, those that did a recce prior to the trip, those that swept in the middle and end of the convoy thus ensuring none of us veered off the wrong track (yes I was one of those who took the wrong track) and who kept us on time with their ear bursting whistle ;)

This trip in my mind was the perfect introduction to Salalah and what it has to offer. Will it be the last time I come here....definitely no! Maybe I won't be taking my pickup but I will be back to do a bit more exploring and camping.

Thank you once again.

Adam
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Aligi
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Salalah Trip! WOW!

If you are reading these posts to make up your mind, on weather to come or not. The answer is definitely YES! Regardless if you are alone or with family the Salalah Trip is an experience not to miss.

Stef and I got completely captured by the briefing document which was showing tons of amazing places, an average of 3 to 4 great spots per day... and [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] managed to take us through over 90% of them. Not an easy task to manage a 5 days itinerary carefully planned in advanced against the weather conditions.

The trip is intense yet very rewarding and balanced, every night you get back to the hotel for a hot shower and most likely straight to bed. We had amount of driving per day but also great walking, swimming, hiking and socialising. I loved the opportunity to get to know the group better and some of the personal stories that don't come out in between the usual short breaks in between dunes.

Meeting point was already across the border, and we managed to get there on time... almost a record considering we landed from Europe the same morning. If you have Oman Insurance don't forget to bring a printed copy with you.... otherwise AED100 for a new one for the week! You can guess what happened to me... Psmiley

The drive in convey (approx. 20 cars) to Salalah was a nice experience, yes long but the excitement of what was ahead of us kept us awake for the full trip! I will be honest for most of it there is not much to see, so lower your expectations as the beauty comes when you reach Salalah.

5 Days super carefully organised to allow us to see the most of diverse part of the area, filled with waterfalls, mountains covered in lavish green, some muddy drive, caves and more. Honestly nothing that you could every experience on a typical Tour Operator or self organised tour. [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and the team put in years of experience and learnings to make it totally memorable, and in fact it was. I am sure he saw as well some new places that will become part of the next trip!! I will read your reports if I won't be in the Middle East anymore.

Jeepers! Come on, strangely enough we were only two Jeep surrounded by tons of FJs, so no chances to even start the usual Jeep and Fake Jeep conversations. But if you are a Jeeper one little learning/advice.... make sure you have metal/aluminium hood catches... as on the long trip you will drive over 120 km/h possibly with trucks coming opposite direction and your hood will wobble a lot... or you will have to put some duct tape along the front. [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] I am reselling your suggestion which worked 100%!

All in all a the best way to explore Salalah, spend time existing and new friends, enjoy some local food and get your car covered in mud .. which doesn't happened often in Dubai. If you want to switch off, I guarantee you will use your phone only to take pictures and share your live location on WhatsApp.

A mega thank you to all organising [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] [mention]Rashidjass[/mention] [mention]Booy[/mention] [mention]alshamsi[/mention] - Getting to know you and your families has been privilege. A trip and a group of people we won't forget!!! Aligi & Stef
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I joined the trip with my wife Ivana. Let me share our joint impressions and some recommendations for next year Salalah newbies in a few sections below:

Preparation
Due to my business travel I missed both pre-meetings but we were impressed by the high level of the preparation work. [mention]momo[/mention] brought us the bags - they were really nice, the content was either nice (t-shirts, deodorants) or useful (super efficient repellents, the pliers, and deodorants :-)). Absolutely fantastic was the daily itinerary with all waypoints and the same electronically in our Garmins provided by [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] .

travel to Salalah
it was loong! I remember a sreen from my Waze showing the instruction - go straight 800km to the next roundabout ORLY . A few recommendations: Make sure you have your copy of the car insurance covering Oman at the border. If you doubt if you can bring radio - discuss with the team. Try to rest before the overnight drive or you will have a crisis on the way. I tried to catch up my work before leaving for hols, and got to this trouble for a moment.

Trips in Salalah
During the week we drove more km than on the way to Salalah, but we had chances to hike as well. Since the humidity is high, I sweat a lot, so a towel is a good friend, as every hitchhiker to the Galagy knows. Most hikes were rewarded by swimming in an incredibly clear sweet water (at least if you lose you way grin - so remember to carry your swimsuit - you may use it more often than you expected. We have seen fantastic sceneries, meadows in blossom, outdoor stalagmites, huge waterfalls, breathtaking views from clifs, a place where gravity is not what you expected and many more. Plus driving steep paths with 4L engaged. One may argue there are other parts of the world where you can see similar things in parts, but I doubt you could drive to them freely without any restriction as we did in Salalah.

Food for day trips
Food sharing was a great part of socializing during breaks. If you want to contribute, there are good local shops at Salalah just after the Shell station on the way back to Hilton where you can buy freshly baked stuff and even good coffee or karak to your thermobottle. If you like watermellons, make sure you have [mention]Mabubaker[/mention] with you - that's his specialty. One evening we were taken to a local restaurant with Yemeni food. It was delicious and I would like to thank to [mention]alshamsi[/mention] for being our host that night.

Summary
It was a fantastic trip and an unforgettable experience. The level of organization was really impressive - with 22 cars and more than 50 participants, everything went flawlessly. Big cudos to all the crew, marshalls and the founders.
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optimus
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Hi All,

First of all many thanks to the organizers for this amazing cool trip, my family had a great time. Initially we were apprehensive of driving with two kids, but changed our mind last minute and it was worth it!!! Great comfort from the sweltering heat of our very own Dubai, kids were off from screen for some time, such a relief!

The place so serene, and mystic made us nostalgic since it resembles our very own Kashmir. The mountains, waterfalls, zero gravity point, meadows, natural pools all so breathtaking. We are glad our first visit to Salalah was with such an organized group of people otherwise it was impossible to see so many HIDDEN GEMS in one trip. Had we travelled alone I am sure we would end up spending our days in the resort swimming pool entertaining and dancing to the tune of our kids, given the fact there is nothing much to do nearby the place we were staying in.

Well organized trip, great team work, always ready with plan B (I am sure there was one)..Such a great learning experience for us and kids as well. Lovely cooperative people, made some good acquaintances, got advised on opening a play school grin as we managed to keep the naughty bunch sitting at one place while half the group had gone for hiking.

Some tips for parents travelling with kids:

 Mosquito Repellent is a MUST. Anti-allergy medicine just in case you got kissed by one as we say to our son since he is the most favored by mosquitos from our family.

 For a 5 day trip take clothes for 12 days cause it can get little Messy with not just the mud but the natural fertilizers from our desert friends (camels).

 DONOT forget the swimwear (same recommended for parents because we forgot ours and we are still regretting).

 Check prior to the trip, eateries around the place you are staying in, especially the ones selling wraps /sandwich/fatayers that would be really helpful otherwise kids will end up munching all the crap.

 Last but not the least, carry a good quality extremely strong air freshener for the toilet trips on the high way. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

From morning briefings to evening camps, food sharing and surprise off-roading, trip guide booklet, the goody bags all so well planned, truly professional, HATS OFF to the people behind all this.

Already looking forward to next trip with an efficient team to some other mesmerizing place and of course to “Salalah”.

Sheeba
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Salalah 2018 adventure experience with Almost4x4 is over but memories will remain forever.
A > 1200 km drive to reach Salalah... Do you think it worthes the effort? Well.. I'll leave you figure out the answer from the trip report.
Although we crossed the empty quarter on the way to Salalah, but the trip timing was managed to keep 35 as the peak temperature then it started to drop 250 km before reaching Salalah at 22c. in love. Thanks to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] for for his considering such details in planning..
After the stone grilled chicken, [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] offered a welcome bonus to day 0 convoy,,, a visit to the abandoned ship view near Al Maghseel beach...
20 meters before reaching the view point, I was third car behind [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] and [mention]Booy[/mention],,, then BOM BOM... two tyres down.. I was known with 3 popouts in a raw,,, now I am the master of blowing two tyres is one shot...
To be honest, I was overwhelmed with the support from everyone, Optimus, Hussam, Aligi, Petr, Chris, Kris and Yazan.. Thank you guys...
The view made me forget about the hassle indeed...

Day 1, I managed to get new tyres, and went straight to catchup the convoy, I followed the WhatsApp live location,, the landscape and and unpaved roads while trying to catchup with the convoy was an adventurous experience,,, finally I was able to see a patrol with [mention]hamzahng[/mention] in the passenger seat,, yes it was [mention]Kris_K[/mention] ORLY

After enjoying day 2, which was ended by hitting a sandy mountain where marshals and members played for sometime,, [mention]Lenny[/mention]'s nephew wanted to have some fun so I took him for a quick ride to the top.. Where are the videos man? Psmiley
From day 3, I was given the opportunity to host the club guest Asil,, a very nice guy who enjoys adventure with no limits. He was amazed about how friendly and organised our club is... He is also so grateful to [mention]alshamsi_m[/mention] especially when Bu Salem rescued his drone when it sinked into the waterfall,,, Bu Salem used the "Follow the stone" technique.. ninja
The days went off so quickly, I can write a report for each day,,, the hidden cave,,, discover the hidden lake, open the gate and escape,,,
We all came back home safely,,, I travelled to Amman the second day,,, still addicted to adventure, currently discovering Jordan in Almost4x4 Salalah style...

See you in sand lovely group with my watermelons
M Abubaker
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