Dusk at Dayqah Dam

Day 7 Tuesday: Another half day trip, originally planned to go straight to Wadi Dayqah Dam and people watch until the sun went down.  I chose the route over the moutain and it looked even more spectacular/scary from the other side. Great way to cut out a few kms of busy traffic, especially if you have a 4 litre engine!  Click on the photo below to see the southern part of the “moutain” road.

 Heading down Road 17 I spied a sign to “Yiti” which is a lovely small village and harbour at the end of a wadi and although we have visited twice before it was well worth a diversion.  I turned off, looked for further signs to Yiti – there were none.  I headed a couple of kms in what I thought was the right direction until I came to what looked like the start of a mountain/wadi road.  Now my fear of heights and mountain roads is legendary, and I know I have to “man up” a bit and conquer these fears!   I entered Yiti in my gps, and indeed the road I was on would take me out some 17kms distant at the start of the road through the gorge to my destination.

 After a couple of climbs on blacktop which were ok, the road became a gravel track which was smooth and very good – must have been maintained recently.  I swear you can do this route easily with a sedan.  Of course you can go a little off-piste here and there if you have a 4×4!

The only water was near the start, look how the attempts to channel it using concrete walls have been thwarted by the force of the water during rainy times!

I stopped umpteen times to take photos on the way over

This wadi is part of the Muscat Geotrek – lots of fantastic structures to marvel at.

Amazing forces at work to create this!

 and then after taking a few piccies at Yiti, I discovered that the quickest way to my original destination was back the way I came..

but it’s good to drive a wadi in both directions as you get a completely different view on the return journey – I didn’t notice that stunning outcrop on the way up – and there is a great campspot in behind it.

This little town was worthy of a picture, halfway up/down the wadi.

On the way down road 17 to Quariyat, I stopped to get a photo of an unusual rock feature which I’ve seen a few times lately but never pulled over to capture it.  Maybe some geologist can explain….

Just  a few kms down the road from this is the turning to Wadi Dayqah Dam and it IS signposted with brown tourist signs at all the junctions.

The light was disappointing when I got there, but the drive through the wadis with lots of corners and climbs, even on 2-way blacktop, was wonderful.

Now I didn’t realise this on my previous visit, and being in the ME, there’s no sign to tell you, but if you go into this tower and climb the stairs you get the most magnificent view of the park and dam.

I was the only western expat there!

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