Wadi Bani Khalid: An All in One Adventure

One of the popular and most visited wadi in Oman is Wadi Bani Khalid. Located in Al Sharqiyah Region in Oman, along the road that connects Sur to Muscat; 225 km away from Muscat, it is better to go there as a part of a group or with couples of companions. It is a well known wadi and perfect for adventure seekers like us and families seeking a bit of out of town picnic. This is probably because of the unique boulder rocks, crisp clear blue pools and beautiful water falls in the wadi. 

It was a scorching hot day; yet we managed to pack and hit the long winding road heading to the wadi. Reaching the place we were almost surprised, given the numbers of clear pools of water, larger than life rocks and people who were just amazed and were ready to explore through the day just like us.

Since it was an adventure day, the expat boys were absolutely ready for (right) an adventure. 

We found the wadi a bit packed of nature-enthusiast folks, scattered all over the place that its almost hard for us to find our camp spot. Almost all of the possible spot were taken.

Finally we found our spot in a most unlikely place beside the walk way. (ugh!) Yet being uncomplaining explorers as we are, we set our day's paraphernalia and settled as happy campers.

To add a little more no brainer, packed foods are definitely necessary for the long trip.  

Posing my signature pose by the cave sign that somehow made me look like a cave girl.

 One of the main attraction in the wadi is the Muqal cave, which requires few kilometers of trekking from the main wadi. As enthused as we are, we followed the signs the pointed us towards the trekking path that will lead us to the cave. Past giant boulder rocks, scary God-knows-where it will end cliffs, water falls, pools of water, and crossing some few rivers and crawling under some rocks and walking again through terribly rocky paths, and finally yes, we reached the cave!

Being uncomfortable in narrow and overly confined places, I refused to join the group in getting inside the claustrophobic Muqal cave; preventing the boys as well from getting inside the dark cave probably for safety reasons. (At least I found an excuse.)

Going back to the daylight, we have met plenty of kindred wadi explorers on our way back. Seeing my camera, they asked me to take photo of them. And here they are.

One of the distinct qualities of the locals is being friendly and warm to expats. Here some friendly young locals were jokingly asking the boys to swim with them; otherwise they will shower them with water. And that after asking permission from me, to which I said okay :) 

Surely it was a great trip in one of the beautiful places in this span of beautiful desert called Oman.

How to go to Wadi Bani Khalid

You can as well book a tour to Wadi Bani Khalid using this link.

Things to consider before your trip:

• Bring enough water and food
• Wear comfortable hiking shoes and clothes
• Bring extra clothes for swimming
• Camera if you want to capture photos
• Sun-proof caps/hats/scarf, sunglasses, lotion with spf
• Camping tent or siting mats to leave your heavy stuff 
• Some more snacks especially if you're going for the long trek to the cave. You will need chips afterwards :)

Hope you enjoyed my post, and yes let me know your thoughts.

Thanks for reading.~

Till next. Ciao!

Some more helpful links:

Book Cheap Flights

Book A Hotel in Muscat, Oman