We had planned a road trip from Khobar to Oman (Muscat) on 24th November 2022. It is around 1200 km and almost 15 hours. Visa fee is 50 riyal and car insurance 150 riyal which is about 5 and 15 Omani riyal. All the process went smoothly, Omani Jawazat (immigration officers) are very cooperative, and they heartedly welcome us in Oman. Remember one thing: the Insurance office is right before the passport office near the transport service. After the visa process we took our stop in Ibri. We had lunch there and headed to Muscat which is around 500 km from Oman boarder.
A new road, which cut the distance between Saudi Arabia and Oman by about 800 km, has been opened for public, and all GCC resident and citizen can take on arrival visa at Oman boarder.
Inside Saudi Arabia, the road is 564-km long, starting from Al-Kharj, a 319-km stretch from Batha-Haradh Road to Shaybah and the 247-km stretch from the Shaybah to Omani border.
We had a 20-liter reserve petrol tank, extra food, torch light and all other necessary stuff with us. A small place called Shaybah where we had found petrol, food, and other stuff.
The road inside Oman is around 160 km long, starting from Ibri province, passing through oilfields until it reaches the Oman-Saudi border in the Empty Quarter.
The Rub Al- Khali, whose name means “Empty Quarter”, was given by the Swiss geographer Burckhardt in his 1829 book “Travel in Arabia”. The Kingdom has spent about SR1.6 billion on the motorway that passes through the eastern Saudi province of Al-Ahsa and the Rub' al-Khali desert (Empty Quarter) ending at Oman border. The Empty Quarter spreads across Oman, Yemen, and the UAE but most of it vast extended in Saudi Arabia, mainly in the Eastern Provinces. The section of the 725km-long road in Oman is 161km, while a 564km section is in Saudi Arabia.
It is the largest contiguous sand desert in the world; it contains the highest dunes, which reach 250 meters, climate is harshest with typical rainfall of less than 3 centimeters. Temperature reaches above 50 degrees Celsius whereas in winters temperature drops to 0 degree. Another dangerous feature is sabkhas. Sabkhas are plains in between massive dunes that can easily cross but in most cases some parts of the ground are so soft that vehicles would get badly stuck.
There is good news as well, in some places STC signals have been found or if you have roaming signals of Dubai network so it is better option to contact in emergency.
We had covered all the famous places in Muscat and the most famous thing is Omani Halwa. Omani Halwa is the most famous traditional dessert of Oman and considered a favorite in the Middle East and Asia Pacific countries. This sweet and gelatinous dessert is made in small batches and consists of real sugar, saffron, cardamom, samna (ghee), & rose water. We had visited Omani Halwa Factory which you had seen in my video.
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