Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 99 551155, 99 343851;
www.alrahaoman.com
;
half board per person OR20, with air-con OR25; )
Located
deep in the dunes, this friendly, efficient camp offers concrete huts decorated with
barasti
at the end of a long corridor of orange sand. There's a play area and discounted accom-
modation for children (children under two years old stay for free; children between two
and 12 years old pay OR10). Particularly recommended as a base for exploration deeper
into the sands.
Access is via Mintirib along 18km of graded track. Although some car owners choose
to bring a saloon car, car-hire insurance will not cover you for going off-road without a
4WD, and the washboard (ridged bars across the track) will damage an ordinary car's sus-
pension.
Al-Areesh Camp$
DESERT CAMP
(Desert Discovery Tours Camp;
99 450063, 24 493232;
www.desert-discovery.com
;
half board tent per person with/
without bathroom OR25/OR20; )
This lovely camp lies on the edge of a silver sand dune
with local Bedouin villages nearby. Accommodation is in tents of various sizes with char-
poys (lightweight bedsteads) for optional outside sleeping. A sealed road makes access
easy. Call the camp for help along the last portion of track. The camp offers camel and
4WD rides with profits going to local Bedu.
1000 Nights$$
DESERT CAMP
(
99 448158;
www.1000nightscamp.com
; half board tent without bathroom s/d OR25/45, with bathroom s/d OR57/
67; )
This magical camp is a haven of Bedouin-style tents, breezy Arabian-
style seating areas and a swimming pool! Despite this oddity, this is one camp where you
are genuinely in the heart of the dunes and the challenge of getting there, 19km over a
sand ridge from Al-Raha camp on the valley floor, is part of the excitement.
A retired Bedford brought the resident dhow here in three pieces; now reassembled as a
bar, it makes a fun place to watch those other ships of the desert lope by. Unique, all-day
horse-riding or camel-riding adventures with a Bedouin guide are OR90 per day with
lunch. Dinner in the carpetted open-air
majlis
(seating area) is a simple buffet jollied
along with the hypnotic rhythms of Bedouin drummers and dancers. If the tour guides join
in, the entertainment can last all evening. Like all the desert camps it can be noisy and
very busy on a Wednesday or Thursday evening but for the rest of the week, the silence of
the sands is reclaimed. If you can't bear to be that far from normal life, there's free wi-fi
and internet facilities.
Nomadic Desert Camp$$
DESERT CAMP
