Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Mussandam Peninsula brings the plain to an abrupt close. This is the environment of
mudhoppers, wading birds and long stretches of dazzling-white sands.
Much of the interior is flat too but some major mountain ranges, like the Hajar Moun-
tains of Oman and the Haraz Mountains of Yemen, bring an entirely different climate and
way of life to the high ground.
There are no permanent river systems in the Peninsula. Water-laden clouds from the sea
break across the mountains, causing rainfall to slide along wadis with dramatic speed.
Smaller tributaries of water collect in the wadis from natural springs and create oases in
the desert. In much of the Peninsula, the water table is close enough to the surface to
hand-dig a well - a fact not wasted on the Bedu who survive on a system of wells and
springs discovered or made by their ancestors. Irrigation, in the form of elaborate ducts
and pipes (called
aflaj
in Oman), helps channel water through plantations, allowing more
extensive farming in the region than might be supposed.
Gulf Landscapes,
by Elizabeth Collas and Andrew Taylor, is a beautifully illustrated book that shows there's
much more to the Gulf than its high-profile cities.
