Two hours from Muscat, the Wahiba (or Sharqiya) Sands roll out ridge after ridge of amber dunes, still crossed by Bedouin families and mercifully free of coach parties. Desert camps range from simple barasti huts to preposterous comfort, and the ritual is fixed: a dune drive or camel amble at sunset, dinner under the Milky Way, silence of a completeness money rarely buys. October to March keeps the days walkable. Pair it with a swim at Wadi Bani Khalid on the way in.
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