Setting off on foot up the wadi
An early start, we broke camp and packed everything before driving back to near Sulaiman's camp, and set off on foot up the wadi.
Initially it was easy following goat tracks but then some climbing had to be done and we found ourselves up on a plateau where we spotted a large gazelle, but it did not hang around. We then had to descend and ascend once more before reaching the confluence point.
Spectacular scenery
After around nearly two hours we reached N17 E53
N19E53 GPS confirmation
Whilst looking for the exact spot to photograph the GPS, Be noticed a small pile of rocks and the thought occurred that perhaps somebody had visited this point before us, however on the website there was no recorded visit the day before we left, but it had us wondering all the same
L=>R Back, Ian, Linda, Sheila, Front, Be and me
Return Journey
On the return journey Ian had problems with one of his knees, and this added another 30 minutes before we were back to our vehicles and heading back to Salalah
We reached Salalah around 3.30 pm, SC and Yanni were already at the airport and about to leave, and Mike was somewhere between Salalah and Nizwa.
I had already decided to stay another night in Salalah, and Ian and Sheila decided to drive on to Nizwa to meet up with Mike (they arrived at half past midnight). Be and Linda also decided to stay another night with me given that darkness was not too far off, and driving that road in daylight was dodgy enough. so we did a bit more sightseeing before having supper and few more beers.
The following morning we set off at 7.30 am, endured 2 hours of sandstorms from Hayma northwards, reaching Adam around 5pm. After a break we carried on to Muscat and had shwarmas in Seeb before carrying on to Dubai stopping at the border and a tea shop in Hatta, arriving home at 11.30pm
Driving through a sandstorm between Hayma and Adam
We were not the first to visit N17E53 as we discovered when we returned, some people had done so several months previously but it had not been posted prior to our leaving Dubai.
Mike had posted our intention to visit this waypoint and I guess when the people who had already done so read this they then posted their visit
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