navigation

There was a smell of church off the desks in our school. When I folded my arms and put my head in the hollow, when Henno told us to go asleep, I could smell the same smell as you got off the seats in the church. I loved it. It was spicy and like the ground under a tree. I licked the desk but it tasted horrible.
Roddy Doyle, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

GPS waypoints in UTM

Thumrayt, Shell filling station on Muscat-Salalah highway
40 Q 184798 1950664
Elevation 556m

Turn west off highway to Shisr, on to dirt track
40 Q 183712 1986811
Elevation 357m

Water station
39 Q 784275 1998558
Elevation 345m

Farms off dirt track
39 Q 788646 2018233
Elevation 289m

Shisr (Ubar)
39 Q 780214 2020145
Elevation 289m

Pump
39 Q 777277 2021153
Elevation 285m

Wadi Ghadun. Cross it
39 Q 774916 2023003
Elevation 289m

T-junction. Left to Mitan. Turn right to Hashman
39 Q 754160 2024071
Elevation 298m

Wadi Malhayt. Cross it
39 Q 738073 2022881
Elevation 311m

Unmarked airstrip on the left
39 Q 720549 2038421
Elevation 307m

Hashman
39 Q 721545 2042291
Elevation 288m

To get to Mitan, leave the dirt road just after Hashman, and follow the tire tracks to the west
39 Q 713800 2043969
Elevation 295m

Small dunes
39 Q 709327 2045995
Elevation 288m

Tire route marker, dune
39 Q 702421 2049253
Elevation 291m

Tire route marker
39 Q 698861 2050667
Elevation 295m

Tire route marker
39 Q 696824 2052065
Elevation 301m

Outcrop
39 Q 693549 2053767
Elevation 303m

Gravel
39 Q 684998 2058577
Elevation 307m

Dunes
39 Q 672879 2058707
Elevation 313m

Mitan
39 Q 650804 2058656
Elevation 321m

WARNING
It is best to avoid roaming west and north of Mitan, because you might stray over the unmarked borders into either Yemen or Saudi Arabia. We got lost on our way from Hashman and accidentally crossed over into Yemen. I thought the tent in the distance belonged to Omani bedu, until we got closer and Yemeni soldiers clambered out in their underwear ¬ and Kalashnikovs.

Oman¬Yemen border post. Actual border unmarked. Avoid the area
39 Q 626291 2055682
Elevation 322m

Yemeni military tent, armed soldiers
39 Q 623866 2055020
Elevation 335m

Yemeni military tent, armed soldiers
39 Q 616560 2057308
Elevation 322m

Ariel on Mitan-Mazyona road
39 Q 662711 2018401
Elevation 430m

Wadi Shahan, road turns from dirt track to concrete
39 Q 670195 1977143
Elevation 494m

Mazyona
39 Q 674132 1973782
Elevation 497m

Wadi Ayyun
39 Q 714345 1982201
Elevation 400m

Qafa
39 Q 719210 1976718
Elevation 446m

Tudho
39 Q 727030 1962242
Elevation 482m

Wadi Gara
39 Q 752114 1938113
Elevation 501m

Wadi Aybut
39 Q 748048 1935198
Elevation 539m

Mudayy
39 Q 748945 1935204
Elevation 528m

Wadi Amad
39 Q 768221 1932251
Elevation 528m

Burj al Haluf, rock tower deep in wadi
39 Q 806755 1928267
Elevation 579m

Haluf Mislah
39 Q 814873 1921526
Elevation 636m

Checkpoint at Ayyun, road to Salalah
40 Q 181293 1911119
Elevation 825m

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