Wadi Darbat lies in the hills behind Salalah, in Dhofar, the southern province of Oman, and it is one of those places that does not seem to belong to Arabia. For three months in summer, from roughly late June to September, the khareef, the south-west monsoon, wraps the coastal mountains in mist and drizzle, and the slopes turn from brown to green. The wadi fills with water, a lake forms, a waterfall tumbles over a limestone cliff, and the grass is thick enough for cattle and camels to graze in the cool damp.
The khareef is the great event of the Omani year, and visitors from across the Gulf drive here to enjoy the weather, so during the season the road to Darbat is busy with cars, picnickers and the occasional camel on the tarmac. The rest of the year the place is quieter, drier and hotter, and the waterfall may shrink to a trickle or vanish. The limestone terrain also holds sinkholes, caves and travertine pools. If you ride here outside the monsoon, you will see a different, starker country.
The roads from Salalah, about thirty-eight kilometres to the south-west, are good and well maintained, and climb through the hills in broad curves. In the khareef, fog can reduce visibility to a few metres, and the tarmac is slippery, so slow down and use your lights. Camels wander across the road with total confidence, and a collision would be a disaster for both of you, so give them time. The best months for riding are October to March, when the air is clear and warm, and the temperatures are comfortable.
Salalah has everything you need in the way of fuel, food and hotels, and there are small cafes and fruit stalls near the wadi in season. Dhofar is also the home of frankincense, the resin of the Boswellia tree, which grows in the dry hills behind the coast and has been traded for thousands of years. Take a moment to smell the burning resin in a market, and you will understand why it was worth more than gold.