the globe says
Oman
Fly via Doha, Dubai, or Muscat. Rent a car — Oman is the easiest self-drive in the Arab world.
A guesthouse in town, or camp legally on almost any beach or wadi.
The monsoon turns Arabia green: waterfalls in the desert, frankincense trees whose resin built ancient economies, blowholes, and the ruins of the port that shipped it all.
Buy frankincense at Al Husn souq from the Dhofari women who grade it by eye, then drive into the fog-soaked jebel.
July to September for the khareef
Marhaba — welcome; Omanis mean it more than most.
Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger — the Empty Quarter crossings began near here.
The lost city of Ubar at Shisr, and the Empty Quarter's edge dunes beyond.
Khareef season books out with Gulf tourists — reserve ahead or come in October for green hills without crowds.