Ghost-Free Hotel, Late-Night Lulu Adventures and a Heartbroken Aussie: Khasab Unfiltered

I had a gut feeling something was going to go wrong, but there was no way I’d driven all this way to leave without doing it. Time for a new plan. We asked if we could stay overnight at a hotel and come back the next morning. They nodded enthusiastically, "100%. Come in the morning—you’ll definitely be able to."

And just like that, a new side quest was unlocked.

We drove up to our hotel, just five minutes away. Khasab was stunning, both morning and night. The towering peaks of the Western Hajar Range surrounded the town, giving it this surreal, almost movie green-screen vibe—except, of course, it was all real. Our hotel was a small, cozy building tucked away on the side of the road. The receptionist, a sweet middle-aged woman, greeted us warmly. Naturally, I asked her with the most pressing question on my mind: "Are there ghosts here?" She laughed and assured me there weren’t. Good enough for me. Back in the room, we chilled, waiting for the night to pass. At one point, I turned to my cousin and said, "You know we’re literally just vibing in the most random corner of the world, right?"

After a much-needed nap, we headed out to find a restaurant for dinner. Even in the dark, the mountains loomed around us, like silent beings towering over the town—not with an ominous presence, but with a strange, calming peace. The town of Khasab was eerily quiet, almost like it had tucked itself into bed early. During dinner, I ordered an Apple, Lime, and Ginger smoothie. My cousin, ever curious, took a sip and immediately pulled a face like a baby tasting lime for the first time. I couldn’t stop laughing. The waiter, who had been speaking to us in English, was friendly and attentive. On a whim, we asked, "Do you speak Urdu?" since his English was out of practice. He nodded with a smile and told us he spoke multiple languages, effortlessly switching to Urdu for the rest of our chat.

We made our way to a couple of grocery stores because, apparently, it was absolutely mandatory for my cousin to buy body wash. I was like, “Bro, just use soap.” But nope—had to be 'Dove nourishing body wash'. So there we were, wandering around in the dark, when I suggested we check out the Lulu Supermarket nearby since he could not find it. Thinking we’d be in and out in ten minutes, we somehow ended up staying for nearly an hour. Turns out, even on a random night in Khasab, a trip to Lulu can become an adventure of its own.

We began debating toothbrushes, then wandering through the kids' toy section. Kicking a football around until security politely told us to stop. Then there was the chocolate and drinks aisle—how could we resist? Bounty Wafer Rolls and Coconut Galaxy are just too cool not to grab. As my cousin deliberated over snacks, his basket mysteriously filled with treats. Among them: a random pot of noodles. I jokingly suggested he could make it in the hotel room using the kettle if he got hungry. Naturally, he took it literally. (Spoiler alert: he never ate them.) We kept exploring, discovering unique Omani products like a washing-up liquid called Downy and a “bucketless mop.” Passing by a stack of buckets that Asians often use for bathing, my cousin stopped in his tracks. "Oh my God. I haven’t used one of these in years!" he exclaimed.
I casually replied, "I still use one. Honestly, I prefer the bucket over the showerhead." He laughed for a solid two minutes before declaring, "You’re weird, Honeycomb Singh".
Before heading out, he grabbed two bottles of Wild Herb Nando’s sauce to take back to London. As we reached the checkout, I turned to him and said, "Do you realise our parents have no idea where we are?"
And there we were, standing in the checkout line of a supermarket in the middle of a mountain range in the Middle East, laughing at the randomness of it all.

The next morning, we woke up and headed down to breakfast—a small, cozy room with yet another incredible view of the mountain range. Over coffee and scrambled eggs, we struck up a conversation with an Australian trio. Naturally, we exchanged our plans for the day. Then, out of nowhere, one of them dropped this bombshell: “I moved to Abu Dhabi with my girlfriend, but she left me.” A bit heavy for first thing in the morning—especially after no sleep because 2 metres away from our room's window were around a million birds chirping all night long—but hey, props to him for confidently sharing his life story with two complete strangers. Trying to lighten the mood, I suggested he try the zipline. “The adrenaline will lift your spirit,” I said, barely holding back a grin. (Pun absolutely intended.)

We headed back to our room after taking in the mountainous view again, packed up our things, and checked out. Just as we were about to leave, we received a message from Oman Adventures: The zipline was ready. The moment we’d been waiting for was finally here, and we were about to make it happen.