Coordinate: 24 37′ 52.3″ N 51 21′ 23 E
Inland Sea, Qatar (Khor Al Adaid) adalah salah satu tujuan utama tempat off-roading di Qatar. Berjarak paling tidak 26 km dari Sealine Beach Resort, dengan waktu tempuh antara 30-50 menit, Inland Sea hanya bisa ditempuh dengan kendaraan 4WD. Jalan yang dilalui bervariasi, mulai dari tanah keras yang rata, gunungan pasir halus, tanah lembek bergaram, hingga tanah keras bersisik. Ada baiknya Anda pergi ke sana bersama seseorang yang sudah mengetahui daerahnya sehingga bisa memimpin melalui jalan yang benar, dan mengerti bagaimana mengeluarkan mobil dari jebakan pasir, jika terjadi. Meskipun, jika kendaraan kita terjebak (kepater, istilahIndonesia kami di sini) orang-orang yang lewat pasti dengan senang hati akan membantu dan tidak akan berhenti sampai mobil berhasil dikeluarkan.
Berikut keterangan dari Wikipedia mengenai Inland Sea:
The Khor Al-Adaid area, also known regionally as the ‘Inland Sea’, is located in the south-east of the State of Qatar. The area presents a remarkable landscape formed by a globally unique combination of geological and geomorphological features. These features themselves create a diverse scenery of exceptional, undeveloped natural beauty, in what remains predominantly a ‘wilderness area’. Each landscape unit on its own, notably the Persian Gulf, large mobile dunes, the tidal embayment system, inland and coastal sabkha, recently discovered “salt hummocks”, stony deserts, elevated mesas and rocky outcrops, as well as the transition between each of them, contribute to the unique character of Qatar’s southern territory.
This intrinsic attractiveness, of a largely uninhabited area, is added to by the presence of a diverse native terrestrial flora and fauna alongside a varied and sensitive marine ecosystem. The flora present in the area is typical of those habitats represented and supports species and communities mostly widespread on the Arabian Peninsula, yet not occurring in the same combination in any other single locality. The fauna includes several species which are internationally rare and/or threatened, for example Dugong and Turtles, with populations of certain species of bird being of national and regional importance, e.g. long-distance migrant waterfowl winter, and regionally declining breeding species also resident, including Ospreys nesting on islets. Terrestrial areas continue to support Arabian Gazelles, while there are plans to reintroduce Arabian Oryx within the hinterland of Khor al-Adaid.
The Inland Sea is a large tidal embayment with a convoluted shoreline, about 15 kilometres from north to south and up to 12 kilometres from east to west. It is connected to the Persian Gulf by a relatively narrow, deep channel, about 10 kilometres in length. There is no comparable lagoonal system of this type known elsewhere in the world. The diverse water quality and bottom substrates create an exceptional variety of aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats of considerable importance for some endangered marine species, particularly turtles and dugongs. Furthermore there are several valuable archaeological sites and a diversity of cultural heritage sites to be found in the area. The rocky desert of the Al-Adaid area clearly supported bedouins and their grazing stock. Pre-historical use of the small islands in the khor has also been revealed. Traditional farming and fishing settlements existed in the area, but this lifestyle is now virtually lost. Some grazing of camels still continues.
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And these are pictures while we were there on 6 March 2009 along with other Indonesian folks.