Wadi Bani Khalid, Oman: This real-life oasis is no mirage

Whenever the word "oasis" pops up in a non-rock, non-Gallagher brothers context what comes to mind is the classic man-dying-in-desert cartoons. You know the thing; bearded chummy is on all fours in the sand, obviously distraught and hideously thirsty, when he comes upon a freshwater pool replete with shady palm trees.

Of course, it's either a mirage or there's a sign saying something like "oasis closed for private event".

So when the chance comes to visit a real live oasis in Oman you can imagine that the old imagination is working overtime. What to wear? Does one shave, or not?

Wadi Bani Khalid is about 200 kilometres from Muscat, the country's shining seaside capital, and is an oasis that never dries up, fed as it is throughout the year via an underground stream in the foothills of the Hajar Mountains.

We drive there mostly on Oman's system of amazingly smooth, modern highways but then turn off onto smaller roads to reach the wadi. It's a journey through a parched landscape – it's the Middle East, after all - especially the final few kilometres when wide panoramas turn to more rugged, crumpled terrain. It seems counter-intuitive that there could be anything out here other than a desperate-looking puddle.

And yet when we turn up at the wadi there's water all over the road, where we park alongside a dozen or so other frighteningly clean white Toyota Land Cruisers (which seem to be the vehicle of choice in Oman).

The wadi itself is a five-minute walk away along the narrow edging of a flowing irrigation channel and appears, and I can't believe I'm writing this, like a mirage in the desert. Suddenly there is a large natural pool in front of us, surrounded by palm trees and looking as if it's just dropped out of the sky.

There's a bridge across the water further up which leads to a small café (coffee, soft drinks, some perfunctory food so you're better off bringing a picnic) and signs pointing out that this is a conservative country where skimpy bikinis are most definitely frowned upon. It's a polite warning that everyone here has taken heed of, most women (and some men) taking to the pool in shorts and T-shirts.