Salaam,
Well, Ramadan officially ended last week on Oct. 1 which meant that it was Eid al Fitr- the celebration of ramadan ending . Although we didn't fast, unless I forgot my lunch, Sara, Lydia, Jenelle and I decided to celebrate by taking a road trip and eating and drinking as much in public as possible; driving 3,000 km in 5 days (don't worry, it only cost about 40 rials- 100 dollars, for the whole trip in gas for Taj, my car).
Oct. 1 - 'That has to be water.' The mirage tricked me as I was trying to save face.
We met around 8 in the morning last Wednesday to leave on our adventure. The plan was to drive down the coast and return through the interior of Oman which is pure desert (but let's face it, the entire country is desert except Salalah). In a typical Manker and road trip fashion we didn't actually get on our way until 9 o'clock. But, we had to make sure we were prepared for everything. Sara was amazing, she packed the food and enough cooking supplies with gas and all to feed us in case we got stuck in the desert for a couple of months. I got 5 containers of water which usually will last me a couple of weeks in my apartment, and we packed up my Sportage and Jenelle's Prado. With our maps, guides, sleeping bags and Wadi mats we headed Southwest, then Southeast, then just straight South to the beaches.
Although it may sound boring to drive from 9 to 4 through desert, it was actually exciting. The mirages were the most impressive thing to me. The looked exactly like ponds or lakes. I can't imagine how horrible they would be to someone in need of water! They were so convincing I actually told myself they had to actually be water so I wouldn't feel so foolish when I found out that they weren't really mirages. But, they were, everytime!
The desert was also incredibly diverse. We gazed at classic light tan dunes intertwined with dark cliffs; strange palm tree forests; rocky terrain with small shrubs and bushes, only one green wadi which was overflowing with grass and trees and donkeys. The gazed at all these novel wonders at 120 km/hour and only taking pictures from the car; we were pressed for time to find a campsite hours away and we didn't know what we were looking for.Jenelle and Sara were in the lead car and around 4 in the afternoon after the ocean came and 
vanished a few times from the horizon, we decided we needed to set up camp before it got too dark, so Jenelle took a left on the highway onto... more desert. We put the cars in 4WD and headed South to where we knew the ocean had to be. After 10-15 minutes of bouncing around on sandy paths, we finally came face to face with the ocean and parked and got out to meander around the beach. We looked around campsite and were pleasantly surprised that we were the only ones in sight. We couldn't see any people, roads, buildings, or sign of human existence aside from the trash on the beach. The waves were the largest I've seen in Oman, but after exploring the dead turtle and some small whale bones, we needed to set up camp and have dinner before dark, which happens at 6:30. So, that is how we found our campsite, by taking a left off the road. Oman is basically one big campsite which makes it pretty spectacular. The stars were incredible and I saw 4 of them shoot.
vanished a few times from the horizon, we decided we needed to set up camp before it got too dark, so Jenelle took a left on the highway onto... more desert. We put the cars in 4WD and headed South to where we knew the ocean had to be. After 10-15 minutes of bouncing around on sandy paths, we finally came face to face with the ocean and parked and got out to meander around the beach. We looked around campsite and were pleasantly surprised that we were the only ones in sight. We couldn't see any people, roads, buildings, or sign of human existence aside from the trash on the beach. The waves were the largest I've seen in Oman, but after exploring the dead turtle and some small whale bones, we needed to set up camp and have dinner before dark, which happens at 6:30. So, that is how we found our campsite, by taking a left off the road. Oman is basically one big campsite which makes it pretty spectacular. The stars were incredible and I saw 4 of them shoot.Oct. 2 - A message of peace and an offer of friendship from the middle east to the 25 year old American in shorts and a Cubs hat.
-Or, adventures with Ahmed in Wadi Uyun - ("Did you see a baby camel?")
We awoke in a thick fog and a cold we've never felt in Oman, it got down to 70 F. We were wet and sandy, but happy to be on our adventure. After a walk on the beach and a quick breakfast, we hit the desert, and eventually the road again to our next destination which was Wadi Uyun, a small wadi we found in our guide book. On our way there we crossed a few oil fields, had some camels cross our path, had lunch bought for us at a gas station (we still aren't 100% why) and Sara and I picked up a hitchhiker! I think his name was Mahmud. He was in Oman looking for work in construction to send money home to his family in Pishwar, Pakistan. He was very kind and we got to talking. Eventually the conversation led us to the Taliban. He was very quick to denounce the Taliban saying, "We think they are horrible. They have done horrible things to us. I don't know where they get their ideas, Islam is a peaceful religion". We've found this to be a very common sentiment in this part of the world so far. It was pretty neat to have my first hitchhiker be a Pakistani in Oman!
We left Mahmud in Thumrait, a small town north of Salalah, and continued on to see the frankinsence trees and a few kms later, the world around us suddenly transformed to a fading green. Grass appeared everywhere in the Dhofar mountains and we were amazed! Althought the green season is ending for Salalah, it was the greenest plantlife in abundance we've seen in a long while. We headed back north and out of the mountains to get to Wadi Uyun, and as soon as the grass appeared, it left us. And finally, after another long day of driving, we stumbled on a huge herd of camel and took our fair share of pictures, then found the town of Ayoon, which was a couple hundred meters about the Wadi. As we entered the village, we were malled by little kids who were opening our doors and grabbing at everything in the cars. We left the town as fast as possible and found a gorge to go down, and after taking a wrong turn and putting Taj to the test, Jenelle took over the lead and found a great campsite! To my defense, nothing is labeled in Oman and I wasn't navigating, only doing a superb job driving! We decided to take a look around and cook in the dark to make better use of our daylight. So, Sara, Lydia, and I walked down into another gorge and discovered the mineral rich dry river bed where all the boulders were a chalk-white. I felt like we were in a fairy tale and we were in the land of giant eggs. I started envisioning giant creatures that were waiting to be born from the eggs. But, alas, no monsters of any kind. However, there were some giant bees!
After crawling around a while, we headed back to camp and set up dinner and our camp at dark.
We played some cards and had wine before getting to bed around 9 (a late night for us on this trip). As we were settling down to rest our heads on our pillows and our hips on cushioned rocks we were surprised to find a young man walking around. He called to us from the dark, "Did you see a baby camel?" He didn't seem to speak much more english, but we said no and he walked away. About 15 minutes later as sleep was about to overtake me he returned and asked if he could have a ride home since it was 5 km away. I excitedly agreed knowing he would most likely invite me in for tea and I could get a peek into Omani life. Just that happened. His name was Ahmed, he was 20 and studied in Dubai for a couple of years at a university but decided he liked the simple life more than the city and is now herding camels and goats on his father's land, which is where we were camping. He invited a couple of friends into the entertaining room where I was 
eating a juicy pear, having a dark rosey tea, and enjoying the dense frankincense air. One friend spoke a lot of English. I stayed until 10:45 pm when the conversation began to extinguish and I no longer found it a novelty to have women trying to look in through the cracked door to see what I was like. Ahmed agreed to meet us at 6 in the morning to show us a pool for swimming. As they walked me out the one who spoke English said, "British, American, Australian, Omani, Saudi, or Afgan; it doesn't matter, we are all friends". I jumped inTaj looking forward to meeting up with Ahmed the following morning.
We played some cards and had wine before getting to bed around 9 (a late night for us on this trip). As we were settling down to rest our heads on our pillows and our hips on cushioned rocks we were surprised to find a young man walking around. He called to us from the dark, "Did you see a baby camel?" He didn't seem to speak much more english, but we said no and he walked away. About 15 minutes later as sleep was about to overtake me he returned and asked if he could have a ride home since it was 5 km away. I excitedly agreed knowing he would most likely invite me in for tea and I could get a peek into Omani life. Just that happened. His name was Ahmed, he was 20 and studied in Dubai for a couple of years at a university but decided he liked the simple life more than the city and is now herding camels and goats on his father's land, which is where we were camping. He invited a couple of friends into the entertaining room where I was 
eating a juicy pear, having a dark rosey tea, and enjoying the dense frankincense air. One friend spoke a lot of English. I stayed until 10:45 pm when the conversation began to extinguish and I no longer found it a novelty to have women trying to look in through the cracked door to see what I was like. Ahmed agreed to meet us at 6 in the morning to show us a pool for swimming. As they walked me out the one who spoke English said, "British, American, Australian, Omani, Saudi, or Afgan; it doesn't matter, we are all friends". I jumped inTaj looking forward to meeting up with Ahmed the following morning.The rest of the continueing saga of our trip to Salalah will continue in my next post, tomorrow! Here is a post of the upcoming adventures: "That's no mirage...", "Maybe we should ask the... waiter?" and a so far untitled adventure of sleeping in the desert in a sand storm! Wow!
1 comment:
Zach, I can't even begin to explain how wonderful it all sounds, I like the way you write about it. Ben and I truly wish we could do it all with you. Hopefully when Archie is a little older we'll come visit! Love you mucho!
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