Eid Trip to Salalah! part deux

Oct. 3 - "That's no mirage...", "Maybe we should ask... the waiter?"

Sleeping in the desert is incredible, the stars are clear and bright and there are more than I can remember seeing except in a planetarium. Waking up is easy and nice also. The temperature is pleasant and the sky is a light blue and the sun still isn't blinding until about 7:30. We woke up to the sound of footprints which belonged to Ahmed carrying some sweet bread and a pan of jelly-like brown stuff called haloye, or something like that. It was 6 in the am and we were getting ready for our hike. After a quick breakfast and hearing stories from Ahmed about the leopard that lives in the canyon and how there used to be more but people shot most of them in the 60s to the 80s, we set off on our hike which was very short but very steep. We went down a few cliffs then climbed a small hill, then down another few cliffs to the wadi which looked refreshing and deep. The guide book describes the pool as 'difficult to reach and one must have a comfort with height and cliffs to swim" They were right on. We had to scale down a cliff to get to a flat spot. On the way down, Lydia didn't want her backpack on because it was somewhat heavy, so she threw it down to me, but we didn't communicate very well and it hit a part of the cliff which jetted out and flew right over my hands and into the water! I yelled, "Oh no!", we started laughing and I ran to a cave to get changed so I could jump in after it, however as I turned my back Lydia basically jumped down two steep cliffs and jumped into the pond to rescue her soaking bag, towel, book, and a few other items! Luckily, there was nothing incredibly important in there.

I decided to only wear my drag suit to try to make the girls feel more comfortable being in their bathing suits around an omani man, but as it turned out, they all had their suits on under some special fabric clothing to swim in, so I just looked like a jack-ass! I can't help but think that Ahmed thought I was swimming in my white Wabash Wally underwear and that I was an idiot! But, we swam around, jumped off the cliffs and helped each other out of the water. Aside from being a fun experience, it was a great bath for all of us!

We hiked back up to our campsite and Ahmed and I exchanged numbers and promised to call each other if we were in the same region again. I was again elated that the talks from the night before were more than just mere words and we were actually interested in establishing a connection and friendship across religions, cultures, languages, and perceptions.

We left Wadi Uyun, Ahmed, and his lost baby camel around 9:00 am and headed to a garden on the east side of Salalah.

Although this was a short route, it took a while because every few kilometers there was a camel crossing. It was still so funny to see how they just keep walking out into the road even if a car is coming. They are so non-chalant in their gate and their head movements that they seem to have an air of arrogance about them. And the way they are treated and protected by the Omanis, they deserve to have that attitude. Coming around a corner I almost hit one, it didn't even seem to flinch, a car coming at it at 80 kms/hour was just an annoyance if even that. The rest of the herd crossed the road seperating our two cars. After a few camel crossings there was a cattle crossing. And of course, because everything happens in threes, there was eventually a donkey crossing also! Later in the day when we arrived at our next campsite we would get a goat crossing as well, we were excited about every single stupid crossing too.

The gardens were nice, but not much to write home about. The best thing was that it was green, we had some time to just relax and not be in the car and there were a lot of people on holiday. Next, we drove through the actually city of Salalah, but it was Friday so everything was closed and we just got some ice cream at a gas station, then moved on to the west side of Salalah to see the blow holes. This was a beautiful spot, but we didn't actually get to see any action until the next morning.

So, we went on to the drive the "steps" carved into a mountain. This road was constructed to make it "easier" for motorists to get from Yemen to Salalah and the rest of Oman. It was very exciting, we climbed 1,000 meters in just 8 turns. The road was steep and the turns were nearly 180 degrees. Once we were to the top, we looked down the carved out mountain and the road we just drove up and thank goodness we didn't have vertigo! I wasn't exactly sure why the mountain just just collapse because of how steep it was.

We drove on, now feeling pressure to get to our next destination before night fell. Once again, we weren't exactly sure where we were going to stay, but the guide book gave us a few suggestions on a nice beach or mountain top. We got to an army checkpoint, then continued on towards Yemen, then took a sharp turn southeast and headed to the ocean once again. We snaked with the road along the ridges of green mountains and through little towns with vacant hair-stylists shops, coffee-shops, and other buildings. With each town we couldn't tell if it was abondoned or still in use. We figured they were all still occasionally in use.

We passed a lot of cattle and camels on the roads, but eventually arrived to a small town on the beach surrounded by steep cliffs. It was a beautiful spot to camp and once we decided on the most private part of the small beach we went for a swim and body surfed then headed into town to get dinner. We had read in the guide book that we needed to get permission from the town leader to camp on the beach. It was already dark and we were starving, so we just decided that maybe we could ask our waiter if we would be allowed to sleep on the beach. He and the locals at the restaurant all agreed that that would be fine. We weren't sure if that counted as permission, but we thought it was at least in our favor if there was any trouble. The restuarant was cheap and the meat shawarma had a mystery meat. All we decided was that it was not beef, chicken, lamb, and obviously not pork. We figured it was goat, but didn't ask, and eventually didn't care. After dinner, we crashed on the beach. I should note here that we never used a tent on this trip, we just set down our Wadi mat and sleeping bags and that was our mini home for the night! I absolutely loved the simplicity of the camping. However, the last night we probably should have set up the tent... I'll explain later.

Oct. 4 - Holding on to that green grass and a desert storm

We woke up Saturday and the tide was pretty high, so we packed up and had a small breakfast and headed out of town back to Salalah. We we determined to see the blowholes at high tide. We drove back throught the green mountains, passed the army checkpoint and back down the steps to the blowholes. We arrived thinking they still weren't happening, but as we got closer, we heard the air being forced through the holes and then one of the holes spouted up a steady stream of water and mist, as well as a crab! The pressure of the air through the holes was powerful, and the sound shook our core. We watched a few spouts, then once mroe people started arriving, we left to visit the Salalah souk.


At the souk we bought some frankincense and some burners, then went to a juice shop and decided what we wanted to do the rest of the day and the final leg of our trip. This was where we had too many people with too many different ideas. But, we finally decided on a nice plan. Get pita bread, and find a nice tree on top of a mountain overlooking the green hills and have a picnic and rest for a few hours before starting our 1,000 km drive through the interior. We looked all over for pita bread and hommos, and finally got some after visiting about 5 different stores, then we headed out of town and found a beautiful tree which provided us with shade and friendly ants. We had our picnic and afterward, without saying a word, we all just put our heads on the wadi mat and rested, takin in all the browning green for the last hour.

At last, we decided to pack up and start our adventure in the desert. Again, we weren't sure where we were going to sleep at night, but our plan was to drive about 250-300 kms then pull off and camp in the desert. After about 3 hours of driving we pulled off and drove about 1km into the desert until we found a random spot. The sun was setting and was amazing in the desert. As soon as we stopped, we all went to use the bathroom (an odd thing in the desert because everything is absolutly open to prying eyes, but there isn't anyone around to pry). I decided to take a mini hike behind a hill close by and when I could no longer see the cars or my companions I took in the surrounding landscape. I was absolutely alone and there was absoulety nothing around me. It was a strange feeling to think that if I kept walking I could possibly never see anyone for days and never cross any roads or living plant life. I wondered what my mind would do if I was in this place, this natural, inescapable maze for days without seeing anyone. Would I go crazy, would I find inner peace? I thought of the aborigenes in Australia and I wondered what a walk-about in Oman would be like. The thought of that extremem exploration of this land, my mind, and of my soul was tempting. I felt that I could leave everything behind and walk into the desert with nothing and be completely content.

But, alas, I took another step toward that adventure and then thought that I was just high on the novelty of being in an immense desert for the first time and it might get boring after a while... Alright, I just chickened out because of my responsibilities and my curiosity of where my life is going, so I headed back to camp. But, it would have been fun, right?

As it turned out, camping in the desert requires a tent; which we had but didn't use because it was great weather when we put our heads to rest. As it turned out we had a great adventure that night just laying there. It was hot, so we all slept on top of our sleeping bags and due to our exhaustion, we went to bed around 7:30 or 8. Around 8:45, our young sleep was rudely interrupted by a constant pecking all over our bodies by something I couldn't figure out. We all woke up and realized we were in a sand storm. The wind was blowing dust and sand and forced us into our sleeping bags. As soon as I put my body in my sleeping bag and covered my head to protect myself from the penetrating sands, I began sweating all over! So, now and for the second time on this trip, I was sandy and soaked with sweat in my sleeping bag! I'm not sure when, but eventually the storm stopped, and I was able to breath a bit, then another came in the night and I woke up to slink back into my sleeping bag like a turtle into its shell.

Oct. 5 Dune running? Why not! We already are covered in a layer of sand!

The next time we woke up it was a peaceful, calm, foggy morning. We were surprised by the fog, but accepted it as weather from ocean. As we drove the rest of the day (another 7-8 hours) we shedded dust and sand from all parts of our bodies. Our heads were especially, well, let's face it, disgusting! Salt and sand in our hair, and every centimeter of skin!

We didn't let that get us down and as we made our way back at 130 to 140 km/hour we stopped at a massive sand dune to hike around and then for lunch shortly after that, and finally we got back to Muscat sandy, tired, but accomplished. The total driving time to cross the interior desert was only about 11 hours.

So, it was a great trip, one that I would do again in August when there is more green. Anyone want to come!?