Today we did next to nothing. Had originally planned to go to ferrarai world, but upon investigation it was going to cost about £80, and only one of us was going to be able to do all the exciting rides, so we decided to chi lax all day. I did go for a decent run on the beach first thing(2which resulted in a blister - great) but otherwise we lay on various sun beds at the beach and various pools and read our books.
Later in the evening we checked out and packed our bags for the trip to muscat. The bill was taken care of in it's entirety which was nice - so far on this trip not spent a penny. We had yet Another limo to take us to the airport - this time a Bentley with some grunt under the bonnet. Fight was almost empty. Arrived after what seemed like 5 minutes in the air we arrived and were picked up with no dramas. For the money we are paying the guest house doesn't seem particularly lugubrious but hey ho.
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| Arriving in Muscat |
Day 4
The first day of our Oman tour! The owner of the tour company came to pick us up - presumably to suss out whether it was worth his while giving us the fat discount he had offered. We sped out through the suburbs of muscat in a rather cramped Nissan suv. The landscape consisted of stony desert with some high mountains and plains dotted with white fort-like garrison type structures - perhaps houses? High mountains gave way to plains which gave way to ravines and wadis (valleys), some lush and beautiful. It looked like tatuine, the sand planet from star wars. We stopped for petrol at Mos Eisley but thankfully avoided the dodgy bar. Amusing shop names seen today include "Gentlemens hairdresser shaving clipping styling" , "sale of general food stuffs". High Walls around the houses are not to keep people out, but to prevent them from seeing in. Our driver Salim works in an oilfield as an engineer. 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off. In Aberdeen they have the same shift pattern, which translates to 2 weeks drinking every month. Here Salim at least has a second job since he has a wife and 2 kids to support.
There are goats everywhere. They will eat pretty much anything- including plastic bags, cardboard boxes and land cruiser wheel arches.
First stop was a sinkhole - basically a big hole maybe 80m across and 20m deep with an enticing looking blue pool at the bottom. Some Arab boys hung out in one corner while a group of French tourists swam.
The temperature is pretty oppressive - quite humid too. After the sinkhole we sped off - next stop a Wadi (which means valley apparently) which is a verdant crack in an otherwise barren landscape. We turned off the coast road and headed inland up the valley. Palm trees galore, and we were basically driving up a dried river bed. Soon it became a wet river bed with all the greenery tha brings. we found Ourselves at the bottom of a giant canyon surrounded by swaying rushes, palm trees, giant boulders punctuating the flow of a haphazard stream. Higher up the edges if the valley White fortress like houses kept watch.
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| Spare a dirham? |
Next we stopped off a a Dhow workshop. Dhows R us. There was a fairly large dhow near completion and another whose keel had just been laid. We climbed all over it and took pictures while grumpy looking labourers using fairly primitive techniques worked various bits of wood.
Ras al Hadd was the name of the place. After a quick stop at a lighthouse, we headed off to our nights stop - a fairy contrived tourist camp on the shore of the Indian ocean. Unfortunately we shared this stretch of beach with an enormous swarm of jellyfish. They didn't sting but it still took the shine off the place.
After a buffet dinner (not very Oman style food I suspect) we all headed off to the turtle centre. There must have been close to 100 people and we marched off in the dark to the beach with a few head torches between us. Stumbling around in the dark on the beach we soon came acros an area full of large holes - as if someone had been throwing grenades around. The holes made us stumble even more. Then I noticed somebody was throwing sand at me - probably some small annoying child. Actually no, a green turtle busy burying her cache of eggs with her flippers just a metre or two away. We all admired this sight, then were immediately called off to watch as another turtle heaved her massive frame back into the sea. She got knocked about by a couple of big waves but soon disappeared into the surf. Then we were called over to inspect yet another turtle as she laid eggs into her egg chamber. Golf ball sized and soft, it was a weird sight to see these things plopping out 2 at a time complete with the requisite goo accompaniment. Then one of the guys produced some baby turtles who were busy flapping around trying to get to the sea.
After half an hour watching a single turtle throwing sand around the novelty had worn off and I set up the tripod and attempted to take pictures of the impending dawn. When I turned around I realised she had finished burying and was on her way back into the sea. The shot I had been waiting ages for was literally slipping away. Things then moved pretty quickly and as the half-light of dawn grew, we discovered baby turtles in various places - and after the sun rose, a patch of dead ones - decapitated, perhaps by foxes. They take 2-3 days to hatch, and mummy lays a batch on the same beach 2 or 3 times a year. On busy nights in the summer, 250 turtles can show up in one night.
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| A hatchling makes a break for freedom |
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| Dawn at the turtle beach |
Not so keen on the camp. It's a rather sterile contrived venue. At breakfast this morning we had cornflakes and saxophone moods sitting in an air conditioned room. Why come to Oman if that's what you want?
After a rejuvenating nap, we set off at 9 taking not the coastal road, but another road inland, heading back north past Sur. Wadi something or other was our next stop. After driving up another lush valley (respite from the rocky barren plains of the interior) the car parked up and we walked along an irrigation canal to a lovely spot by a deep pool. There was a rather crappy restaurant there which was to be our lunch spot, along with about 50 other tourists, some of whom are looking very familiar after having seen them at practically every stop en route. Exploring further up the valley we came to a lovely swimming spot. Aurora didn't want to since there was nowhere to change and there were large signs telling us to dress properly when swimming - ie women need to cover their whole body, which is a bit ridiculous.
After an unremarkable lunch we left the wadi, let the tyres down, and headed for the desert! our guide certainly enjoyed our little dune bashing stint. High revs and keeping your speed up seem to be the way to go. We have been dropped off at the desert camp while Salim goes to get the clutch looked at - it's been slipping all week...
We were then driven up to the top of a nearby dune to watch the sun set over the sea of sand. Took the opportunity to have a quickie - that's definitely one for the bucket list.
Supper was a rather uninspiring affair - again an air-conditioned box with pseudo western food, while there was a beautiful warn evening outside. I would love to say that we could see more stars in the sky than I had ever before, but it's not true.
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