Oh, man, Oman! What a wild, fun day we had here. It just amazes me how different the countries of the world are from each other. We sailed for two days from Mumbai and landed in a place so unlike India that it felt like we had gone to another planet.
We were booked on an 8-hour tour in 4-wheel drive vehicles that would take us to The Lost City of Ubar of Bedouin Legend. We went with our friends Austin, Brenna and Debra with our driver, Amir, who spoke two words of English, hotel and camel. The cars were brand new SUV’s and there were 20 vehicles going on the excursion so we had a convoy for the 3 hour drive to the archeological dig. There is a tremendous amount of wealth in Oman and it was very refreshing to finally get out of the poverty of Asia. Our drivers were all men wearing long dresses and turbans and speaking Arabic. The drive from the port to the excavation site was extremely interesting even though there wasn’t a lot to see. If there is a word that means cleaner than pristine, I would like to know what it is because that is the word I’d use for the landscape around us. The sand was white and the buildings were white with clean, square lines. There wasn’t a speck of garbage anywhere. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. We traveled through two types of deserts. The first had pyramid shaped hills and vegetation that reminded us of the desert of Arizona. This desert led to a mountain range that looked like a dried up Colorado Rockies. Then we came to the flat, white barren desert that felt just like the deserts of Nevada. (Does it sound like we’re getting a little homesick?) The difference was the herds of camels grazing on the sparse desert vegetation. There were hundreds of camels all over the place.
After a pit stop at a gas station and store that was exactly like a 7-11, our convoy split up into two 10-car groups. Our group went to the Lost City first. This is a place that was discovered by satellite just a few years ago, so the dig is relatively new. There wasn’t a lot to see but it was fascinating because it is thought to be a village dating back to the 11th century.
From there our real adventure began. We were on our way to the sand dunes. We got off the main road onto a gravel road and went for miles to a place called The Empty Quarter. This is a barren desert area in the center of Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It’s a series of small dunes of soft sand leading large dunes a few miles away. We all congregated at the edge of the dunes until the leader gave a signal and then all hell broke loose. It was a wild, bumpy, jerky ride over hills and valleys until all of a sudden the first car went down into a valley and stopped dead. As he tried to get out of the hole, his wheels spun and dug the car deeper and deeper into the sand. The cars behind him stopped to help and when they did so they lost their momentum and a few of them got stuck as well. We all jumped out to watch them try to free the cars and it was great fun until it looked like they weren’t going to be able to get out. They had a tow rope but that didn’t work; they just sank deeper into the sand. The temperature was 46 degrees centigrade which is about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and we were all standing outside with no protection from the sun. A lot of the people on the tour were upset and worried. After about ½ hour of unsuccessful attempts to free the cars, someone came with a metal grid to put under the tires and they were able to get the cars out, and with a sigh of relief we went on to the big dunes up ahead. Many of the people stayed in the air conditioned cars but the more adventurous ones got out and climbed all the way to the top. We were so curious to see what was on the other side. Of course it was just more dunes, but we had to see for ourselves, didn’t we? It was a whole lot easier going down than going up and we all piled back into the cars to go for our picnic lunch. At that point we realized that about half of the cars were again stuck in the sand. It was another half hour to 45 minutes before they could get unstuck. The Omani drivers took it all in stride; it seemed to all be part of the adventure.
On the way back to the ship I realized that I had not seen an Omani woman anywhere on the trip. I was anxious to see what the women wear. I watched closely all the way back to the ship and didn’t see a woman anywhere. Because we were on a tour that took us away from the city, we didn’t get into Salalah itself, but I was told that there were very few women in the city and the ones that were there were completely covered in burkas (sp?) with only their eyes showing. It was my first experience in a country that appears to be totally male dominated.
We’re sailing in the Red Sea today toward Egypt. More later!
We were booked on an 8-hour tour in 4-wheel drive vehicles that would take us to The Lost City of Ubar of Bedouin Legend. We went with our friends Austin, Brenna and Debra with our driver, Amir, who spoke two words of English, hotel and camel. The cars were brand new SUV’s and there were 20 vehicles going on the excursion so we had a convoy for the 3 hour drive to the archeological dig. There is a tremendous amount of wealth in Oman and it was very refreshing to finally get out of the poverty of Asia. Our drivers were all men wearing long dresses and turbans and speaking Arabic. The drive from the port to the excavation site was extremely interesting even though there wasn’t a lot to see. If there is a word that means cleaner than pristine, I would like to know what it is because that is the word I’d use for the landscape around us. The sand was white and the buildings were white with clean, square lines. There wasn’t a speck of garbage anywhere. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. We traveled through two types of deserts. The first had pyramid shaped hills and vegetation that reminded us of the desert of Arizona. This desert led to a mountain range that looked like a dried up Colorado Rockies. Then we came to the flat, white barren desert that felt just like the deserts of Nevada. (Does it sound like we’re getting a little homesick?) The difference was the herds of camels grazing on the sparse desert vegetation. There were hundreds of camels all over the place.
After a pit stop at a gas station and store that was exactly like a 7-11, our convoy split up into two 10-car groups. Our group went to the Lost City first. This is a place that was discovered by satellite just a few years ago, so the dig is relatively new. There wasn’t a lot to see but it was fascinating because it is thought to be a village dating back to the 11th century.
From there our real adventure began. We were on our way to the sand dunes. We got off the main road onto a gravel road and went for miles to a place called The Empty Quarter. This is a barren desert area in the center of Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It’s a series of small dunes of soft sand leading large dunes a few miles away. We all congregated at the edge of the dunes until the leader gave a signal and then all hell broke loose. It was a wild, bumpy, jerky ride over hills and valleys until all of a sudden the first car went down into a valley and stopped dead. As he tried to get out of the hole, his wheels spun and dug the car deeper and deeper into the sand. The cars behind him stopped to help and when they did so they lost their momentum and a few of them got stuck as well. We all jumped out to watch them try to free the cars and it was great fun until it looked like they weren’t going to be able to get out. They had a tow rope but that didn’t work; they just sank deeper into the sand. The temperature was 46 degrees centigrade which is about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and we were all standing outside with no protection from the sun. A lot of the people on the tour were upset and worried. After about ½ hour of unsuccessful attempts to free the cars, someone came with a metal grid to put under the tires and they were able to get the cars out, and with a sigh of relief we went on to the big dunes up ahead. Many of the people stayed in the air conditioned cars but the more adventurous ones got out and climbed all the way to the top. We were so curious to see what was on the other side. Of course it was just more dunes, but we had to see for ourselves, didn’t we? It was a whole lot easier going down than going up and we all piled back into the cars to go for our picnic lunch. At that point we realized that about half of the cars were again stuck in the sand. It was another half hour to 45 minutes before they could get unstuck. The Omani drivers took it all in stride; it seemed to all be part of the adventure.
On the way back to the ship I realized that I had not seen an Omani woman anywhere on the trip. I was anxious to see what the women wear. I watched closely all the way back to the ship and didn’t see a woman anywhere. Because we were on a tour that took us away from the city, we didn’t get into Salalah itself, but I was told that there were very few women in the city and the ones that were there were completely covered in burkas (sp?) with only their eyes showing. It was my first experience in a country that appears to be totally male dominated.
We’re sailing in the Red Sea today toward Egypt. More later!
1 comment:
Hi Guys,
Wow, what an adventure. I don't know if I would be brave enough to visit some of the places that you have been to but I sure like reading about them! Pat and I went on a 5 day cruise a few weeks ago for her birthday. It was our first cabin with a balcony and i'm afraid we have been spoiled. We really enjoyed it. Today we are getting ready to have our parents over for an Easter dinner. Its spring but we are still getting snow. About 4 inches on Friday, 1 inch planned for today and another 2 - 4 planned for tomorrow. We are ready for warmer weather. Tomorrow Pat leaves for Las Vegas and I will join her on Thursday for a long weekend. Even though we just got back from a vacation we are already ready for another one. Hey Ed, I love the hat you were wearing in India. It actually hides part of your forehead. I sold the house and closed on it about 3 weeks ago. Everything went well. Thanks for the card. It was a nice surprise. Suzanne, you have been doing such a great job writing about your adventures. You could probably get paid to write more in the future. Hope you both have a nice Easter. Larry and Pat
Post a Comment