Day Two

After a reasonably unattractive breakfast of greasy omelet, flowery bread and condensed milk in our coffee, yuck!, we checked out of the hotel and jumped into a 4wd with our driver Sulaiman.

We drove towards Sinaw to visit the souqs but decided to turn back as it was the first day of Eid and likely to be closed. Instead we continued on to the next stop on our journey which was Ibra.

To Ibra - gateway to the Sharqiya Region. Many watchtowers on the surrounding hills pay silent tribute to its past strategic importance. Remains of grand fortified houses and forts abound. A testimony to its past close trading links with East Africa are the falaj system, financed by influential merchants residing in Zanzibar, and their fine houses built on returning to their hometown.

On the way we passed the city of Fanja where we could pick out old irrigation systems that had been set into the waddi. Oman is very mountainous and there is a lot of rainfall. During the rainy months of December and January the valley fills with water. The Omani's have set up intricate water ways to capture all this water flowing down from the mountains and direct it into their homes, water ways and gardens.

As we continued to drive we witnessed the magnificent sight of the mountains turning into the dessert. We stopped at the village of Al-Mdayib which was fascinating. An ancient old city that was now mainly ruins but upon which a new city had been built. We met a group of young boys all dressed up for the holy celebration of Eid who were having a great time lighting small fireworks and running away from them as they erupted. They threw a couple into an old tower and then proceeded to take us up to it and after clambering over walls on planks they laid against them we made it to the entrance of the tower. Absolutely pitch black and the stairs were kinda squiggly which was a little unnerving. I had about 5 young kids behind me in the dark so I had to keep going up though it was pretty scary and I wasn’t really sure why I was doing it! Trying not to touch the walls I made my way out into the day light and saw the view of the entire city and then the dessert and the mountains stretching out on either side, with date plantations running through it. On the way back down the tower stairs I was taking photos with the flash to try and put some light on the steps, at one stage I took a picture and there was a bloody bat in the frame flying straight towards me! I got out of there pretty fast! When we came out of the tower we went into an old room and there were more bats, dead and alive all over the place, so grody.

Back in the car and we stopped off at Al Qabil for a lunch of traditional stewed meat and Biryani rice. Then we dove to the Wadi Bani Khaled, one of the largest wadis in Oman. Nestled deep in the mountains, it is a true oasis. Water cascades down the gorge forming cool blue-green pools, fed by underground streams flowing from within the surrounding limestone hills. Perennial flowing streams of spring water carried in aflaj (man-made channels) cling precariously to the rugged terrain and supports villages in the area.

Along the way there was a group of Omani’s slaughtering a goat on the side of the road, apparently they bring it down to the wadi to wash it. Don’t know how effective that is as it then sits out in the sun with flies all over it while they wash the bloody pieces. Gross! The wadi was packed, again as it was the first day of Eid, a massive holiday in the Muslim religion. People everywhere picnicking, swimming, rock jumping and walking up the gorge to see the caves. We did a bit of a climb up one side of the gorge to check out the view.

We passed Al Kamil heading towards the coast and stopped to take pictures of the cliffs in the setting sun and then drove on to the turtle camp where we would be spending the night. We sorted out our room and then went and hung out with Sulaiman. Dinner was at 7pm and consisted of beautiful tender lamb, tika chicken rice and lentils. After dinner we managed to sneak in with the locals for a spot of shisa smoking before getting ready to go to the beach to see turtles laying their eggs. We climbed into the 4wd and drove to a private beach as the main beach was too full, being Eid. We had not been told to bring a torch so it was pretty difficult to walk around as it was pitch black. The sand was uneven and unpacked from the turtles digging their holes so every now and then you would lose a leg into it. We saw 4 enormous turtles but unfortunately they were not laying. Our group was quite large and there were lots of noisy children and people using their torches and camera flashes although we had been advised not to as it distracts them. We stayed on the beach for an hour and the guides then told us to go back to the camp and that we would have another opportunity to see them in the morning at 4:30am.
Back at the camp after being mesmerized by the breathtakingly clear starry sky and seeing some shooting stars, we decided to sleep outside on large wooden slat beds. We pulled our beds apart and took everything outside. Some rude Americans next to us piped up about our use of the camera flash in the dark as we didn’t realize they were there. All the camp lights were turned off after midnight and I had a hell of a time trying to pee by moonlight in the toilets as there was no light anywhere.