Eid Trip to Salalah

Greetings from Oman!

I have so much to tell, so get ready to read a short novel (I'm not kidding...); I just went on a phenomenal roadtrip to Salalah that allowed me to see parts of the country that many Omanis are not even familiar with! We had a vacation (a 6-day weekend) because the whole country was celebrating Eid - the end of Ramadan.

The trip started on Tuesday morning, the 2nd of October. Monday marked the end of the work week and my friends (Jenelle, Lydia & Zach) and I got our stuff together so we'd be ready to leave early on Tuesday. I even made homemade granola bars (if you haven't tried them, you're missing out)! We drove 2 vehicles, so had plenty of space for all of the necessary (and a few unnecessary) comforts. We were told that it would be safer to travel with 2 vehicles, so that if one got stuck or broke down (there is no road-side assistance here, in fact, there is no emergency assistance whatsoever), we'd have the ability to get the necessary help. We packed plenty of water (24+ gallons), my black ActionPacker box of cooking and camping supplies (yes, Mom, I will use it on every camping trip I go on here, it was very worth the journey here), huge "wadi" mats to sleep on, our sleeping bags, and a cooler and box full of food.

We left around 9am and drove along the eastern half of Oman, making our way to the lower coast. We stopped occassionally for gas refills, bathroom breaks (fyi, there are few trees or rocks to use as barriers - we had to get creative), and we had our first picnic lunch along the side of the highway under one of the few trees we saw. It was our first opportunity in a month to eat in public!

Side note: Some people have been asking about gas prices. I figured out that my friend could drive 600kilometers in his car and pays 6 Omani Rials to fill the tank. 6 Rials ~ $15. It costs less than $1/gallon.

Moving on... We drove for around 7 hours and decided that we should figure out where we wanted to camp before it got dark. So, looking at the map, we decided we were as close to the coast as we would be for awhile, so we should just pull off the road and head southeast to the ocean. :) It worked! We drove for about 10-20 minutes over sand hills and rocks, past camel droppings and dry bushes, until we could see the ocean. (No, there was no road, we were using a compass and 4-wheel drive.) When we stopped, we pulled out our wadi mat (see photos) and set up camp. We spent the night on a white sand beach, with nobody else around, and under a brilliantly starlit sky. I couldn't stop smiling.

When we awoke, we were surprised to find ourselves wrapped in a cloud. Everything around us was soaked; there was standing water on our sleeping bags! So, we figured the best option, of course, would be to go swimming! Lydia and I braved the cold temperatures (water and air) and jumped some rather intimidating waves in place of morning showers, Jenelle followed not long after. Then after breakfast we packed up and drove through the cloud, back to the highway (again, our guide being a compass). Once the sun was high enough in the sky, the fog dissipated and we could see the road again. By then we were well on our way to our next destination: Wadi Uyun, in the Dhofar mountain range.

But before arriving in the mountains, Zach and I made one important stop (I happened to be in Zach's car at the time) upon seeing a harmless-looking man with his thumb up along the side of the road in the middle of the hot desert. Yep, you guessed it, we picked up a hitchhiker! He was a Pakistani man, who (like most of the Pakistanis in Oman) was here looking for work. He had been working in the heat of the desert, along the highway for awhile, helping to build the 2-lanes into 4, but decided to go to Salalah to check out the prospects elsewhere. We told him we would be going to Salalah as well, but failed to mention that we were not going all the way there that day. So we felt bad when we had to let him out at the town before the mountains. He seemed grateful for the ride and for the air conditioning. He said he missed his family in Pakistan, but that the situation there is as bad as ever and the lack of work has forced an immense number of Pakistanis out of the country in search of a living. I tried to explain to him that the news, currently, is highlighting the Taliban influence in Pakistan, and upon mentioning the word "Taliban," he cringed and said the Taliban are NOT Pakistanis, and that they are not welcome in his country. I figured as much.

We chose Wadi Uyun because it was highlighted in our Off-Road Oman book as a phenomenal place to swim and to cliff-jump. We got to the mountains and found the village "Ayoon" (all of the names of things are spelled differently every place you look because ultimately they are just transcribed into the English alphabet from Arabic), but our maps did not give detailed directions to the wadi (the river bed). Since we had had luck in interacting with the Pakistani man, we decided to ask the kids in the village how to get to the wadi and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, this was not as successful of an interaction. The group of kids swarmed both of our vehicles, opening the doors, reaching inside to grab things, open the glove-compartment, take the book from my hands, unfold the maps, and who knows what else. I was so overwhelmed with trying to keep their hands off my camera and book, trying to keep my door closed and the glove-compartment hands-free, that I didn't notice when one of the older kids in the group got in our back seat and told us he'd take us to the wadi. Finally I managed to close my window and door and lock it. That's when I found out we had a guide. The problem was, our guide was too interested in our things and in looking cool for his friends to be of much help to us. He brought us to an overlook where we could see the wadi, and then offered to guide us on a hike down the side of the somewhat cliff-like pile of rocks, but we declined the offer. We brought him back to his village (he didn't want to get out of our car until we were where his friends could see) and found our own route out of the village and into the river valley. 4-wheel drive came in handy, again. :)

We followed an already-blazened trail over rocks, sand and dirt to the edge of a drop-off into the river bottom - the perfect place to make camp - and found another vehicle already parked for the evening. The couple who was there was originally from South Africa but live in Saudi Arabia. They had driven to Salalah together and were going to make their way back up the Omani coast to go through Muscat and back into Saudi. ...And we thought OUR road trip was hardcore!... They told us the hike down to the water hole was rather treacherous, and that there were no places that seemed accessible to jump in where we'd then be able to climb out. That was discouraging, but we had no other plans for the night, so we decided to hike down into the riverbed and have a look for ourselves. Sure enough, it seemed it would be a difficult task to enter, and then be able to exit, the pools. But at least we got a nice hike out of the journey. So we went back to our cars and set up camp. We again laid out our wadi mat, made a delicious dinner of rice noodles, veggies and peanut sauce (one of my favorite camp meals), then played poker under the stars for what seemed like hours. I am not a poker player, but I was willing to learn. Unfortunately, though, despite a strong beginning, I was the first to lose all of my matchsticks.

While we were playing poker, a young man from the village (we'd soon learn his name is Akhmid), came by our camp and managed to ask us if we had seen his baby camel (we communicated with him through lots of gestures and dancing - no, I do not yet know how to say 'camel' in Arabic). We told him we hadn't, so he went on his way, continuing his search. About the time we had tucked ourselves into our sleeping bags, Achmid returned to ask for a ride back up to the village. Zach obliged, but none of us girls went along - mostly because we were already in our pajamas (which for me meant a t-shirt and my underwear in my camping sheet) and felt uncomfortable not-fully-clothed in front of an Omani man. Once Zach left, it did not take long for me to fall asleep. I was not worried about Zach - Achmid had seemed nice enough. It wasn't until I awoke again, to find Zach and his car still missing, that I became a little uneasy. I turned over to see Lydia also awake, and I asked her the time. It was around 11pm. Zach had left around 9:30pm. Why would it take him 1 1/2 hours to go to the village and back? I found my lantern and turned it on, hoping it would lead Zach back. Then I sat and waited. Around 11:20 I saw some lights shine on the cliff on the other side of the riverbed. They were Zach's headlights! About 5 minutes later Zach's car came to a hault 1 meter from my head. He got out, said Akhmid had invited him into his home for tea, and I immediately rolled over and went back to sleep (what can I say? I was tired). The next morning I was better able to express my relief to Zach of his return.

That morning, I was awoken by the sound of 2 male voices. One was Zach's, one was of a non-English speaker: Akhmid's. He had returned, bright and early, to show his appreciation of Zach's kindness by leading us on a hike to go swim in the water holes. Along the hike, he managed to communicate a few things here and there - though I didn't understand a lot of what he was saying so I often elaborated his stories and explanations with my own versions, making them exciting and adventurous. He showed us a plant that hunters and herders use to brush their teeth. He told us that there are 2 leopards that live a little up the river from where we were sleeping (the night before he tried to encourage us to start a bonfire before sleeping, but we are in the desert - there was no wood to start the fire - and we hadn't brought any of our own. Apparently the fire would have scared away the leopards). He also tried to explain about some people who kill camels and cook their meat over fires under rock shelters. I decided the people who killed the camels must be theives or runaways, and they had to cook the meat over fires along the river so as to stay out of sight of anyone that might want them prosecuted. And there were certainly enough camels in that area of the country to kill one here and there and not have too many people notice. ;)

Our hike consisted of scrambling up and down loose rocks, bouldering walls and trusting our balance and jumping skills to get across crevices and past drop offs in the rocks. But we made it (Lydia's backpack ended up in the water hole before any one of us did, but we saved it). I found a little cave (that was home to a few bats) to use as a changing room. Once I had my suit on under a layer of long sleeves and shorts (out of respect for Akhmid), I jumped into the cool, fresh, clear water. It felt extraordinary! I couldn't believe that I was in Oman, in the middle of a desertous country, swimming in a fresh water hole. Zach, Lydia and I all jumped from about 5 meters up from a cliff that we had to climb to get onto. We didn't take the time to climb higher cliffs (the rocks were muddy and slippery - it would've taken skill and time to get higher), but we all felt refreshed after our swim. The climb out of the canyon went faster than the hike in.

We said goodbye to Akhmid, then continued our journey in our cars through the mountains of Dhofar, thrilled to have to stop not only for camels, but also for cattle, donkeys and goats (well, I should speak for myself - I was thrilled to stop, I'm not sure everyone else necessarily was). We drove by farms, through small villages, over rolling hills. Our next destination was another wadi. According to our book, Fridays was the right day to go becase the gardens by this particular wadi would be open. We arrived and there were just a few cars in the parking lot. The gardens were open, but we wanted to see the pools. We didn't have far to walk. The pools were soon crowded with tourists; families who were on Eid vacation. We didn't have any desire to swim in the pools with so many people around, so we hiked up the wadi, in search of more private pools. Unfortunately, there were no other pools to be found, but Lydia and I hiked for quite a while and were witness to spectacular views, plants and flowers. We even found 2 tomato plants growing out of cracks in rocks! I would've picked and eaten a tomato, except they were still very green. We met Zach and Lydia back in the gardens and had another picnic lunch under the shade of an enormous tree. We then continued our journey: next stop, Salalah.

We drove into Salalah in the mid-afternoon. I wish I had something exciting to write about Salalah, but it was just like any other medium-sized town in Oman. Lots of traffic, and everything was closed because it was between the hours of 1pm and 4pm. SO, we didn't spend time there. Instead we went to the blowholes, hoping we'd reach them at high tide. The blowholes are a place along the southern coast where holes have formed in the rocks, and when the tide is high, the water is forced out of them making them look like geysers! They are just 10-20 minutes west of Salalah. We got there around 2:30pm, but the tide was not right. There were lots of people there, though, who I think were waiting for the tide to come in. We didn't want to wait.

We continued west where we got to drive down a canyon. The canyon drops 1000 meters and the road to get down and then back up consists of 8 switchbacks in each direction. We read that it cost the government $260 billion to construct the road. I was lucky enough to be driving, so I got the thrilling experience of keeping the car in 2nd gear to save the breaks. :) And I enjoyed it.

Once we passed the switchbacks, our next stop was at the police checkpoint. We were nearing the Oman/Yemen border, so we had to show our passports and resident cards in order to continue on. Our destination for the evening was a small fishing town about 30km east of Yemen. The drive down into the town was pristine. There were forests of green trees, farmers herding their camels or cattle down the highway, simple rectangular concrete houses hidden amongst the trees, and everyone we saw smiled at us. Plus, the view of the ocean from the tree-lined cliffs was stunning. We drove through the town and found a parking spot at the end of the beach that we decided to claim for the evening. We parked and changed just in time to swim in the ocean as the sun was setting. As I was jumping the gigantic waves and trying to body surf, I couldn't stop laughing. Our day had been perfectly fulfilling and exhausting.

For dinner we went to the only restaurant in the town. We ordered the only thing on the menu (there actually was no physical menu)- vegetable or meat sandwiches. We got some of each. We couldn't tell what kind of meat was in the meat sandwich - we narrowed it down to either goat, camel or fish. :) We asked the restaurant workers if it was okay for us to sleep on the beach, and (although I don't know if they understood what we were asking) they told us it was fine. We read in one of our guidebooks that visitors are supposed to ask permission from the town leader before camping overnight in the town. We didn't know who the town leader was or where we should find him, so we decided to trust the restaurant workers and just camp where we had parked earlier. After eating we drove back to the beach, put out our wadi mat and contemplated constilations before falling asleep.

The next morning I awoke just before the sunrise, so I got up and sat beside the ocean as the sun peaked up over the horizon. I had to pinch myself once to make sure I wasn't in a dream. The tide was just starting to come in. The four of us quickly decided that if we hurried to pack up the cars, that we could make it back to the blowholes in time to see them at high tide. So we skipped a leisurely breakfast and instead drove back across the police checkpoint, back down and then up the switchbacks, and into the parking lot of the blowholes. We were the first ones there. And we were lucky! We waited for about 20 minutes and the tide became high enough to push water through the holes. Plus, the place was not swarming with people as it had been the day before. I was satisfied. :)

We went back into Salalah and spent about an hour at the souk (market). I bought some frankincense, since Salalah is the international capital of frankincense trade, and Jenelle helped me to barter down the prices of some Omani scarves. I look forward to learning the numbers in my Arabic class - it will come in handy to persuade the local sellers that I know what I'm talking about when it comes to prices. After the souk, we spent about 2 hours looking for pitas. We wanted pitas for lunch and it turns out the bakeries in Salalah do not have them in excess - and some not at all. We finally found some, and headed out of town into the green mountains.

For lunch we found a huge, perfect tree to picnic under. We spent about 2 hours in the field, relaxing, reflecting and resting. That afternoon we were going to start our drive home and we would soon be leaving the green fields of the Dhofar mountain range only to re-enter the brown Omani interior and desert.

The drive back north through the interior was not as interesting as the drive down - there was not as much change in the colors and shapes as there was along the coast. It was the same brown/red sand all the way home. Around 5:30pm we decided we should set up camp for the night, so we turned off the highway and headed west into the barren desert. We stopped after driving for about 10 minutes, turned our cars to block the highway and the wind and set up our wadi mats so we could make dinner. The sun was setting over the flat, red desert - again a beautiful night. We cooked, ate and went to bed early - around 8pm. Little did we know, we were not going to be asleep for long. First, I was extremely warm; the heat from the sand below me radiated through the wadi mat, through my sleeping pad and through my sleeping bag. I was in only my sheet, and the wind was steadily blowing across my body, and I was still sweating. Second, around 9:30pm, a wind storm came through our camp. The wadi mat that we had strategically set up to block the wind was no longer useful. The wind seemed to come from all directions, and of course, it carried with it loads of sand. We all HAD to be in our sleeping bags to protect ourselves from the sand. After 30 (or so) minutes of laying awake under my sleeping bag, listening to the wind rage around me, I managed to sleep again. I awoke, not too long after, sweating profusely. The wind seemed to have slowed down a bit so I tried exiting from my sleeping bag and remaining just in my sheet. It didn't take too long for me to start freezing as the sweat evaporated from my skin. The wind storm came through one more time during the night and the process of sweating then freezing started all over again. Needless to say, I did not have a peaceful night's sleep. I decided to get up before the sun came up so that I could go to the bathroom with privacy, as there were no rocks or trees to pee behind anywhere near me. When I got back to the vehicles I shook out my sleeping bag to try to empty some of the sand. As I was doing it, Lydia, Jenelle and Zach all got up to do the same. We decided we didn't want to be sleeping in the interior anymore that night, so we packed up our things and drove back over the sand to the road.

What did we learn from that experience? 1) ALWAYS use a tent when camping in the desert. 2) Camp in the desert during the winter, when the temperature and sand cools down enough to be comfortable in a sleeping bag. 3) We look fabulous with sand caked to our skin and hair. :D Yes, I will camp in the interior again.

We finished our trip with a 7 hour drive back to Muscat. We stopped that day just twice: once for lunch where we had the option of chicken and briyani rice or chickpeas and briyani rice, and once to explore the sand dunes along the side of the highway. The dunes were spectacular! The sand was firm in most places, then our feet would unexpectedly sink in parts where the wind hadn't hardened the surface as tightly.

That concludes my long-winded stories about my road trip to Salalah and back. If you're still reading, I'm impressed and grateful. I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing! I have been writing this for days and am excited to finally be able to send it.

I hope you are all happy and cozy as the fall brings cooler temperatures and changing colors. I look forward to hearing from you and about your lives. Please keep in touch!

Peace,
:)sara