Oman (2009)

Oman Dive Center

Taas — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 10:31:00 GMT

Oman Dive Center is the perfect place to spend some time at the end of your stay. Lazily in your straw hut, with outdoor bath-room, you can enjoy the sweet side of life....

Wadi Tiwi (و ادي طڍوي)

Taas — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:53:00 GMT

June 04, 2007
WTIO31 PGTW 041500
TROPICAL CYCLONE (TC) 02A (GONU), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 380 NM
SOUTHEAST OF MUSCAT, OMAN, HAS TRACKED NORTHWESTWARD AT 10 KNOTS
OVER THE PAST 06 HOURS.

Why this excerpt from the North Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone warning? June 4th, 2007, one day before Gonu hits the Omani coast. That day, the storm - at its peak with winds reaching 240 km/h - is upgraded to a Super Cyclonic Storm. It doesn't even hit the peninsula head on, it grazes Oman at the NE corner. Despite that, Gonu had a huge impact on Oman.

Not just the wind, but torrential rains did enormous damage. Wadi's filled up with water roaring down the mountains, destroying property and lives. You still see the apparent damage when you drive through Muscat on the A'shati Street along the beach. Yes, you see it when you drive around Sur's harbour and bay. But sometimes you need an insider to show you what the real extend of the damage was. We meet that person in Wadi Tiwi.

We are on the new motorway between the Oman LNG plant and Muscat. An amazing piece of tarmac, that is largely deserted on this Friday. Our high speed is to blame for missing the first exit marked “Tiwi”. We thunder accross the bridge built over the wadi and ... there's another exit! That cunningly ends, on a very narrow dirt road - more of an alley - in the village....

But it is through this village that you find the entrance to Wadi Tiwi. Now, Wadi Tiwi looks like paradise when you enter. It has numerous emerald pools - in which people bath and recreate on this holy day - and lots of green plantations watered through a falaj system. It also has a really attractive (and narrow) dirt road, that leads through the villages along the valley; they say there are nine. The road is wide enough for exactly one vehicle, so regular courtesy to let oncoming traffic pass, is necessary.

The motorway bridge has become the archway to an afternoon of relaxation in Wadi Tiwi

And after the first village we meet Ali. The open area where we stop, looks great to us. There are fresh water pools, some kids are playing footbal on an open field and date palms dominate the view. How we came to speak with this sympathetic gentleman, I don't know. He was just there, visiting his home town, from Muscat where he lives & works today. That doesn't mean he has left the village. He and his family still own plantations that he looks after. And where his father was the major, now his brother is. As Ali guides us to his brother's home - for he has courteously invited us for coffee - he tells us that the open area's in the middle were not planned. On June 5th and 6th, Guno's downpour filled the wadi. The flash flood taking palm tree plantations, the falaj and complete houses. I didn't dare ask about personal harm, but it is well known that Gonu took 1200 lives in total. The open space, isn't a recreative field. It's the village's scar.

Many thanks to Ali for his enormous hospitality

Oman LNG

Taas — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:26:00 GMT

Panorama of Oman LNG with a LNG tanker at the jetty

A two-train liquefaction plant with a nameplate capacity of 6.6 Mt per annum, liquified natural gas near Sur: Oman LNG. Founded in 1994 by royal decree, it is a joint venture with the Sultanate of Oman and Shell being the largest players.

Bedu

Taas — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:42:00 GMT

Wahiba Sands are the home of the Bedu people. In Oman they specialise in raising racing camels. The camel races take place in winter - when temperatures are acceptable - between October & April. Our guide - yes, an Ali again - had a little story about that. In the past - for weight reduction - children were used to drive the camels. Because of the risks - should I say dangers? - children have been banned from the race track. They now use dummies. Unofficially, camels run up to 70 km/h and do about 40km/h in endurance races.

Predictably, we are invited by Mohammed, our camp host, to visit his family in the Bedu settlement. Of course, showing and selling their craft is part of the deal. The settlement isn't more than 3 sheds & tents and to-day I am still wondering, if they are keeping this alive for “us tourists“ or actually live here.

Particularly the women dress distinctively. They have a very colourful garment with a gauze outergarment. The most striking garment in their wardrobe, is the - beak like - mask they wear.

We are offered the coffee that they drink everywhere in Oman. It tastes very peculiar - but not unpleasant - and is made from a relatively small amount of freshly ground coffee, some spoons of cardamom and a number of cloves. The coffee is poured into really small cups. After 3, I decide that it is probably polite to start refusing the next offer.

Wahiba Sands (رمال و هيبة) or Sharqiya Sands (الشرقية‎)

Taas — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:12:00 GMT

Asking for directions to the top of the dunes.

Make sure you are awake during sunset and sunrise, here! Climb to the top of the low dunes, or drive your way onto the large ones. Without that, you're not going to believe their beauty. And miss some of the greatest photo opportunities you'll ever have as a tourist....

Wahiba Sands (رمال و هيبة)

Taas — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:34:00 GMT

The well known desert Wahiba Sands' official name is Sharqiya Sands. Ash Sharqiyah is the mantaqah (region), while Wahiba refers to the Wahiba Bedu tribe traditionally living in this area. Unfortunately, we will only spend two days here, so there will only be time for “dune bashing” and a night in the safari desert camp. Unfortunately, the shots from the roughest parts were all over the place, but here's the latest road movie. Eeeeeh off road movie....

Driving into the Wahiba Sands

Ibra (إبرا)

Taas — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 07:03:00 GMT

Ibra. A whif of daily life. The Market. And this is where the argument started.

In this place, it's the men that go to the market for groceries. Even the cash registers, in the local supermarket, are litterally manned. Since then, Anja feels encouraged to remind me daily on Omani emancipation. She thinks, my argument - that we must've seen the town's bachelors - is implausible...

I wish we left for our next destination.... the Wahibah Sands....

Misfah (مسڧاه)

Taas — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:30:00 GMT

Misfah al-Abreyeen from a distance looks like one of the abandoned mud-brick houses, we've seen earlier. Based on the watertanks & satelite dishes on the roofs, the initial impression - photographed from the mountain across the valley - is wrong. Compare with the picture here with pictures from Wadi Ghul....

Once inside the village, it's a live with humans, animals and plants. Much more than the initial picture suggests, the village is built inside the date palm plantation. There is more room for the Falaj than roads. There are no roads, just footways and steep climbes.

I know I shouldn't say this, it's too American.... But the whole thing is almost romantic. It certainly provides some welcome shade. It is almost cool under the date palms & banana trees. A good point to spend some time to marvel about the falaj system. In July 2006, the UNESCO wrote the the Omani falaj system into their World Heritage Site register. So it must be special....

But what is it?

It is an irrigation system, that usually has a common well and uses closed and open surface canals (jubs). Of course, each Falaj system needs to be built on a slope (to prevent water accumulating at the low points). The effect is that older villages are built along that slope too, their footpaths following the falaj system. It might explain the somewhat zig-zaggy nature of a village like Misfah.

If the Dutch thought they were the masters of water management, well.... let's say they're good at managing too much water. For management of too little water, my bet is on the Omani's. An Omani - Ali - helped me understand some of the issues that villages face when they depend on a Falaj:

All water usually comes from one well. That includes drinking water, irrigation water, wash water, etc. Care should be taken were the the branch off for each is. Grey water - not containing human waste - can often be used for irrigation... (nowadays a lot of homes have a water tank on the roof, which is periodically filled by a tank truck).
Not all wells & systems have sufficient capacity to water all fields continuously. A system is necessary that divides the water stream. Each plantation gets water for a limited period.
Maintenance and inspection of the open channels is extensive. A caved in channel looses water. Channels need to be narrow with vertical walls; if water is allowed to fan out in natural channels & pools, evaporation losses become unacceptable.

Falaj are not ancient and archaic. They are alive today, require technical maintenance and are highly political. Just like Dutch Polders....

Two more oddities in Misfah

Road movie

Taas — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 08:52:00 GMT

Roads are an interesting phenomenon in Oman. Before 1970 - when Sultan Qaboos came to the throne - this country, the size of France, had about 10 km of black-top roads. Most roads were dirt roads in wadis or crossing wadis, making them inaccessible during rains.

Today, roads around major cities and major connections between those, are paved. Considering the 30 odd years, Oman has built - and is still building - an impressive infrastructure. In the 'outback' many of the roads are an intriguing patchwork of paved and dirt roads. Sometimes with surprising and seemingly illogical switches of one into the other.

The road down Jebel Shams is such a road. On the plateau, it is a shiny brand new tarmac road, changing into a dirtroad for the steepest part of the descent. For us - Europeans having a too large four-wheel-drive - it's great fun to drive....

Driving down from Jebel Shams

Jebel Shams (جبل شمس‎)

Taas — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:26:00 GMT

Driving into Wadi Ghul while it is time for the local youth to go to school

There are two ways to enjoy Oman's highest mountain Jebel Shams. They say Jebel Shams - or Jabal Shams, agian sources seem to disagree about Arabic/English translations - means “mountain of sun”. One way to see it is to drive into Wadi Ghul. The wadi - with 1000 m straight vertical sides - is appropriately called “The Grand Canyon of Oman”. Or more meganomanically “the Grand Canyon of Arabia”. While that sounds spectecular, we plan to take the road upto the plateau.

The village on Wadi Ghul's left shore has been abandoned

Yet, the palm covered shores and steep clifs make Wadi Ghul irresistible to drive into. It is not on our route, but we do it. If only to meet the local youths who are late for their school bus. Interestingly, they seem to live in a new village, that their parents have rebuilt on the right shore of the wadi. The old village still sits abandoned on the wadi's left shore. Our tourist eye tells us that the old mud-brick village is more pretty. But it's probably less comfortable than the new one.

Top of Jebel Shams is dominated by goats with an attitude

Opinions differ about the height of the Jebel Shams. Some - including the Lonely Planet - say it is 3075 m. Others say 2980. Frankly... with our Land Cruiser, these extra 95 meters are no additional effort at all..... The top is breath taking in more than one way. Firstly it is cold at the top; we are used to 30°C, it's closer to 15 here; we didn't take anything but a t-shirt and flip-flops. Secondly, the views into the canyon are more than spectacular; the goats seems to be trained to pose for visitor's cameras. Thirdly, the smell of goats in the sun takes your brea....

Keep your hands & feet in shape. You need them to haggle with people - appearing out of nowhere - selling carpets, goat wool key-rings, bracelets & pieces of polished marble. We got two woolen key-rings and a bracelet for 1.5 rial and managed to refuse the useless piece of marble....