Second Excursion

I know you're asking What about the first excursion? Well, I missed that one because I was sick. The second excursion was to the West, through the mountains and all the way to the Yemeni border. Cool! Our first night we saw the blowholes at the mountains by the beach, then spent the night under mosquito netting in “huts” on the beach. It was fabulous! We had little mats and pillows and a blanket, and our hut had a table and 5 chairs. We played cards till 1 am: hearts, rummy, and euchre. The next day we travelled through the mountains towards Yemen. The scenery is beautiful – I love mountains and harsh landscapes. There were camels and donkeys and miscellaneous cows around too. The hardest part of the trip is the bathrooms. I'm really starting to get used to the “Turkish toilets” as people in our group refer to them. I prefer them now to the semi-Western toilets with no lid.

We spent all day meandering through the mountains, stopping at border checkpoints. When we got to the Yemeni border, we had to turn around and head back. What's really neat though is that the mountains meet the sea in this area, so we stopped at several “scenic overlooks” and even at the beach. We nearly gave Ali a heart attack. He's something like secretary to the dean, at Dhofar University, and he's in charge of our trip (and I'm riding in the car with him and getting Arabic practice). Well, imagine young Americans on a pretty beach with waves. What do you think would happen??? Several people went into the water, and Ali kept having to remind them to stay close to shore so they didn't get swept away. Then more went in. I took pictures and Ali took video. The guys started rough-housing and throwing each other in the water. Our drivers thought it was hysterical! I hope to get a copy of the video.

There were several villages that we passed through, and they all had several things in common. They all have a mosque of course. But they also all have a Food Stuff or Food Stuff & Luxuries, and most of them have a Hair Dressing too. Sometimes they're all combined into a Commercial Market (strip mall). Also, there are a lot of animals in the mountains. Mainly cows and camels, but also goats and the occasional donkey. I saw some weird bird run across the road too – it was about 1.5 – 2 feet tall, and mostly gray, with a little doohickey on it's head. And I'm pretty sure quail don't get that big ;) Anyway, there were tons of cows and camels, and they seem to have the right-of-way. Not necessarily because it's a law, but because they are really stupid animals and won't move off the road. It was like Camel Slalom, dodging animals through the mountains. They also had animals in the towns. At several Scenic Overlooks we had to watch out for poop, because the animals just wander wherever the hell they want.

We spent our second night in a hotel in a tiny village on the coast. It's Ali's hometown. Our room was actually a villa, and 6 of us slept there. [There was a cow outside the guys' villa last night.] And, our villa had 2 toilets – Western and Turkish. The only problem with the Western toilet was that it had a “handle” that you pull up out of the tank, to flush it, and it may take 30 minutes for the tank to refill. The next morning there was a walking tour, which I didn't go on because it was raining. Not because I'm a wimp, but because it's really hard to see when your glasses are completely soaked, and if I take them off I can't see anyway. So I stayed at the villa and typed this up! Next we're going through the mountains on our way back to Salalah.

Frank, we are going to at least visit Oman soon and come back through the mountains. They're gorgeous!!!

When we get back to Salalah, we'll be at our new hotel. That was a fiasco in itself! [See next post.]