What a time!!!

It has been a whirlwind!! We arrived, finally, after 25 hours in planes and four airports, to a beautiful, balmy Muscat welcome.  It was 4 AM , a warm breeze, a very happy Jerry!  Of course, we had to sit out on his patio and have a glass or two of wine just to unwind and suddenly the 5:30 call to prayer was calling out over the loudspeakers - the first of many - five times a day in fact! The sun started to come up and we decided we'd better try and get some sleep and see about getting ahead of the jetlag.

A very excited 3yr old Aleesa awoke us at noon, so happy to have her grama and grampa and her aunties here - I soon had Pez Mickey Mouse beside me on the pillow! Our first jaunt out into Muscat - a lovely poolside lunch at the Intercontinental Hotel and then my first taste of some of the small souks close by  here- just a taste of what there is to see.  Such gentle, sweet and not at all pushy merchants - they all know elaine and Jim and were happy to see them again - Elaine's sixth trip here and Jim's fifth!  Good customers.  Looked at some beautiful Indian tapestries and pashminas - I am going tohave to borrow a suitcase from Jerry for my return;  it is a paisley heaven for fabrics!  Then we spent a few hours (really) grocery shopping, Jer and Ola have beena way in Dubai.  I thought it was fun to grocery shop in the US - well this was just amazing - spice aisles, exotic fruits and veg and even the labels - beets from Iran, oranges from China!!  Lots of fun looking at all the new and different "Food Stuffs and Other Stuffs".

Out and about, the Omani people are so interesting to watch - the men all wear long white robes, called dish-dashes (sure that is not how you spell it) and a small round cotton cap.  Their robes are so startlingly white and perfectly pressed, with  a white tassel on the right shoulder that hangs down on their shoulder blade  and apparently they put perfume on it and if there is a bad smell, they just turn their head and smell  their scent! The women wear long black abiya, some cover their faces and some don't - we are all curious about the diferences.  See  a lot more men about, in groups of two or three, than women.  Jery says you will never see two couples out together - inappropriate for the men to be associating with someone elses wife! The gawker that I am is having a heyday here!! So many interesting people - and they are allmost all very beautiful/handsome - women wear very perfect make-up and lots of jewellry, but thats about all you see! Yesterday we were getting gas and a man came out of the station in his perfect white dish-dash and jumped into a dumptruck and drove away!!
We stopped by the Suntan's palace yesterday wow - beautiful place-found stairs up to the old Portugese fort but they were gated off to the public - not sure why but we will try again! 

Drove out to the Oman Dive Center  through the rugged mountain coastline - stunning scenery. To Qantab Beach, where there were old ruins from a fort built to protect the shore and Janeece and I climbed into one of them.  Built of stones piled up and then plaastered on the inside and out.  The plaster had fallen away in most spots, leaving precarious walls of reddish  stone exposed.  Roof falling away, made of reed thatch.  Such  a beautiful place, and the light inside was so incredible.

 
We have decided to camp there, take our gear and hire a boat to take us around to a secluded beach and camp right there on the sand!  Also going up north to the Musandam fjords, staying a few nights, have booked a dhow to take us exploring, and a snorkelling trip.  Also plan to go to the turtle sanctuary and some dune and wadi bashing!! Sounds like adventure awaits!  Today we are off to the big souk at Moutra(sp?) and then to the Muscat Festival. We are busy!

Hoping all is well with all of you - I'll try to be better about writing but we are on the go every day, all day!

Yikes!! Spell check already, Holly!!!!

Just re-read my blog and I apologize for the spelling - really I haven`t regressed or  anything - just very very tired!!!

Leaving Mussandam today -back tothe desert

Sad to leave this beautiful northern province but more adventure awaits us!  Back to Muscat today and then on to Wadi Shab -another camping adventure!  Yesterday we toured the tallest mountain in Mussandam in a four wheel drive - I had to sit on the inside for obvious reasons to anyone who knows me!!!  600 year old stone hut with huge pottery inside - it was built around the pottery!!!  Smell inside was the strangest, sweetest odor I had ever smelled, once my eyes adjusted to the light I realized  I wasn't alone - no not a Bedouin but a dead goat!

...that is one big rock

look up...

We drove straight up , no actually switch-backed up, for breathtaking views of the fjords and the surrounding countryside - at the very top was a military radar installation.  Along the way are caves in the rocks - distinguishable  for good reason - when the fishermen had to leave their families for long periods, they would hide their wives and children there, safe from marauding pirates!!!  Impossible to imagine how they even got to the caves, they look impossible!
Gotta run, going to the airport now.  Love to everyone!

A long lazy day on the dhow...

I'm sitting at the internet station at our hotel, looking out at the Arabian Gulf  and the sun setting over the fishing boats and I have that floaty feeling you get after spending all day on a boat - not a bad feeling but just a little tipsy!!

The gang are off into Khasab just now to the souk to try and find Janeece some new flip-flops as she blew hers today on our adventure.  What an adventure!!  The dhow picked us up at 9 AM and after picking our snorkeling gear, we boarded the beautiful old dhow - a long, very wide wooden boat with high curved stern and bow and proudly flying strings of green-red-white Omani flags  The entire floor covered with beautiful Persian rugs - burgundy and blue and yellow and all along the sides were big cushions to sit on and lean against.  So cool and funky and so comfortable!!  The boat was only about half full, so we had the whole back section pretty much to ourselves - spread out ourselves in short order. Aleesa was so excited and had a wonderful day - entertained the entire boat, especially the crew, all day!!

 Suddenly the crew started excitedly clapping their hands and we were joined by a school  of bottle-nose dolphins swimming alongside - a mother and baby and then pretty soon a group of five - all different sizes - so close you could see them come up and play and roll over on their sides.  They kept up with us for several minutes - it was so wonderful I thought I was going to cry - got pretty choked up at the beauty of it.

  The captain told us it against the law to kill any wild animals in Oman - they are  all protected, dolphins, foxes, goats, donkeys.  He also pointed out as we meandered through the fjord, that the five small villages we saw perched on the edge of the fjord and accessible only by sea, are all provided with free education, free drinking water and free health care by the sultan's government. They all are linked to electricity as well for a small fee. ( I like him better and better the longer I am here)

We stopped at telegraph Island, where in 1864, the first cable was installed in Mussandam and, interestingly, on the top of which is the only internet service for miles!! We jumped into the greenest, crystal clear water I have ever swam in , and snorkeled with blue angelfish and groupers and small striped convict fish nibbling on a coral bed that surrounded the entire island.  Janeece and I swam/snorkeled all around it, and Jim and Elaine joined us.  One of the nicest snorkeling experiences I've had, maybe only topped by the Captain Cook trip in Hawaii - Brian is probably there right now!!

There were three cute young Omani crew and they kept us happy all day - tiny glass cups of sweet fragrant tea, fresh dates from the area, grilled fresh queenfish for lunch, along with curried chicken and veg, rice and always, the best hummus and pita you ever tasted.

A lazy cruise for awhile,with a another stop for snorkeling and one at a long sandy beach where  I added to my vast collection of heart shaped stones and coral (Nicole!!!)  Back to the pier at 4pm, all very happy and no sunburns!!
Another beautiful, action-packed day here in Oman.  They just keep comin' !  It is now dark, I can see tiny lights out in the sea and my family has just now returned with Aleesa sound asleep on Jerry' shoulder - she has had a long day, little sweetie.

We look forward to 6pm , as they cannot serve alcohol at the hotel before then and we are all ready for a glass of wine and a nice supper. Tomorrow, a mountain safari aboard landcruisers  - the mountains look pretty desolate from here so it will be interesting!

As always, love to all - hope you are enjoying the long family-day weekend!

mussandam. khasab and golden tulips

A windy flight today from MUSCAT TO Khasab, fantastic aerial view of the fjords, not green but vast layers of colored sand, tiny coastal villages that must only be accessible by sea.  Khasab is a very old village, quaint and lovely with goats wandering everywhere!  Stayiing in the Golden Tulip, had a wonderful buffet of Omani food, small local fresh fish and the most amazing taboulleh and hoummous!!! Tomorrow is our mountain trip and snorkelling - always on the go

We read today at the airport about the trouble in Bahrain and Yemen - however yesterday in Muscat, there was a very peaceful demonstration of support and admiration for the Sultan and the living conditions here - no worries - we are all very safe and sound.  JAneece is flying home through Aboudabi and we are through Cyprus - not Bahrain.

Short I know, but it is late and there is a lineup tp use the internet!

Love to all

Holly

Oh man, is it salty!

..the sea, that is.  Just back from an overnight camping trip to Qantab, just a bit from Jerry's.  We hired an open fishing boat to take us to a secluded beach on a small cove, where we pitched three tents on the sand, dug a firepit and had a wonderful night under a full moon.

The cove was surrounded by high walls of sandstonish rocky cliffs, really jagged and overhanging our beach - amazing place - the water so blue, goats clinging to the rocks high above us, the beach littered with small sparkling clear jellyfish. At midnight, a turtle washed up ashore and we were pretty excited that it might be there to lay her eggs, but unfortunately, she was dead! Some bad luck out at sea.  A boatload of locals stopped just outside the cove and let off a beautiful red flare that hung in the sky forever before dropping into the dark water.  Orion was hanging over us, but thebeautiful full moon actually made the other stars  little a hard to see! Wow, tough luck, hey? This morning we shared pomegranites and cold pancakes with pb&j and instant coffee - one of the best, most beautiful breakfasts I have eaver had!!! Jim, Elaine's husband and I snorkeled in the bay,(y'all know how I feel about snorkelling) and bynoon it was soo freaking hot we had to get the boat to come get us early.  What a wonderful experience - they just keep on coming.

This is actually the third time I have tried to blog and got booted off both times, so I'm gonna keep it short just in case!  First, sending out my love and support and break-a-legs to Nicole for her audition at UBC and to Megan for opening night of her play at U of W.  Good luck girls - I'm with you in spirit!!  Shawn , you must be in Winnipeg now - representing the far-flung Sekiyas!

Oman as been absolutely amazing -- really. It islike no place I have ever been, in so many ways.  We arrived last Sunday night, actually Monday morning, at 4 AM after 4 airports and 25 hours of flying - a little ragged but Jerry's beaming face at  Muscat swept it all away!  Arrived at Jerry's beautiful home to a balmy starlit night and sat on his patio with a glass of wine. At five-thirty, my first experience hearing the Muslim call to prayer, projected 5 times a day over loudspeakers all over the country from the mosques.  It is a beautiful sound, very deep male voice chanting - Jerry says that the hope is that soon no one will ever be more than 200 meters from a mosque!  The Sultan sounds like a very amazing ruler - benevolent dictator but very much concerned with the welfare of Omanis - he has make sweeping changes in the last 40 years.  We toured the grounds of his palace a few days ago - not a huge palace but very beautiful, grounds and architecture, some of the ruins of the old Portuguese fort are right beside it  -we tried to climb up but it is temporarily gated off.

Oops - gotta run and eat - will finish later!  Hoping all is well!  Tonight we are eating Turkish - tomorrow off to Mussendam to the fjords and a dhow ride and the next day to the turtle refuge where we will go to the beach in the dark at midnight to see them lay the eggs and then back at sunup to see them hatch.  Yikes - this is just tooo amazing a trip.

Love to everyone - will try to be more consistent but we really are aso very busy! Janeece is only here for 2 weeks so we are trying to do as much as we can while she is here.  Having a spectacular time.

Love Hol