The Wadi- my new favorite place on earth!!!

Ah, the wadi!  What a place!! Our first stop was at Wadi Bani Khalid (say it out loud, fast -such a great name!) After miles of desert and scrub land, we arrived at a small town, and drove down a winding road ; the surroundings getting more and more populated with greenery - huge palm trees, green bushes and reeds.  We parked at the bottom and started walking along a falage - a very old but very clever system of stone ditches built to carry fresh water from the wadi (river) to villages for their consumption.  We encountered a pack of adorable, very friendly children, sitting on a small bridge. "Hey, whatcha doin'?"
 
Their families were picknicking in the trees, the women and girls lounging on wadi matts just off the path, the men grilling delicious smelling kabobs.  They called us over and the teenage girls were so eager to hear about where we were from and tell us all about their lives.  They insisted on Elaine and I having a drink and some dates and  a very yummy but very spicy kabob was somehow in my hand! I talked for awhile, but wanted to join the others, so I left Elaine in their company and went on ahead.

 The path opened up  into a wide canyon, huge boulders on both sides and the most beautiful, inviting-looking green pool of water suspended in a bowl formed by the rocks. I just wanted to dive in, but  I forged ahead, hoping to catch up with Jim, Janeece and Jerry.  The boulders were a good scramble, but not impassable, and I could see pools of water down below at several points.  It was smoking hot and I was in a full sweat by this time!  I ran into two young boys on the path, very friendly, who called out to me and asked if I was from Canada. They said my friends were up ahead and very soon I spied Jim.  He gestured way down and  there were Jer and Jai - in the beautiful water!!  It looked pretty tricky to get to but Jer insisted I  join them.  With Jim's help from above and Jer's from below,  I was soon there and plunged into the most welcome, cool, clear fresh water--it was heaven!  We were able to swim all the way back down to where we started , with a little scrambling over rocks between pools,  the sun shimmering off the white limestone walls all around us.  The most refreshing swim ever!

In the last pool, there were scores of tiny fish which nibbled at your feet - I think you pay big bucks for a fish-pedicure in Japan!

 We met Jim and Elaine at the bottom -she had email addresses from the Omani girls and great stories about their lives and their curiosities about Canada.
This was just the first wadi experience - little did I know what was ahead of me the next day...