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Published: February 27th 2007
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Cliffhanger....
Perhaps over acting slightly, but it was a very very steep cliff.... Howdy all,
(New pics to be added still when I get Carmels memory stick)
Just returned from Oman late last night, it fact it was a miracle we returned at all as we got hopelessly lost trying to find Sharjah airport in our hire car and only checked in about 20 mins before take off....
Oman was a wicked holiday from start to finish. The first country I have seen in this region that hasn't over developed to the extent where it has lost it's original identity. It is a slow relaxed country that still relies on fishing as it's main industry - and whilst the signs are there that it will soon be 'Dubai-fied', at the moment it is a stunning country with beautiful scenary and approach to life.
Anyhows, enough of the slightly pretentious introduction and on with what I got up to..... My highlights included:
- Waking up for three nights on a beach for sunrise. We bought sleeping bags in Oman and literally just slept on a beautiful little bay that we found. It was absolutely amazing to wake up at 6AM to the purple sunrise and warmth. There's nothing like a
Dolphins
The Dolphins leaping next to our boat.... swim in the sea at that time of the morning to start the day either (all be it that meant cold and wet nights leading up to that). Only slight concerns were the pack of Wolves we could hear on the rocks above and actually saw one sunset only about 50 metres from us and eyeing us up as a possible breakfast....
- Having our hire car get stuck in a Sand Whadi in the middle of nowhere - we were properly 'beached' and were lucky to find some local lads to help get us out...
- Mountain climbing was a highlight too as there are literally so many peaks and sumits that you can be climbing on your own little range each day. Good for privacy, but not so great if your friend (Carmel) gets a panic attack half way up and refuses to move!!! That was one of the more surreal moments of the holiday - me and Mal literally talking / carrying her down this mountain for about 2 hours.... It was a shame she didn't reach the top as it was stunning.
- Dolphin watching was good fun (normally I am not a
Power trip
The whole world is mine... ) fan of those type tours, but this seemed OK) We basically just followed the Tuna fisherman about the Sea about 5KM's out as that was where the Dolphins would be. Quite bizarre to see the fisherman at work as they had to only use single lines, it was a very traditional method, as nets are banned. Twas a wicked dual between the fishermen and the dolphins - who would get the Tuna - more often that not the Dolphin seemed to win. The Tuna was almost the same size of them and worth about £20 each to the fisherman so it was a most intense battle!!
- There was so much marine life we saw when snorkelling off the coast. Very big tropical reef fish to the most bizarre jelly fish. We didn't see any sharks or predators (the guide said it was a small chance). I always get paranoid when there are so many fish about - it seems to me that there must always be a bigger one about to eat them and thus follow the food chain. Anyhows, our guide kept watch for sharks, but none came whilst we were swimming anyway.
- Drinking and
Me and Carmel
Sunset on another perfect beach.... socialising with the locals was fun. We found a little yacht club owned by local Omanis. We were invited in and joined them several nights for drinking, pool and chat. They seemed quite bemused that this group of teachers had entered their little social world, but were most hospitable and by the final night were swapping numbers and promising to call the next time they were in Kuwait etc... They were very liberal Muslims that we met who drank too much and happily talked about world politics with perspective and balance. This was intriguing to us as conversation like this is impossible to have with Kuwaitees.
Anyhows, to conclude it was a great holiday - my travel partners (Mal and Carmel) were great company and I wish we were still on our little bay now instead of typing in my Drama Office knowing that I have to teach in a few minutes... C'est la vie
On the horizon. I am still planning on going to Goa on the 4th April and have my Robin Hood production at the end of March...
Hope you are all well and happy,
Matt )
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Carmel
non-member comment
well written :-)