travel theme: the four elements

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travel theme

Sunday, May 19: Ailsa of Where’s my backpack? challenges us this week to come up with “an homage to earth, air, water and fire.”

For earth, what else can I post but the mountains of Oman?  Because they’re usually vegetation-free, they’re considered a geologist’s heaven.  Here are the mountains that make up the sides of Wadi Ghul.

the rock-solid earth at Wadi Ghul

One evening, at Dana Nature Reserve in Jordan, the air looked quite unstable and threatening.

Air at Dana Nature Reserve in Jordan

Water filled Santorini’s caldera after the volcano erupted some 3600 years ago at the height of the Minoan civilization.  This was the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history.   Now it is one of the most peaceful and serene places you can imagine, except for the tourists.

water ~ the Mediterranean at Santorini’s caldera

And fire has destructive power, but also provides much-needed warmth on a cold night in Kathmandu, Nepal.

fire at New Orleans Cafe in Kathmandu, Nepal

weekly photo challenge: escape

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Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, postaweek2013, United States of America, weekly photo challenge

Sunday, May 19: The WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is Escape:  Depending on your current mood and headspace, or time in your life, this word can evoke different emotions and conjure a variety of images. Maybe the end of your semester is near, and you yearn for vacation and release: the desire to disappear and run away, the need to unplug and shut off. Or perhaps you imagine quite the opposite: Lost in a maze. Stuck in a room, feeling boxed in, with the worst company. Frustrated in your own thoughts, wondering what to do next.

This week is final exams and then the spring semester is over at the University of Nizwa.  I still have 39 days left until my last day of work, and I’m not sure what the university will give me to do to keep me busy.  All I know is that I’m waiting to escape my job here in Oman and return home to the USA for good.  On the way, I plan to make a month-long stop in Spain and Portugal.

Here are some pictures of the good old U.S.A., taken last summer at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland.  We won’t be going to Deep Creek this summer, but it does represent the quintessential escape for me.  Lots of green, cool weather, a beautiful lake, boating, swimming and kayaking.  Hanging out with my family playing games and just general relaxing.  Oh, how I yearn to escape!

Life jackets and kayak paddles ready to go

these feet are ready for an escape

kayaks at Deep Creek Lake

Deep Creek Lake

an escape into a nice relaxing hot tub on the deck of the cabin

perfect escape, a drink, smoke and computer on the deck at Deep Creek Lake

friday meditation: on choosing one memory to relive for all eternity

Tags

Life, Spirituality, WPLongform

Friday, May 17: A couple of weeks ago, I watched an intriguing Japanese movie called After Life, known in Japan as Wonderful Life (ワンダフルライフ).  This is a 1998 film by Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda starring Arata, Oda Erika and Terajima Susumu.

the 1998 Japanese film: after life

Koreeda’s After Life is set in a way station where the souls of the recently deceased are processed before entering heaven. “Heaven,” in the film, is a single happy memory from one’s life, re-experienced for eternity.

The movie is set in a building resembling a decrepit travel lodge or social services institution. Every Monday, a new group of recently deceased people check in, and the “social workers” in the lodge explain to each guest their situation. The newly-dead have until Wednesday to identify the single happiest memory. For the rest of the week, the workers at the institution work to design and replicate each person’s chosen memory, thereby replicating the single happiest moment of that person’s life, and it is filmed.

At the end of the week, the recently deceased watch the films of their recreated happiest memories in a screening room. As soon as each person sees his or her own memory, he or she vanishes to whatever unknown state of existence lies beyond and takes only that single memory with them, to live and relive for eternity (Wikipedia: After Life (film)).

I found this movie fascinating and, over the last several weeks, I have pondered this question: If I had to choose ONE happy memory from my life to relive over and over for all eternity, what would it be?

Some of the memories chosen by the people who stopped at the way station on this particular week were as follows:

1. A pilot recalls flying through clouds in a small plane with a breeze dancing across his face.
2. A woman recalls performing a dance for her father when she was a little girl and his happiness at watching her dance.
3. One man, Ichiro, thinks of his life as uneventful and can’t think of any moment that he would like to relive for all eternity. It turns out he married counselor Takashi’s former fiancée after Takashi was killed in World War II.  Ichiro thought of his marriage as nothing special.
4. One young man refuses to pick one memory from his past and insists on filming a “memory” that he imagines in the future that, sadly, will never be his.
5. One woman imagines sitting on a bench in a garden with the love of her life.

I found it interesting that the moments were not earth-shattering, but were generally quiet moments of peace and bliss.  I have been reflecting on memories of my life and I wonder what I would choose to relive for all eternity if I had to choose.  These are some of the memories that have come to mind.

1. Lying in bed at my grandmother’s house in Petersburg, Virginia listening to the rain pattering on the tin roof.  I always felt so warm, safe and loved when I was with my grandmother.  To this day, I still dream she has been alive all these years and no one has thought to tell me.
   

   me with my Dorothy doll at my grandmother’s house

2. Waking up and sneaking quietly downstairs to the Christmas tree every Christmas morning when I was a child, BEFORE I learned there was no Santa Claus.   My mother always made Christmas magical.
3. Lying on cots on Martha’s grandmother’s screened-in sleeping porch at Sandy Point on the Potomac River.  It was dark, and fireflies flitted outside, and we talked and talked until we fell asleep.
4. Sitting with my maternal grandfather beside a river in Colorado while he made scrambled eggs with chili powder over a hot fire.  Riding horses in a valley in the midst of the Rockies.
5. Hanging out at Lake Gaston with three of my best friends in the summer, playing cards, swimming in the lake, water-skiing, and sneaking out to go skinny-dipping after dark.
   

   me, Rosie, Louise and Charlene at Lake Gaston

6. Staying up all night on Virginia Beach with my first true love, David.
7. Playing games, mainly Charades or Scrabble, with my brothers and sisters on Thanksgiving Day.
   

   Stephanie, Bill, Robbie, me and Brian playing Scrabble

8. Driving across the country with my first husband Bill, and seeing my first view of the Grand Tetons.
9. Rafting down the Salmon River in Idaho for 7 days with Bill and a group of friends from William & Mary.
   

   rafting down the Salmon River

   

   Bill & I approach a big hydraulic and we make it!

   

   Bill, captain of our two-man inflatable canoe
10. Having my parents come to visit Bill and Sarah and me when we lived in Richmond, Virginia.
    

    Dad, Mom, me, Sarah and Bill at our house in Richmond

11. Holding hands with Mike, my second husband, as we walked through the National Gallery of Art in Washington.  As we walked, he kept gently rubbing the palm of my hand with his fingers.
12. Hiking with Mike on Billy Goat’s trail on the Maryland side of the Potomac River in the fall, and stopping to have a picnic overlooking the river.  He shared with me the grief he felt at losing his first wife to breast cancer.  Or, canoeing with Mike on the Potomac River and reading to each other from Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.
    

    canoeing with Mike on the Potomac

13. Being handed each of my three children, Sarah, Alex and Adam, right after they were born.  How would I ever choose one of these memories over another?
14. Walking with Mike through the Cotswolds in England following the Ordnance maps and being amazed that we were allowed to walk through people’s properties.
15. Hiking with Mike along Catbells Ridge in England’s Lake District in the midst of a lovely breeze.
16. Dressing up my sons in fireman and Dalmatian costumes and pulling them in a red wagon through the neighborhood to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.
    

    Alex as fireman & Adam as Dalmatian for Halloween

17. Picking apples at Stribling Orchard with Mike and the boys on a cool October day.
    

    Alex & Adam picking apples on a cool October day at Stribling Orchard

18. Having wine and heart-to-heart conversations with R~ at Mei’s Asian Bistro in Arlington, Virginia.
19. My birthday in 2007 with R~ at a restaurant in Washington, D.C.
20. An evening with my daughter Sarah sharing wine and food in Richmond, Virginia.
    

    Spending time with Sarah in Richmond sampling food and wine at various establishments

21. Listening to the music of Omar Khairat on a beautiful fall day in Virginia, accompanied by a breeze from the open window, while chatting online with my Egyptian friend Ahmed.
22. Walking through the wetlands of Suncheon Bay in South Korea on a breezy day.
    

    a happy memory at Suncheon Bay in South Korea

23. Playing Ticket to Ride with my friends in Korea, Seth and Anna.
    

    Playing Ticket to Ride

24. Spending a day walking through the cave churches of Cappadocia in Turkey with a fun and lively group of fellow travelers from Brazil and Italy.
    

    a happy day in Cappadocia, Turkey

25. Eating fresh mushrooms with dill, accompanied by a glass of red wine, at the Dimrit Restaurant in Cappadocia, and flirting with the head waiter.
    

    a night at the Dimrit Restaurant in Cappadocia

26. Floating in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia in Turkey.
    

    hot air ballooning in Cappadocia

27. Floating on a junk on Halong Bay in Vietnam and having dinner and wine with a fascinating group of fellow nomads.
    

    floating on a junk on Halong Bay: the happiness cruise

28. Swimming into the beautiful cave at Wadi Shab in Oman with my sons in January 2012.
    

    the entrance to the pools at Wadi Shab. We have to swim back through a number of pools to get to the cave.

29. Waking up in Rethymno, Crete at Barbara Studios to a lovely breeze coming through some sheer curtains and anticipating the day ahead exploring Rethymno.
    

    a breeze through the curtains at Barbara Studio in Crete

30. Drinking a glass of red wine on the rooftop of the Acropolis View Hotel in Athens, Greece and enjoying the view of the Acropolis.
    

    me sitting on the roof of the Acropolis View Hotel

Of course, these are only a few of the multitudes of happy memories I have in my life.  I think I will add to this post as I think of more.  Maybe someday, at some way station on the way to heaven, I will need to choose.  Just possibly, this list will help me narrow it down.

Next week, I will try to post about my happiest memories in Oman over the last 20 months.

How would I ever choose just one memory to relive for all eternity?

What memory would you choose if you could choose just one?

a fond farewell to the gardens of wekan

Tags

Oman, Travel

Friday, May 17: This morning, a small group of us meets at Mario’s house in Izki at 6:30 a.m. for a day trip to Wekan, a small village perched on the side of a mountain at the end of Wadi Mistal in Al Batinah.

Anna and I drive in my turquoise Suzuki Celerio because I have to return it Budget Renta Car at the airport on our way back through Muscat.  I had a flat tire last week and found out from the person who helped change the tire that ALL the tires on the car are bad. Now I’m driving with no spare. Besides that, there is no crank for the jack.  I am returning it this afternoon for a different Suzuki.

Mario and Gavin drive in Gavin’s 4WD; he’s the one who will drive us off the beaten path through Wadi Mistal.  At the clocktower roundabout at Al Rusayl, I leave my car and we all get into Gavin’s car for the rest of the drive.

When we arrive at the entrance to Wadi Mistal, we are pleasantly surprised to find 18km of the paved road into the wadi is now complete.  We only have to drive an additional 12 km on a dirt track.  That makes for a smoother and more pleasant drive.

When we arrive, Gavin brings out a plastic container of muffins to fortify us for our hike through the gardens of Wekan.  It’s quite hot today, about 106 degrees Fahrenheit, but up on this mountain, we find it’s a wee bit cooler, thank heavens.

the view of Wadi Mistal from the village of Wekan

shadow play in a building near the entrance of Wekan that looks like it was once a ticket booth

the watchtower at the entrance to Wekan

Heed the sign!

Wekan is quite an exciting village for those of us living in Oman because it is one of the few places with a lot of green.  Our first sighting is of some green ornamental grasses.  We don’t see too many grasses in this country.

some pretty grasses near the entrance to Wekan

the field of onions that seems to have been harvested already

a budding pomegranate

We come across some Bangladeshi boys who have picked a bunch of apricots and Mario shells out a couple of Omani rials to buy a bag of them.  We all enjoy the snack of fresh fruit right off the trees.

a collection of apricots

It seems the whole mountainside is lush with grapevines.

trellises of grapevines

figs

beautiful red and yellow leaves from the grapevines

a makeshift fence

another pomegranate

the fuzzy bush in the foreground is an asparagus plant. I never knew asparagus looked like this!

I’m especially captivated by the smattering of red and yellow leaves on the grapevines.  As I haven’t experienced autumn in two years, I feel compelled to capture them in a photo so I can look at them and dream of being back in the USA this fall for my favorite season.

red and yellow grapevine leaves

I love the colors of this leaf

I love this delicate little weed

looking across the wadi to the mountains on the other side

Looking down on Wekan from the gardens above

some harvested Omani garlic. We can really smell it!

view of Wekan from above

another view of Wekan

going up the Persian steps in Wekan

Gavin, Anna and Mario

grapes, not quite ready for harvest

figs

more grapes

grapevines on trellises

more grapes

date palm and the Western Hajar Mountains

more tiny grapes

another interesting weed

partly shaded Persian steps alongside the pomegranates

shaded steps and the falaj beside them

date palms and the mountains above

the falaj and the Persian steps

more of the Persian steps

Wekan

a picture of an Arabian Oryx drawn on a wall

a pretty onion, according to Mario

I always feel like a walk through Wekan is like experiencing a bit of paradise.  With the running water in the falaj humming a soothing tune and the slight, though warm, breezes on the mountain, it’s a little escape from the miserable heat down below.

As it takes about 3 hours to get to Wekan from Nizwa, I don’t think I will be returning to Wekan again before I leave Oman.

Fare thee well, Wekan!  You’ve given me many happy memories.

on preparing for spain & portugal: first steps

Tags

Oman, Portugal, Spain, Travel

Wednesday, May 15: On this Wednesday afternoon, after listening to and double-marking eighteen tedious presentations by John G’s students about the cities in the world they dream of visiting, about how “the life is beautiful” and “Paris/Tokyo/Sydney are so beautiful and nice and I advice {sic} you to go there,” I escape the university early.  The temperature on this day is 106 degrees Fahrenheit and even after I drive my tiny turquoise Suzuki Celerio home with the air conditioner cranked up full blast, I feel like burnt toast when I pull into my driveway 30 minutes later.  I immediately do as I do every day when I get home: put on my pajamas, turn on all three air-conditioners and all five fans, gobble down two dolmas and a plateful of sliced cheddar cheese with tomato wedges on crackers, and plop down on my couch to read about Barcelona in my bulky Lonely Planet Spain.

Lonely Planet Spain. Portugal’s next on the list

Always the queen of wasting time, I eventually force myself to get up and at least make one small step toward packing for my not-imminent-enough departure soon after June 26.  I open my red suitcase and start trying on clothes that I think I’d like to wear on my vacation to Spain and Portugal.

Yikes!  I know I have gained weight but I didn’t realize how much the bulge around my middle is now emphasized in every tank top and cute knit sleeveless top I own.  Since in Oman I always wear baggy long-sleeved shirts, I have been in great denial (though admittedly secretly aware) of how unsightly my body has become. I try on a number of plain tank tops and cute flowing ruffled tops and red tops with colorful embroidery, tops that remind me of flamenco dancing and sangria and azulejos (blue & white painted tiles found everywhere in Portugal) and the striped arches of Cordoba’s Mezquita.  The ones that best camouflage the bulges go in the suitcase and the others go in a pile to be shipped back to the USA for hopefully better days.

first steps in my packing process

I have been dreaming of wandering through the Glory Facade of La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and eating paella by the sea in Valencia, wandering through and marveling at the Alhambra & the Cordoba Mezquita, eating tapas in Seville and drinking wine while under the influence of Spanish guitarists. In these dreams, I look as cute and Spanish as a person of my age and German heritage can look.  But. Unless my right knee stops giving me problems and I can go on a full-out exercise regime in the next month, I will sadly need to change my vision.

Duende: searching for an intense emotional state that is the heart of flamenco

Oh well.  In the meantime, after finishing off marathon sessions of the 3rd season of Downton Abbey and the Christmas special where Matthew Crawley gets killed in a car accident right after his baby boy is born, I distract myself from my sorrows by diving in to Lonely Planet Spain, making asterisks next to places I want to visit in Barcelona and Valencia.  Alternately, I lie on my couch in my air-conditioned flat and read Duende: a journey into the heart of Flamenco, by Jason Webster, about the author’s search for “the intense and mysterious emotional state – part ecstasy, part melancholy – that is the essence of Spain’s signature art form: flamenco.”  I search on Youtube for Spanish flamenco music and classical Spanish guitar music to add to my iPod Nano.  I download Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, to my Kindle and search in vain for a Kindle version of The Seamstress by Maria Duennas (highly recommended by mrs. carmichael of being mrs. carmichael).  I do a Google search for novels set in Spain or in Portugal and add 22 titles to my Goodreads “to-read” list.  I look for a small-group local tour in Andalucia, which I find, and I look on booking.com for low-priced but decent hotels in Barcelona, which don’t seem to exist.  I pencil in an itinerary on a calendar and on maps of Spain and Portugal.

And of course, I manage to waste time preparing a new blog where I will eventually post about all my European journeys.  So far, I’ve only written one post from a 2003 trip to France, but once I return home to the USA, I plan to post about both of my trips to France, a 1999 trip to England, and my upcoming trip to Spain and Portugal (and hopefully many future trips including a walk on the Camino de Santiago and trips to Italy, Croatia, Ireland, Switzerland, and anywhere else I can afford to go).  If you feel like taking a look, hop on over to in search of a thousand cafés.

Finally, I dream.  It’s not much longer now.

sunday post: mother’s day

Tags

Life, Sunday Post

Sunday, May 12:  Today is Mother’s Day in the USA, and Jake has given us a challenge to post something in honor of mothers everywhere (Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post: Mother’s Day).  He writes: Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March or May.

Here are some mothers I’ve encountered in my travels.

a mother and her son in Pokhara, Nepal

A mother bathes her child in Bhaktapur, Nepal

a mother and her children at the Lalibela Saturday market in Ethiopia

Indian mothers at the Lotus Temple in Delhi, India

my Korean friend Julie and her two children

And finally, in honor of my mother, who died over 10 years ago: Happy Mother’s Day!

My father and mother and their four children (one was still to come!)

travel theme: beaches

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travel theme

Saturday, May 11: Ailsa’s Travel Theme for this week is Beaches. Here are some beaches I’ve encountered in my travels.

Let’s start at the beginning.  Here is the beach of my childhood, on the York River in Yorktown, Virginia.  I spent many of my teenage years hanging out with my friends on this beach.

Yorktown Beach with the York River Bridge in the background. This is my hometown.

In general, I prefer deserted, quiet, peaceful and unpopulated beaches, NOT beaches packed with people and umbrellas and chairs and tents and inner tubes like Guryongpo Beach near Pohang, South Korea or Patong Beach in Phuket, Thailand.  Most beaches in South Korea are crowded, as Korea is a tiny country with a huge population of 48 million people.  Haeundae Beach in Busan is nice enough in early April, when this picture was taken, but it’s usually quite crowded.

the tacky, crowded Guryongpo Beach near Pohang, South Korea

another crowded and tacky beach in Phuket, Thailand

Haeundae Beach in Busan, South Korea

It’s not so bad if the beach is set up with mostly EMPTY beach chairs and umbrellas, like this beach in Plakias, Crete, Greece.  At least it’s on the Mediterranean, and what could be better than that?

Plakias Beach, Crete, Greece

Plakias Beach in Crete, Greece

Sometimes it’s nice to hang out at a hotel beach, like this beach at Shangri-La Resort near Muscat, Oman. It has a huge pool and a lazy river, so you can dip in the fresh water and wash off the salt and sand from time to time.

Beach at the Shangri-la Resort near Muscat, Oman

Beach at the Shangri-la Resort near Muscat, Oman

Some beaches in Oman are quite deserted or are used mainly by fishermen.  Every time I’ve been to these beaches, they’ve been so extremely hot, I don’t find them enjoyable.  Some of the beaches are so deserted they’re used only by campers.

As Sifah Beach near Muscat, Oman

Omani fisherman at Al Musanaah Beach, Oman

Seashells on the beach at Al Musanaah in Oman

a deserted beach where people camp on the east coast of Oman

This beach on the Dead Sea in Jordan is quite small, and it’s really impossible to swim in the water because of the high salt content.  No matter what you do, you end up in a position like you are sitting in an armchair, with your arms, legs and head floating on the water’s surface.  Only your rear end sinks in the water.

beach at the Dead Sea in Jordan

Some beaches are just little strips of sand situated on a lake shore, like this beach at Lake Langano, Ethiopia.

a small beach at Lake Langano, Ethiopia

Luckily, there are some picture-perfect beaches like Sangju “Silver Sand” Beach in South Korea.

Sangju “Silver Sand” Beach in South Korea

Sangju “Silver Sand” Beach, South Korea

To see more beaches, check out Where’s my backpack? Travel Theme: Beaches.

weekly photo challenge: pattern

Tags

Oman, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, weekly photo challenge

Friday, May 10:  This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is Pattern. Patterns are everywhere. Patterns are sometimes intentional and sometimes accidental. They can be decorative or merely a result of repetition, and often patterns can be in the eye of the beholder to discover them.

Sometimes man makes patterns out of nature, as in these tea farms in Boseong, South Korea.

Boseong Tea Plantations in South Korea

And sometimes nature makes its own patterns, as in these wetlands in Suncheon Bay Ecological Park in South Korea.

Suncheon Bay Ecological Park in South Korea

At other times, man makes patterns to show reverence at places of worship, such as this Buddhist temple in Maisan, South Korea.

a temple in Maisan, South Korea

Or to show reverence to Allah, as in the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan Mosque in Abu Dhabi, UAE or the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman.

Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Mosaic at Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, Oman

And sometimes, man makes patterns to show his own ability to create opulence, as at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi.

Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi

dome at Emirates Palace

getting my green fix in the gardens of misfat al abriyyen

Tags

Oman, Travel

Saturday, May 4:  This afternoon, I decide I need a green fix, so I go for a short walk through the gardens of Misfat Al Abriyyen.  I love the broad and lush green leaves of the banana plants, the date palms, and the papaya trees.

The falaj is flowing with water through the gardens and the tank that holds the water for the village is overflowing due to the abundant rain we’ve had over the last week.  It feels like a little slice of paradise.

the falaj flows at Misfat al Abriyyen

the holding tank for water in the village is overflowing

People still live in the old village, even though a lot of the houses and buildings look like ruins.

We come upon an old man singing a song while another Omani man takes a video of him. When I ask the man if I can take a picture of him he giggles like a child and gives me a wide toothless grin.

a friendly old man in the garden

weekly photo challenge: from above

Tags

Greece, Jebel Akhdar, Jordan, Nepal, Oman, weekly photo challenge

Saturday, May 4: This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is From Above: Change your perspective on something. Share a photo of a subject which you shot from directly above.

From above at the Monastery of St. Barbara, Meteora, Greece

Looking down at Kalambaka from the Monastery of St. Stephen at Meteora, Greece

from above: Nepalese Vegetarian food: basmati rice, black lentils, vegetable curry, spinach green curry, pickle, papad (some kind of mushroom curry?), salad and curd.

the view from above at the Hotel View Point in Nagarkot, Nepal

From above: flowers at Pokhara, Nepal

the view from above at the ancient Crusader castle at Karak, Jordan

from above: the curving staircase at Eikan-do, Kyoto, Japan

From above in a hot air balloon over Cappadocia, Turkey

From above: the “fjords of Arabia” in Musandam, Oman

Omani children at Jebel Akhdar, from above