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a nomad in the land of nizwa

~ an American English teacher in Oman

a nomad in the land of nizwa

Category Archives: Al-Wusta Region

more empty quarter…and onward to the land of frankincense, fruit stands & camels

19 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Al-Wusta Region, Camels, Dhofar Region, Frankincense Park, Middle East, Oman, Salalah, Salalah Beach Villas, The Empty Quarter, Wadi Uyun

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Oman, Salalah, Travel

Thursday, January 19:  We wake up a little bruised from the battle last night, but we all try our best to put the episode behind us.  After eating breakfast in the Al-Ghaftain Restaurant, we get in the car for the second half of our drive through the Empty Quarter.  Al-Ghaftain is a little over halfway from Nizwa, so we still have about 4+ hours of driving through the desert.

Adam & Alex in the Empty Quarter, Oman

Adam & Alex in the Empty Quarter, Oman

Uneventful is an understatement to describe the rest of the drive. This empty part of Oman is desolate and barren. I can’t find much to say about it except that there are periodic signs warning of sand dunes encroaching on the road.  Mostly flat desert, there are only small sand dunes, more like enlarged ant hills, dotting the landscape.  We make one stop along the way to take photos of ourselves standing in the gravelly sand.  We fill up with petrol every time there is a gas station, even though sometimes we get just over 1 rial of gas.  There are some road diversions along the way, little construction projects in the middle of nowhere, with apologetic signs at the end of the diversion: “Sorry for the inconvenience.”  We see one lone man running along the roadside; with no towns for miles and miles in either direction, we wonder where on earth he came from and where he’s going.

Adam, Alex and the GMC Terrain in the Empty Quarter

Adam, Alex and the GMC Terrain in the Empty Quarter

We look forward to stopping at the Frankincense Park to see the frankincense trees.  Until I read about frankincense in my Oman Off-Road book, I didn’t know anything about this ancient commodity, traded “pound for pound with gold” throughout India, Arabia and Europe.  The Dhofar region’s trees produced what was, and still is, considered the best frankincense in the world.

Frankincense trees in Wadi Dawkah, north of Salalah

Frankincense trees in Wadi Dawkah, north of Salalah

From Oman Off-Road:  Frankincense is the hardened aromatic resin of the Boswellia tree, and is burned for its medicinal, aromatic and insect-repelling qualities.  The resin is produced by careful shaving of the bark of the tree.  A good tree may produce 10 kg of frankincense in a season, which runs from April to the beginning of the monsoon.  The trees grow wild and are located where the southern mountains of Oman meet the desert plateau.

Adam, our "guide," and Adam under a frankincense tree

Adam, our “guide,” and Adam under a frankincense tree

We walk down to the park where a Bangladeshi man who tends the trees shows us some trees with the resin on the trunks.

the resin from the tree that is frankincense

the resin from the tree that is frankincense

Most of the resin is still oozing out of the trunk and has not solidified.  He tells us that once it hardens, they will shave off the resin and sell it in the markets.  Apparently, good quality frankincense has a silvery color, is transparent, and is a good size clump of resin.  The more opaque and reddish it becomes, the lesser the quality.  Our guide shows us the resin in various stages of solidifying; I find it fascinating how this scented treasure is formed.

Wadi Uyun

Wadi Uyun

After our sweltering walk through the Frankincense Park, we head next to Wadi Uyun.  We drive through 3 1/2 km of dirt roads to an overlook with glimpses of green pools and grasses.  Though my Oman Off-Road says you can find traces of a trail down to the water, we frankly don’t see any way down to the water.  Mostly high cliffs and boulders surround this wadi.  Granted we don’t take a lot of time to search for the route as we’re anxious at this point to get to Salalah after our long drive.  So we just enjoy the view and move on.

Alex & Adam & their camel friends

Along the road to the wadi, we encounter a bunch of camels grazing on some meager tufts of grass.  We get out of the car and move up close to observe them; they ignore us totally, knowing, I suppose, that they rule in Salalah.

After our camel encounter, we finally arrive in Salalah, where we check out the Lonely Planet-recommended hotel: Salalah Beach Villas.

Salalah Beach Villas ~ right on the beach!

Salalah Beach Villas ~ right on the beach!

This hotel is right on the beach, with no road in between, or behind for that matter. This makes it a little difficult to find and we drive around in circles looking for the entrance. After much miscommunication with the non-English speaking receptionist, we check in and unload our suitcases, and then check out the pool, the white sand beach, the poolside outdoor dining area, and our room.

me by the poolside as the sun is setting

me by the poolside as the sun is setting

We head out to find fruit at one of the multitudes of fruit stands along the road.  The boys are enamored with the fresh coconuts, hacked open and served with a straw, as well as the bunches of tiny bananas.

After collecting a coconut each, and sipping on them through our straws, we drive into Salalah proper to find another Lonely Planet restaurant, Al-Fareed Tourist Restaurant.  The guidebook tells us it’s on 23 July Street, but we drive up and down that street to no avail.  (23rd July Street is a common street name in Oman, commemorating the July 23, 1970 coup by Sultan Qaboos; it marks a day of renaissance for Oman “in the political, social, cultural, economic and technological spheres of life. Ever since he acceded the throne, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos has begun to plant the seeds of his vision to make his country enjoy the fruits of modernization and restore its glorious past,” according to Oman’s Ministry of Information). We also try to call the number in the book but we get no answer.  Finally, we’re starved so we stop at a Chinese restaurant where we order vegetarian spring rolls, vegetarian fried rice, and vegetarian noodles.  I order a grilled prawns with vegetables that seems more deep-fried than grilled; I send it back because it’s totally not what I expected.

Alex & Adam with their favorite fruit guy in Salalah

Adam & Alex ~ Chinese in Salalah

Adam & Alex ~ Chinese in Salalah

We crash early after our long drive and I feel a little better about our altercation the night before.  However, I still sense a shadow lingering over us, aftereffects of the disagreement.  I hope we will eventually recover our laid-back attitudes so we can enjoy the rest of our time together.  Time is always the healer of wounds, so we just have to let it pass to mend our hurt and angry hearts.

FRUIT!!!!

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navigating oman’s empty quarter… and feeling empty inside

18 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by nomad, interrupted in Al Ghaftain Rest House, Al-Wusta Region, Middle East, Oman, The Empty Quarter

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Empty Quarter, Oman, Salalah, Travel

Wednesday, January 18:  Our trip to Salalah starts out optimistically.  We begin our drive late in the afternoon with a plan to sleep at the Al Ghaftain Guest House, about halfway through the vast expanse of Oman’s nothingness, 860 long kilometers between Nizwa and Salalah commonly known as the Empty Quarter.

Wilayat Adam Welcomes You

Wilayat Adam Welcomes You

We encounter our first bit of excitement in  the town of Adam, 40 km south of Nizwa. In that town, the namesake town of my youngest son, we stop to take a photo of Adam in front of a big sign: Wilayat Adam Welcomes You!  We fill up the car with petrol, since we were told that any time we see a petrol station in the 860 km through the middle of nowhere, we should stop and fill up.  We don’t know when the next petrol station will present itself in the vast emptiness, so we take the advice and top off the tank.

the sun sets over the Empty Quarter

the sun sets over the Empty Quarter

We continue on.  Soon after the town of Adam, the mountains dwindle to flatlands and all we see around us is a vast expanse of plains with some scrubby bushes dotting the landscape.  As we continue on, kilometer after kilometer, even the bushes disappear, and all that’s left in any direction are expanses of flat sand.  Not the nice red sand and windswept dunes of the Sharqiya region, but white pebbly sand as flat as a griddle.

We take turns driving, Adam and Alex and I, and the time passes.  At some point it gets dark, and we drive along in the darkness with no idea what’s around us.

This is when things start to deteriorate.  Adam tells us about a link one of his friends posted on her Facebook page about Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome (Brick Walls).  A mother had written in because she was told by a doctor at the Nephrology department at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, that  her daughter, who is mentally retarded, should not have a kidney transplant because she is mentally retarded and has brain damage.

Adam tells us the response he wrote to this girl’s posting, which was as follows: “is a human being something more than an animal? don’t get me wrong, i love and respect all life, and would never purposefully harm any life unless my own life depends on it. but that does not mean i would go out of my way, nor do i expect anyone else to go out of their way, for what seems to me to be a hopeless cause. when a horse gets a broken leg, it is usually put down. most house pets are never left to die themselves, but are put “to sleep” in order to prevent misery. why is it different with humans? are humans something more than animals? we have the technology and capacity to keep many more things alive than we do. why fight for one form but not another? i have heard when Spartans had a baby which seemed unfit, they would hurl it over a cliff. when you are hungry, do you not kill a chicken? or a cow? or a fish?

“… all of the money this family is willing to spend to save this one human, could be used to save many many more humans with less severe conditions, but do not have the money to save themselves. or, wow who would think of this, but that same amount of money could save thousands if not millions of innocent animals. also, there will be tons of money that will be spent by this family which will go into the pockets of already too wealthy pharmaceutical company owners who are nothing more than very big time drug dealers who will put out drugs which will be tested (probably on animals, many of which are caged their entire lives and subjected to horrible conditions) but probably not tested enough and then more people will be harmed by these drugs which are improperly prescribed and then more money will be spent for those annoying lawyer commercials which just tell us that we deserve more money because we took too many drugs da da da sorry i don’t know where i’m going with this any more but you see what im saying maybe a little bit? there is much more to this than this one little girl. there are many more problems in this world than a children’s doctor (who has probably saved many lives in his career) calling a little girl retarded… sorry for the rant, again, no harm meant to anyone just trying to provoke thought.”

the boys' room at the Al Ghaftain Rest House

the boys’ room at the Al Ghaftain Rest House

I know my sons have radical ideas, and it’s fine with me if they want to have these ideas.  But when they try to push their agenda on me, I bristle and resist. I don’t like anyone who tries to browbeat me into believing what they believe, no matter what the idea.  Whatever the subject matter, religion, politics, sociology or psychology, I will resist anyone who tries to force their beliefs on me.  I will listen and try to understand their perspective, but then I can choose to agree to disagree.  People are certainly welcome to have their ideas, but they are just as certainly NOT welcome to try to force their ideas down my throat.

the room where I spend a restless ~ and freezing ~ night

the room where I spend a restless ~ and freezing ~ night

I listen to their arguments and I agree that some of their points are valid.  But, as devil’s advocate, I argue the other side of this issue.  I say that I believe humans are more than animals because of our cognitive and emotional development.  I believe there is a food chain and some animals are meant to be food for other animals.  You can look around in nature and see this.  Adam says that he should show me a video of cows being slaughtered and then I won’t say animals don’t have emotions.   They certainly do have emotions and know fear. They know when they are about to be slaughtered. I know this is true as all animals have that fight-or-flight instinct that is vital to their survival.

I say that pharmaceutical companies should be able to test drugs on animals so that human lives can be saved.  Adam disagrees vehemently that animals should suffer to save human lives.  He sees animals and humans on a level playing field; they should have the same rights and be treated exactly the same.

the prayer mat in our room at Al-Ghaftain...we need prayers on this night!

the prayer mat in our room at Al-Ghaftain…we need prayers on this night!

We move to the idea of the mentally retarded girl.  Adam believes huge sums of money should not be spent to keep alive someone whose contribution to society is negligible.  I say that mentally retarded people contribute to society in their own way, according to their ability.  But he argues money would be better spent saving those whose contributions are larger.  I say this is a slippery slope; once you start making decisions about whose lives are more valuable than others’, it will never end.  You can’t quantify the value of a human life, although I’m sure society does make just such judgments.

I present to him a scenario.  Suppose he gets married one day and has a mentally retarded child.  How would he feel?  What I don’t even get to say to Adam is this: Suppose that one day YOU are in a horrible accident and become mentally incapacitated.  How would you feel under these circumstances?  Should I think of any money spent saving you as a wasted resource?  As your mother, should I throw up my hands and give up because the contribution you can make to society is now diminished?

Adam says he doesn’t plan to get married and neither does he plan to have any children.  I say, suppose you change your mind?  Suppose you decide to have children and suppose you have a mentally retarded child?  He says that won’t happen to him.  Then he attacks me for appealing to his emotions instead of thinking logically about this issue.  “Use your brain!  I can’t even believe my own mother is stooping so low and not even presenting an intelligent argument.”

pointing in the direction of Mecca in Al-Ghaftain Rest House

pointing in the direction of Mecca in Al-Ghaftain Rest House

By now I am pissed off beyond belief, but I decide to keep silent.  This argument is deteriorating into something ugly and unbelievable, and frankly, I am not liking either of my boys right now. Now that their attacks have become personal, my blood is boiling and I fear a huge escalation.  I sit silently, fuming inside, and drive through the empty, and now somewhat threatening, darkness.

Both the boys then team up and begin a full frontal attack on me, saying I don’t contribute to society because I eat meat and spend money and consume too much of the earth’s resources. I argue that I don’t eat that much meat and that I am working to simplify my life.  They continue to attack and say I really don’t contribute, basically because I’m not a vegetarian like they are.  I argue that I contribute in my own way, according to what I believe is important, such as educating women in the Middle East to give them opportunities and hope.  They say again that I’m helping humans, and not thinking at all about animals.  That’s right.  Because frankly, animal rights are not my agenda, but THEIRS.  They’re welcome to it, but I don’t choose it as my own.

Adam the morning after the battle, holding the prayer mat up to Mecca

Adam the morning after the battle, holding the prayer mat up to Mecca

By this time I am so angry I want to say to them, “And exactly how are you both contributing?  By shrugging off your responsibility to complete your education and by refusing to work hard?  By continuing to mooch off your father????”  But I know the futility of making such a statement, especially with the emotions running high in this car, and I don’t say anything.  I am just dead silent.

I’m sick of this discussion, mainly because I’m sick of their self-righteous attitudes, so I say what I always say when I want to end a discussion: “Whatever.”  And then I am silent.  The silence in the car is as thick and impenetrable as solidifying wet concrete.

We arrive finally at Al-Ghaftain Rest House and check in to our room.  Tensions are still high, but Alex and I decide to go to the 24-hour restaurant for dinner.  Adam says he will stay in the room.  I shrug and head to the restaurant.  After dinner, we return to the room.  As soon as we walk in, Adam grabs his backpack and says he’s going for a walk.  Then he disappears into the vast expanse of the Empty Quarter.

Al-Ghaftain Rest House, the morning after

Al-Ghaftain Rest House, the morning after

At this point, I start getting text messages from Mike, the boys’ father, in Virginia.  “What’s going on?”

I respond: “He’s just upset bc I don’t agree with his ideas about animals being as important as humans.  I’m not going to get into a 3-way discussion!”

Mike: “Let him have his opinions and let him know that you respect his opinions but don’t try to change them or argue. Just let him know you disagree and that is the way we were raised.”

Me: “That is exactly what I did and then he started attacking me personally.  I really don’t need you to get involved!”

This back and forth continues with Mike sending messages to Adam and me, Alex sending messages to Adam.  Alex is worried sick about his brother and begging him to please come back to the room.  There are texts still coming from Mike to me and then from Adam to Mike, and I think Adam makes phone calls to Mike.  I tell Mike that if Adam isn’t back in the room by 8 a.m., I will leave without him.  And when I find him again, I will send him home on the next plane.  By this time, I am so furious that I really want to send them both home and go back to my peaceful and quiet life of solitude.

Parting shots of Al-Ghaftain

Parting shots of Al-Ghaftain

After much phone negotiation between Mike and Adam, and Alex and Adam, I get this text from Mike: “Adam is headed back.  Just give him a hug and take the first step and say you are sorry.  He is a young headstrong kid. Don’t get into any more discussion.  Just give each other space.”

Adam finally returns to the room, several hours after he left.  He apologizes and I do too (although I don’t really know what the hell I’m apologizing for!) and we give each other a hug.  I try to sleep, still furious over the entire incident; my heart is still pounding with anxiety.  Our whole adventure in Oman, which up to this point has been fun and easy-going, now has a dark shadow over it.  This is motherhood and family life at its worst; this is one of many reasons why I have chosen to work abroad.

I have three children.  I love them dearly.  But I am not cut out for motherhood.  Where other mothers have these natural motherly instincts, I have to work for them.  I have to pretend that they’re there and act according to how I think a mother should act.  It’s always been a struggle for me to play-act this role.

I remember when I was young and thought about children, someone told me having children is like carrying around an egg with you all the time, every second of every day for the rest of your life.  You have to be careful, always on guard, or the egg will crack, or worse, break open.  It never ends, this role.

There is a quote from a 1950s calendar: “The first 40 years of parenthood are always the hardest.”  This is hilarious and oh so true!  My children will always be my children, no matter what they do, no matter how old they are.  Sometimes that’s a wonderful thing, and sometimes it’s simply NOT.

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#capturethecolour 7 Super Shots 52 Pick Up @travelsupermkt a-z photo challenge Abu Dhabi Al Amerat Architecture Art Balad Sayt Birthdays Blogging books Bucket List CBBH Photo Challenge Christmas Daydream Saturdays DPchallenge Egypt Empty Quarter Ethiopia GMC Terrain Greece Hyundai Sonata Ibri InterNations Japan Jebel Akhdar Jebel Shams karma's photography scavenger hunt Life middle east Misfat Al Abriyyin Muscat Nepal Nizwa Nizwa Souq No Comfort Zone Challenge Oman Omar Khairat Optimism Pessimism Phoneography Challenge Picture the World! postaweek2012 postaweek2013 Roses Royal Opera House Royal Opera House Muscat Saiq Plateau Salalah share your world Shine On Award Six Word Saturday South Korea Spain Spirituality Story Challenge Sunday Post Tibet Travel travel theme Turkey United Arab Emirates United States of America University of Nizwa Wadi Bani Awf Wadi Tiwi Wedding wednesday song title interpretation weekly photo challenge Western Hajar Mountains Wordpress WPLongform wwwp5k

Blogs I Follow

  • Fairfax County Emergency Information
  • ~ wander.essence ~
  • Living in Paradise...
  • SterVens' Tales
  • PIRAN CAFÉ
  • Word Wabbit
  • Cardinal Guzman
  • Pit's Fritztown News
  • Fumbling Through Italy
  • Empty Nesters on a Green Global Trek
  • snowtoseas
  • Cornwall in Colours
  • Slovenian Girl Abroad
  • Let Me Bite That
  • Running Stories by Jerry Lewis
  • Finding NYC
  • The World according to Dina
  • Cornwall Photographic
  • snippetsandsnaps
  • SITTING PRETTY

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Fairfax County Emergency Information

Official Fairfax County Government Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Website

~ wander.essence ~

where travel meets art

Living in Paradise...

SterVens' Tales

~~~In Case You Didn't Know, I Talk 2 Myself~~~

PIRAN CAFÉ

Word Wabbit

Wrestless Word Wrestler

Cardinal Guzman

Encyclopedia Miscellaneous - 'quality' blogging since August 2011

Pit's Fritztown News

A German Expat's Life in Fredericksburg/Texas

Fumbling Through Italy

Empty Nesters on a Green Global Trek

snowtoseas

Cornwall in Colours

inspired by the colours of the land, sea and sky of Cornwall

Slovenian Girl Abroad

A blog about travel adventures written by an Slovenian girl living in Switzerland

Let Me Bite That

Can I have a bite?

Running Stories by Jerry Lewis

Personal blog about running adventures

Finding NYC

exploring New York City one adventure at a time

The World according to Dina

Notes on Seeing, Reading & Writing, Living & Loving in The North

Cornwall Photographic

snippetsandsnaps

Potato Point and beyond

SITTING PRETTY

Fairfax County Emergency Information

Official Fairfax County Government Emergency Preparedness, Response and Recovery Website

~ wander.essence ~

where travel meets art

Living in Paradise...

SterVens' Tales

~~~In Case You Didn't Know, I Talk 2 Myself~~~

PIRAN CAFÉ

Word Wabbit

Wrestless Word Wrestler

Cardinal Guzman

Encyclopedia Miscellaneous - 'quality' blogging since August 2011

Pit's Fritztown News

A German Expat's Life in Fredericksburg/Texas

Fumbling Through Italy

Empty Nesters on a Green Global Trek

snowtoseas

Cornwall in Colours

inspired by the colours of the land, sea and sky of Cornwall

Slovenian Girl Abroad

A blog about travel adventures written by an Slovenian girl living in Switzerland

Let Me Bite That

Can I have a bite?

Running Stories by Jerry Lewis

Personal blog about running adventures

Finding NYC

exploring New York City one adventure at a time

The World according to Dina

Notes on Seeing, Reading & Writing, Living & Loving in The North

Cornwall Photographic

snippetsandsnaps

Potato Point and beyond

SITTING PRETTY

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