Oman Road Trip

hi! i was so excited to write this blog and edit these pictures! i had a ton to sort through and editing them made me even more excited to write about them.

so, a little on why we went to oman...
we primarily went to oman for what's referred to as a "visa run". My dad wasn't too keen on us going, but I actually had to, or risk being deported or fined big time when we did actually leave dubai. for those of us who enter on tourist visas, they are only good for 30 days. so when the 30 days is up, most people just drive across the oman border (because it's so close), get the proper stamps in their passports, pay the fees, then turn around and drive right back. i even found blogs upon blogs where people join up and rent a car together or split the cost of gas with someone who owns a car because these visa runs happen so often. our pastor here said they had to do it every month for the first year they were here. so we decided to make the most of it and when i logged on to find out that we had almost $700 in rewards on our credit card that we could just cash out, well, DUH, we did :)

oman was beautiful and it was oh so refreshing to see some mountains and breathe in the cool (yes cool) air. dubai is shiny, flashy, cemented, hot and dry, so it was a welcomed break. we drove over the border from dubai through al ain (if you want to look it up) and then drove another 3 hours to jebel (sometimes jabal) akhdar. dave lived in salallah for 3 months in college, which is a coastal town that has a ridge of mountains behind it, so the monsoons come over from india and get trapped there, making it very lush, green and wet. jebel akhdar was cool but the mountains were more rocky, as you'll see in the photo's.

we found a hotel online called sahab hotel near nizwa that was offering a ramadan special. this time of year can be very slow for local travel because everyone usually flees the heat and takes the occasion of ramadan and the challenges it brings to take a holiday and come back when it's over. therefore, car rentals, hotels and food usually offer some kind of discount. the hotel was up on the top of a mountain ridge where we had to rent a car with 4 wheel drive to reach it. dave let me drive on the way up and it was so fun! paved the whole way... which felt like cheating, but still fun.

first, here is the hotel and view.

view from the back of the lobby

our little room! (just the downstairs...I don't want to TOTALLY mislead you!)

view from the back patio and pool area

across the street from the hotel (the other way from the awesome view)

the studmuffin himself rounding the corner to a very creepy wife
who captured the exact shot she wanted! MUAH HA HA!!!

more view. can't get enough. 

can you see the little villages? they kind of blend. 

pretty!!!!!!

yeah this little (by little i mean HUGE) sucker was right outside our door in some bushes 

thought this was a pretty flower! 

'nother big one! 

ok next, we went on a walk through the nearest town hidden in the mountains that we could get to. the hotel told us it was through a local village, right near people's homes, but that i was marked with painted signs.

so, off we went!

here we go! Heading down to the path that heads to that faint village you can see behind the lamp post

ran into some kids. one of whom thinks he's surfing. one of whom brought out the guns a 'blazin!
P.S. this is very traditional wear. this is what all boys over a certain age and men wear. 

more view! 

just to prove i was there. 

hi!

most of the doors look like this. hand crafted wrought iron. 

these are the painted signs we followed

pomegranate tree! (that's not dave's hand, btw. we were talking to a local guy)

acting like he's hiking

see the painted sign? 

if you're wondering why I'm wearing a man's shirt, it's because
a.) you can't show skin and b.) it's ramadan so you can't show ANY skin

found a guy to take a pic for us. we really do love each other but started to hug for the pic and
the other guy with the photog turned away so we realized we were being rude. oops. 

yay! 

found a vineyard! 

then found this kid....

at this beautiful place....

DOING THIS!!! SO COOL!!!! i don't know about you,
but this is not what i did after school and homework were over...

i'm on top of the world! (echo world, world, world)

found these two babies i wanted to ABSOLUTELY STEAL

these waterways are all through the villages!

just walkin...

found this... and it's either a prayer room or someone's home. not sure. looks sketchy though! 

beautiful, clear, mountain water! 

my habibi

made it back! 

our pretty faces and the prettier sunset we wanted you to see

HI!!!!! we love you all! 

headed back to the hotel to eat dinner and watch the rest of the sunset

AND THEN FOUND THIS IN OUR ROOM!!!!!!
thankfully, my husband is a hero and climbed every piece of furniture to KILL this thing and send it to Sheol.
where it belongs. 

so then the next day, we packed up and drove 15 minutes down the road to a trail that leads to an abandoned village called Wadi Bani Habib. we heard two things about why it was abandoned. either that it was simply abandoned because of progress in oman and schools/roadways becoming less and less assessable to them so they moved further inland and.... probably....bought cars lol.
we also met an archeologist in the village that told us that it was bombed by huge boulders in the omani civil war. i kiiiinda feel like i should go with what the archeologist says!

so, there were steps leading down to it, but it was much more unmarked then the trail the day before.

do you see the village? blends..
then at the bottom of the photo are the steps that lead to the "wadi",
which is the arabic term for a valley or dried riverbed. 

still heading down 

and we reached the first home! 

this is also another reason why i think it was bombed. the archeologist we ran into told us
that helicopters dropped huge boulders on the roofs.
this picture seems in line with that. 

hi!

climbing & exploring. SO FUN!

this is andrea. she's from spain and has been hired by the omani government to explore this area! 

andrea took us to see some stuff we never would have found. through thicket and bush, without any path,
she brought us to this mosque. obviously the thing these village people spent more time on
then anything else. with the rest of the village being stone, mud and sticks, this is cement and even has carpet on the inside and paint. 

so intricate! 

this is probably where they burned incense. 

vaulted, painted ceilings. so beautiful! 

window looking in from the handwashing station. 

according to andrea, this is an oven. 

good view of a path.

according to the smoke, andrea said this was a kitchen. 

this is a beautiful window in the kitchen.

taking advantage of the pretty window design.

i would love to know how long that spiderweb has been there.

then we said thank you and goodbye! 

found this room, which i thought was pretty, before we walked back to the car. 

taking it in one last time!

we're sweaty, happy and tired! 

there's the pretty kitchen windows behind us! 

well friends, until next time, all our love from Dubai!