Oman Diaries

 September 2007

I love it when memories linger long after.It is a blissful indulgence.On our first wedding anniversary, Kris and I decided to do something different with an experience that would perfectly culminate this exciting year of togetherness.We had heard of this place called Khasab , in Musandam district of Oman, famous for its never ending mountains and deep blue waters. We instantly decided to take the plunge into this untouched beauty of the desert.

We started out on an early Saturday morning, prepared for the long five hour drive. The’ off road guide’ helped us steer all the way through the United Arab Emirates, cross the border and enter Oman. The Visa process took a couple of minutes and from there started our awesome ride on the winding road. It took us along the Hajar mountains of Oman - an endless stretch of sedimentary rocks, on one side and with the cool ultra marine fluidity of the sea on the other side. What a palette of colours on this panoramic canvas, I thought.

We quickly gobbled up the fried rice that I had packed the earlier night, in the parking lot of a park on the way. (We were worried about not getting any food on reaching, because of Ramadan)

As the curvy path twisted and turned, we saw the resort at a distance – the only built mass, juxtaposed against the natural settings. We immediately started with the mountain safari, planned beforehand. The jeep driver was waiting for us, smiling under his typically pasted moustache!

The stony fabric of the Hajar mountains offered a multitude of rocky textures. These mountains were formed by folding of sea plates of Arabia, India and Africa, long ago, as the continents were getting separated. And hence we could catch a glimpse of a variety of fossils arrested in these land forms. As the road started to slant more, the experience became more and more romantic with solitary artistic trees in beds of gravel wandering sheep perched up in rocky crevices and stone houses of Bedouins, as old as four hundred years ! These cave houses had rubble packing on the outside, while the interior was made of Acacia tree barks. They had bulky wooden doors with unusual locking arrangements.

So many imprints in stone, so many textures---some areas with bits of green scattered around, while some with stalactites and hanging bushes… The most striking aspect was that I hardly saw any local womenfolk in this town of Khasab. …Just a lot of goats!  The jeep driver told us that those goats were exchanged for electronic goods from Iran, as Iran was just 65 kilometres from there, by sea.

We concluded the safari through the ‘Norway of Arabia’, after collecting rare fossilized stones and an array of pictures. Memories captured in 2D.

The hotel room was pristine with cozy white comforters, fat creamy cushions and translucent white curtains, that gently disclosed the mountain and sea view beyond. I always maintain that soft white furnishings give a space that heavenly appeal.

The whole ensemble invited us to grab some sleep(The best part of being on vacation is the unaccounted slumber!)

The room had a small terrace, wide enough for a coffee table. We called for some coffee and pizza at dusk as the sea was changing its bright transparent look to a deeper sober hue. A deep orange- brown Sun hung impatiently over the horizon in a hurry to dive into the night-gold water edge! The mountains were highlighted by the evening shadows. They stood tall, like soldiers protecting the sleepy town.

In minutes, we dozed off, because tomorrow was the best part - the traditional Omani Dhow cruise!

Sunlight filtered through the curtain membranes at dawn. We were up, and ready for the much awaited breakfast buffet. (Another nice aspect of holiday) I enjoyed my favourite chocolate topped doughnuts, muffins, cheese omelet, toasts and apricot jam and freshly squeezed orange juice! My mind silently felt lucky against Kris’s incapacitation towards eggy treats!

Right after that, we were escorted by the organizers to the jetty, from where the Dhow cruise was to start. The Omani Dhow was a long wooden boat, much like the Shikara of Kashmir. It had traditional Arabic seating. The organizer was a Sri Lankan dude, Anil Kumar.  He had a hard chocolate brown face with excited eyes and an unusual pout. There was another Irani   diver on the boat or ‘the Son of the Waters’ (we were told that he was born under water!) He had dreamy drown able eyes with sea secrets!

The group included two British girls (I heaved a sigh of relief as they came, because then I was not the only one having to bear with Mr. Anil Kumar’s many tales)

There was another Korean couple on board of which the girl  had a sour face all the time but her husband had a’ contented with life’ look (I guessed the reason for both cases  to be  her super sexy skimpy pink bikini )

Kris seemed to enjoy every bit of it ;-) I thanked God that the boatman did not turn out to be a long lost malyalee pal , like the safari driver Haneef. I was saved from  a continuous  spell of Malyalam! Meanwhile, Anil was trying hard to impress the British girls by cooking up some’ not so interesting stories’ in  his own version of English language!

The whole scene reminded me of the gorge of Narmada river at Bhedaghat, Madhya Pradesh but the scale here was much larger. This was not a gorge, but Fjords formed by the sea.The exciting part was when a cute Dolphin started following our dhow …racing , as the Irani  diver whistled…

We maneuvered past virgin islands and old Bedouin villages; we saw ducks swim by through a plethora of water textures. Our first snorkeling stop was at ‘Telegraph islands’. The name was given when a telegraphic line was laid all the way from Britain to India via Middle East.

We put on our snorkeling gear and dived right into the cool water.Kris was struggling with the whole apparatus, but later figured out the technique of breathing only with the mouth.

One does not believe until he looks under water.What a variety of corals and fish! Some corals were white, branched outwards like at Lakshadweep, while some were curled up inwards. And the fish like thin rope tails and small filamentous parachutes in lemon yellows and turquoise blues. The experience was like a movie clipping from national geographic with the transparent water with sun rays refracting through, making everything look dwarfed; fish swimming through our legs, sea weeds, shells, and Ah! I also saw the anchor of our Dhow!

The experience was dreamlike,caught up somewhere between the sky and the earth.Those silent life forms swam between my legs.Life as though flowed amidst a serene stillness. I carefully studied their shapes as they silhouetted against the top-lit water sheet and then when they drifted down deep inwards, the colors shone clearer and better.I clicked imaginary pictures in my head and saved them in the deepest corners of my memory -laden mind.

After a while, the snorkeling gear became too heavy and I threw it back into the Dhow so that I could swim easily and encircle the whole of Telegraph Islands, but it was not as easy as I thought. The water was too salty for the skin and eyes. Soon, we got back onto the Dhow to dry ourselves. Kris kept humming that stupid Hindi song that translates as “you seem tastier after a dip in the salty waters…”

The scorching sun dried us up in no time and soon we were enjoying a well deserving meal of khuboos, Hamus, chicken curry and Arabic salad.

We stopped for another turn of snorkeling, even better than the earlier one. I was hesitant initially to jump into the water again…but it was totally worth it.The Irani diver dived for oysters and ate them.I got to keep the shells. We were escorted all the way back by a family of dolphins swimming and jumping along the sides of the dhow. They changed sides as the boatman whistled. What a perfect end, I thought, to this awesome experience.

We drove back to the resort with a kaleidoscope of images in our minds. The room with the terrace and curtains was as inviting as before. Our bodies longed for rest. It was our night to celebrate our first anniversary - a yearfull of successful togetherness!  We indulged in tequila and Malibu with Grilled hamour in lemon sauce and an unusual (uncooked!) shrimp cocktail.Too drunk to be embarrassed, I told the kitchen guys to fry the same uncooked shrimps for us in the butter sauce that they had served along with!

The cozy nights’ sleep promised of better tomorrows. Friends and family called us to wish us for our anniversary. It brought a sweet sorrow of one year being already over…

The earlier night as we smoked ‘shisha’ looking at the fading street lights , that created fuzzy reflections along the shore, I felt how close this year of togetherness has got us. I thought of all the exciting things that we had experienced with each other ,of all the happiness we had collected and shared…

The necklace of lights sparkled through the night. The sky was clear black with twinkling stars,each standing for a memorable experience like this one and many more to come…

Travel Suggestions for Mussandam ::

·   A weekend is more than enough for the entire experience.

· Since there is only one reasonably priced hotel in Khasab, bookings should be done much earlier.Otherwise, one could stay in Ras Al Khaimah and drive down to Khasab in the morning for the cruise.

·  It’s a 6-7 hour drive to Khasab from Abu Dhabi(including the visa process at the border).The last part of the drive along the sea is a “no miss”

·  For those pressed for time, the Dhow cruise should be chosen over the mountain safari.

· The highlight would be a chance to see the dolphins dance freely in their own natural habitat. (Personally, I do not like to observe animals trapped in zoos and fish trapped in large aquariums)