Where's Edgar?

October 15, 2007
Today Marika and I went on an “Arabian Experience Tour”. We were taken in a 4x4 vehicle through the Hajar Mountains in Oman. With this vehicle you don't need roads. We went through the desert, on the highway, and on gravel roads. It was so much fun! We stopped for some tea along the way to our first stop. I had a strawberry juice (it was more like a strawberry smoothie), very tasty. Marika had a pomegranite juice...it tasted like peas—interesting.
We then began our journey through the Hajar Mountains in Oman (the next country). It was a bit of a bumpy ride but very nice all the same. We saw wadis (dried up river beds) and oasis. Now let me tell you an oasis is not a pretty little sanctuary in the middle of the desert. It is really a run down farm with date palms and goats running around everywhere. It was interesting. The mountains themselves are not as high as the rockies nor are they ice capped haha. They are very brown and you can see the tops. Apparently they are a geologists dream because you can see all of the layers of sediment because they used to be under water. They look very nice. The road is currently being worked on so parts of the trip were on gravel, other parts were off road, and still other parts were asphalt.

We went back to the outskirts of Dubai to pick up another couple (they were older (60's). Once we were all settled in the vehicle we went driving on the dunes. I thought that this would be more exciting than it was. The driver drove slow and we didn't feel like our lives were in danger. Frankly, it was boring. It was just like driving anywhere. We then saw where they have camel races as well as a camel farm. The baby camels are so cute. We drove some more and stopped to watch the sunset. It didn't take long because unlike in Saskatchewan the sun goes down and there is hardly any warning.

Everyone piled back into the SUV and headed off to the camp. At the camp there were camel rides, henna tattoos, shisha smoking, Arabian BBQ, pictures with a falcon/hawk (not sure what), and pictures of you dressed up in traditional dress. I only had the bbq and my picture taken with the bird. I was a bit disappointed but what can you do. I will definately do the other things while I am out here. After dinner there was a belly dancer who just really picked people out of the crowd and did a belly dance move and tried to teach them it. She didn't just perform for us. It was still great to watch though...some of the guys were hilarious.

After the food and entertainment we headed back home and went straight to bed. We were exhausted after the long day. Let's just say that we were not that energized to teach the next day. I hope that you are all doing well and I will continue to keep you posted on my adventures!