- we went to giant sand dunes. Our driver enjoyed showing us how his 4WD was able to climb up and slide down the hills of sand. Quite scary at times. We stopped at a colorful bedouin house in the desert where 2 kids invited us to coffee and dates for free (photo)
- on a full moon night we went to the beach at Ras Al-Jinz where we saw 1m-long sea turtles climb up the beach, dig a hole, lay an average 100 eggs, exhausted cover them up with sand slowly, and go back to the sea. The entire affair takes 2 hours. Quite moving to watch these poor turtles through labour. Cameras and lights are not allowed and guides make sure turtles are not disturbed (too much). We also saw the babies coming out of the sand after approx 3 months. They are tiny, less than 10cm. They say that these turtles travel as far as Australia but they always come back to lay eggs on the same beach they hatched. Mystery.
- we stayed overnight in Sur. It has a nice waterfront and tasty seafood (photo)
- we stopped in Qalhat for a picture of the ruins of Bibi Miriam's tomb
- Oman is the country of "wadis", the valleys between mountains carved by water on its way downhill. Some of them have water permanently, but most of them are dry. Until it rains. Even though it doesn't rain a lot, the water seems to be incredibly strong and to take roads and anything else standing on its way. These gorges are very deep and the walls make steep cliffs. The most beautiful ones are those where there's water running permanently. We stopped at several of these for lunch picnics and a swim. It feels so strange to be swimming in these oasis of fresh water inside barren mountains. Anyway, Oman is so hot, there's never enough bathing to keep you cool (Photos of Wadi Tiwi and Wadi Shab)
- we were near the sea, so we also took a dip at a white sand beach called Fins. A clean beach completely empty except for one other family of tourists. There are no facilities, no boats, no locals and not many visitors. You can swim practically by yourself. Feels like paradise. (photo)
- we even stopped at a huge sinkhole in Bimmah. A green water hole of 40m x 20m several meters deep. It is approx 1km inland from the sea and the water is a little salty. I've never seen a hole like that, it looks like a deep crater (photos)
- lastly, Said, our driver invited us to his home before dropping us at our hotel in Muscat. So generous, his wife prepared tea and cookies. Omanis are incredibly hospitable.
Mercedes
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