Up at 7, breakfast at 7:30 and at 7:45 off to Wadi Shab, 2 hours south on the Gulf. A wadi is a dry riverbed running through the mountains that still has some water but can fill during powerful rain storms. There are several in Oman that are tourists attractions for hiking and swimming with a guide. Wadi Shab, according to our guide Habib is the most natural, the most accessible and the most visited.
Our hired car was, well, we felt like we were taking a trip with Liz and Ed. It was an old Toyota van with one back door slider!! The driver had a friend with him who was dropped off halfway to our destination. Imagine getting in an old van in a country that borders Yeman and driving "who knows where!" But, not a problem. I wouldn't say the driver was at all charming like Habib, our Wadi guide, but he was proficient!! Got us all there, in one piece, in the allotted time!!
We drove through a couple of decent sized cities nestled
between the rocky, craggy mountains until we came to a very desolate area, same mountains, very few tiny villages located along a beautiful 4 lane highway with
street lights down the middle and powers lines on the side of the highway. It was like this all the way to our destination. We saw wild goats and camels and very little signs of civilization.
We arrived at Wadi Shab at 10:30, met Habib, our guide, and boarded a small boat to cross maybe 50 yards of water to where we started our 2 1/2 mile round trip hike into the mountains along the quite diminished river. Twice in the past 7 years, hurricanes have flooded the river banks and the small subsistence farms along the old riverbed. The hike was a bit challenging and circuitous, some of the large rocks were slippery and the ascent was gradual but ascending. And, of course, it was HOT, in the mid 90s.
We walked through the river a couple of times; we were prepared by wearing water shoes. Near the end of the hike, we stripped down to our bathing suits and swam or floated in the river the rest of the way to a cave entrance. I had had it by then so I declined the cave swimming tour and Peter joined me on a rock in the shade while the Mirisolas did the cave tour. We actually met and chatted with a couple, she a Muslim from Texas teaching in Oman and he, born in Oman, but a Bengladeshi by nationality.
Mirisolas enjoyed the cave but did admit it was strenuous. Inside the cave they encountered some friends from Bahrain who then accompanied us on the return trip with their guide Juma. It was a descending hike with more shade so seemed faster. By the time we got back to our van and driver at 2:15, I was pretty much "totaled" but we all regained our strength at a local restaurant where we had chicken curry, salad? lentils and Indian flat bread cooked like a crepe but thinner and tastier. And lots of water!! Juma's friend owned the restaurant so he, Juma, helped us order and helped serve us since it was the holy day and there wasn't much help. We then wended out way back to Shangri-la in a pretty quiet van. Arrived shortly after 5:30. A long day but we DID it and it was awesome!!
1 comment:
"Wadi" an adventure!
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