Okay, let me tell you about this week:
The monsoon season known as Khareef is coming to a close here in Salalah, Oman, which means the rainfall will slowly come to a halt, all the lush oases will dry up, and much of the lush greenery will turn brown. We decided to take the day off on Friday and head out with some friends to explore all the beauty that Salalah has to offer.
We began our trip by heading up into the mountains to explore the lush jungle-like terrain during this season. We drove 45 minutes up steep hills through the most beautiful green scenery. It literally felt like we were in Hawaii. I was still in awe that this much forest exists in a country that is 99% sand.
Our friend planned this particular surprise for us, and we were blown away when we arrived at this beautiful river and he said we would be kayaking! I thought to myself, "Kayaking in the desert?!?! This is amazing!" Sure enough, we were outfitted by the locals with kayaks and paddleboats, and sent off to explore the river of this vast jungle-like area of the mountains. The weather was incredible too, it was warm and lightly foggy, with a little mist in the air to keep us cool. It literally felt like we were in an Indiana Jones movie exploring some ancient terrain that was kept secret to preserve its beauty.
The water was so crystal clear because the river was created by rainfall. You could see beautiful plants on the bottom, and I was surprised to see fish as well! The sound of waterfalls in the distance created an ambiance that was truly peaceful. We all spoke softly; the place just seemed too reverent and peaceful, or maybe we just didn't want to awaken some magical creature that slept in the hills. The best part was yet to come though! After we finished kayaking, they had a small food stand where they served traditional local delicacies.
We ate fresh mango and pomegranate seeds, stone-grilled lamb and chicken, tea and juice, and best of all POPCORN! Yup, you heard me, popcorn. I LOVE popcorn.
I failed to mention this in the last blog post, but I crave popcorn and they don't have much here in Salalah. I have seen one random brand of microwavable popcorn in the grocery store, but we don't have a microwave. So in general I have been craving popcorn and have been unable to find it. Except now I can say that I have, at a charming food stand, in the mystical rainforest jungle of mysteriousness and magic! Best. Day Ever. Did I mention it was perfectly salted? Moving on...
Next we drove through more beautiful mountainous scenery and arrived at a waterfall oasis. In Arabic they call it the Ayn Athum watefalls. It's a gorgeous cliff that has multiple waterfalls cascading off of it into a lush pool of beautiful green water at the bottom. This picture doesn't even do it justice. I brought my swim trunks and was about to jump in, but decided that for this one time only, I wasn't gonna be that silly loud American totally ruining everyone else's peaceful ambiance. Don't worry 'Murica, I take plenty of opportunities to do this elsewhere.
Our full day of adventures ended with the icing on the cake. We drove back back down to the coast, and headed west of Salalah to Al Mughsayl beach, which is an unbelievably beautiful section of coastline. We parked the car, and the minute I turned around to look at the hillside, what do I see? CAMELS! Not just one, not two or three, but hundreds of camels. Roaming the hillsides and munching on the green grass!
I was so enthralled! I sprinted over to where they were and they just kept on doing their thing as if I didn't even exist. The locals said it was okay to pet them so I went right up to a camel and rubbed its belly. They are such incredible creatures. You don't really realize how freakin massive a camel is until you're right up next to it. The top of camel's hump is probably about 10 feet high, and it's neck extends to twice my height. They are very calm and gentle creatures though. They just cruise around eating grass and growling at one another.
Please do me a favor, and open up YouTube right now and search "camel sounds". I promise you will laugh so hard at the noises they make. The videos on YouTube are just like the real thing. I couldn't stop laughing every time they growled, but they wouldn't even budge when I pet them. It was almost as if they were saying, "Hey wise guy, while your petting me, you might as well scratch a little to the left, okay now itch a little to the right." I told one of the locals that I'm from America and he said, I quote: "America, you have lots cow, Oman...camel." (written with distinct Omani broken English)
After my great journey into the world of camels, I figured I had reached the pinnacle of joy, however there was still much to see. Al Mughsayl is very famous for a few reasons.
First, it is the location of some incredible caves and cliffs that hang down like giant icicles, and when you walk under them it feels as though they will drop on your head at any minute.
Second, there is a massive blow hole along the waters edge, formed from underwater caves emptying and filling as waves crash onto the rocks, causing water to shoot up through holes in the ground. Everyone stands around the blowhole to enjoy the refreshing mist of water that shoots 20-30 feet in the air.
This region is also famously known as "The Land Bountiful," where it's believed an ancient prophet built a ship thousands of years ago and sailed to the Americas. The locals are in fact very proud of this traditional legend, and believe that it was Middle Easterners and Omanis who originally populated the Americas. The locals also pointed out that there are ancient petroglyphs in Colorado that match petroglyphs found only here in Salalah, Oman. If you ever want a good read, google this and check it out. It's rather interesting because there are no other know locations of these specific petroglyph writings except for Colorado and Salalah. Anyways, the views were breathtaking with all the green mountain sides and cliffs jutting out of the ocean. It reminded me of the opening scene from Jurassic Park, where the helicopter flies in over the lush green mountainsides that seem to topple into the ocean below. It was the perfect end to a perfect week. Oman is such a beautifully diverse country with amazing people, and even more amazing landscapes. I feel so blessed to be here enjoying it all. Whelp, thats all for now. Thanks for reading! I have received ton's of great questions from you readers, and I'll wrote a post later in the week to answer as many as I can. Talk to you soon - Jared
P.S. - CAUTION, CAMEL CROSSING!!!!
