North of the border.

Freshly damp from the blowholes at Mughsayl, we continued down the road toward Yemen*. We didn’t want to invite danger, but we did want to check out the engineering marvel that is Sarfayt Road. The road is full of zigzags and u-turns… and just happens to be a mere hour from the Oman-Yemen border. This is when we were glad our mommas didn’t know what we were up to (hehe)!

It takes some close observation, but can you see the road zigzagging through the mountains?

We were all pretty proud of the Yaris for making it around those curves and up the steep incline.

After our little almost-but-not-quite-to-Yemem sojourn, we picked out a traditional restaurant for dinner. Despite the giant sign declaring it “Omani Food”… it was pretty much the Arabic same-ol’.

Still, it’s always fun to eat on the ground in a private room. Shailas optional unnecessary.

xo, jill

*I really really really want to visit Yemen. But… since it’s for sure on the embassy’s list of countries to avoid, I suppose it will have to wait.

Not the Oregon Coast.

We knew we had arrived in Salalah when the sky turned misty, mountains arose, and the brown became green.

Our first point of interest was finding the blowholes in Mughsayl (sorry, no wiki). Imagine my delight when I looked out over the rocks and saw a scene akin to the Oregon Coast. The weather wasn’t too far off either: overcast, misty, and windy. Sounds like home.

The blowholes held our attention for quite some time. You never know just when the water will go blasting. Their unpredictable nature made it tricky to get photos at their full height. (The grown men playing in the water made it difficult as well.)

Seeing the giant waves crash on the rocks made me love Oman even more. This country has so many surprises. I had no idea.

xo, jill

[Note: Oregon does have lovely beach weather too, you just never know when you’ll find it.]

And the dolphins didn’t hurt.

Last year some friends took a dhow cruise in a secret little part of Oman. Ok, it’s not a secret… but it is a tiny piece that’s not connected to the rest of the country. It’s called Musandam.

Musandam is famous for it’s fjords and has been called “The Norway of the Middle East.” I’ve never been to Norway… but that claim is probably a bit grandiose. Nonetheless, I’ve been wanting to take a look. When good weather and the proper motivation (a guest in town) aligned, we packed our bags and headed to Musandam.

The six of us boarded our boat to find that we would be the only passengers for the day. We didn’t mind at all.

The cruise sailed us along the fjords while dolphins kept us entertained.

Later we dropped anchor for swimming and snorkeling.

This was when my pesky little fear of putting my face in the water became not so little. I’m not exactly sure what the problem is but I’m beginning to narrow it down. Whenever the activity of snorkeling is introduced (in the immediate moment not just chatting about it), I become very anxious. Like, start crying anxious. I understand that I’m not required to join, but I still feel like I should. Then I’m all mixed up and scared of the water even though I know everything’s going to be ok.

Emotionally complicated story short… I’m standing on the edge of the dhow trying to jump in and feeling horribly embarrassed for being so freaked out to do something I’ve done many times before, when a nearby dhow calls out to let me know that they too are eagerly awaiting my jump. Oh jeeze.

It was a process. But I did it. And it was fine. Even nice.

Special thanks to Shauna for treading water in the jellies for so long and Mike for jumping with me.

Look at the urchin our guide pulled up:

After the cruise we headed back to the Emirates, but not before stopping at a little playground/lookout combo.

It was a very happy day.

xo, jill