The weather forecaster stated that it would rain all day, heavy at times. The wind would be strong 20 to 25 knots. It’s a good thing we just ignore the forecast (when at anchor) and do our own thing because it was sunny, hot and calm all day. We did see the odd rain cloud pass to the north of us and later to the south of us but they don’t count.
I would play Christmas music all year long but Rick is not that enthused about the music and my singing. We have an agreement that I will only play it from December 1st until January 1st so today was the day the CD’s came out. Prior to today I have been cheating a little by listening a little ahead of schedule using my IPod but he’s ok with that.
Rick went into town in the morning for some cash to put toward the
equipment needed for the new mooring that is being installed for us. While
he was gone I did regular boat work which equates to housework in a dirt
dwelling environment and sang along with my Christmas music.
His timing was good, he arrived back at the boat just in time for lunch. After lunch we poured diesel from the jerry cans into the fuel tank and the same with gas for the dinghy and generator. When that job was finished it was a perfect time to jump overboard for a swim.
Jumping overboard on a nice sunny day with Christmas music playing has got to be one of my all time favourites. The music was cranked up loud enough that I could drift around in the water listening to it.
The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and reading.
The winds and rain that were forecast for yesterday arrived with a vengeance overnight however; we awoke to a gentle breeze and sunshine in the morning.
Since we had no plans for the day we were able to just do what we wanted at our own speed. I was able to convince Rick that since everything has been cleaned down below except the floor and even the cockpit is clean enough that I’m not worried about dirt being tracked inside the boat it was a good time to wash the floor. Being extremely considerate, he offered to wash the floor if I would wax and polish the cockpit. It was a deal.
Rick finished the floor and then moved outside to the port side deck and continued scrubbing. I meanwhile waxed and polished part of the cockpit but retired at noon to start cooking lunch.
We both relaxed in the afternoon with a book and watched the world go by.
After dinner we planned a movie night in the cockpit. With the DVD player we sat and watched “Over Her Dead Body” which is really a chic flick but I thought that Rick would enjoy the humour and he did.
It was a little rolly overnight but there was not a cloud in the sky when we awoke.
Rick made a couple of trips ashore with jerry jugs to top up our water tank. We are hoping this will be the last time before we go.
While he was working away, I took my sport seat, IPOD and book up on the nice clean deck and tried to listen to my Christmas music while reading my book. I guess I’m not very good at multitasking because the Christmas music won over the book. I laid there on deck and sang away which would normally embarrass Rick but since there are no boats anchored near us I was able to sing as loudly as I wanted and no one could hear me.
I had taken some chicken out of the freezer for dinner but Punto and
Cigarette came by with a lovely Hind Fish (sea bass). The chicken went into
the fridge for tomorrow and Rick cleaned and filleted the fish for dinner.
Our afternoon entertainment in the cockpit was watching Jambalaya (a local wooden sloop) tow the new boat (Beauty) that was launched in Petite Martinique last Sunday into Tyrrel Bay. They had a beautiful wooden mast in tow that they probably wanted stepped (erected). I guess they didn’t check before coming because both Jerry and Gus are up in Dominica with one of the tug boats and they are the only two people who know how to work the Haulout crane. It will be interesting to watch what happens tomorrow. I think if they had been aware of the situation they may have taken the boat to the windward side of Carriacou where they would have been able to careen it and attached the mast as in the olden days.
The nights are getting cooler which I find very comfortable for sleeping.
After breakfast, Rick went ashore to Harvey Vale to pick up a few things and after he returned to the boat I found him lying on a settee reading the paper. Since this is very unusual for him I questioned what he was doing. A dumb question I guess, as I should have recognised it immediately as strategic planning. He had to decide what to do next.
In the morning I unpacked and repacked our suitcases. We plan to take two bags with us on vacation so one I packed with everything I think that we will need in England and the other bag contains our clothes etc. for our time in Dubai. I have a habit of doing this a few times before we actually leave but this time it may not be necessary. Everything appears to be very organized (for now).
We watched as the local boat Beauty struggled at the construction site of the new marina using the construction crane to step the mast. It took quite a while but they got it up. Afterward they lifted the anchor and moved over to the haulout where they will finish rigging it.
Rick and I went for a swim in the afternoon and we both found it a little chilly with the wind and the fact that the sun was hidden behind the clouds for a while. Chilly is relative as it was very comfortable compared to any lake water back in Canada.
Sherwin came by a delivered a case of beer. Rick was pleased to be paying EC dollars for beer again it cost him 65EC dollars ($24USD) for a case of 24.
Sherwin was on his way to hustle a few boats that had just arrived and said he would return shortly to visit for a while. It was a little longer than he expected as we all watched a charter catamaran arrive and run hard onto the reef. The captain appeared to be getting himself into more trouble as he tried to back out. Sherwin went over and eventually climbed aboard and directed the captain how to steer the boat back out the way it had come in. He remained onboard until he had directed the crew safely into the bay and to a nice sandy area in which to anchor.
When all had settled down he returned, shared a cold beer and told us of his vacation in England and Switzerland during the summer.
After Sherwin left I took the chicken from the fridge along with potatoes, onions and calaloo for dinner.
A perfect night for sleeping, cool with a light breeze, no roll and no rain.
After a big breakfast of eggs, ham and home fries with toast we got ready and went to town. It was a quick trip but while there we ran into our friend Susan who just returned to Carriacou yesterday
When we had returned to the boat and put away our purchases, Rick and I
went for a dinghy ride to scope out the exact location of where we want our
mooring to be placed.
That was a lot of work for one day so a siesta was called for in the afternoon which should give us the extra burst of energy for an evening out.
It was only 5PM when we secured the dinghy at the haulout and walked the beach first to Fitzroy’s house. After the dogs greeted us we checked out the chickens. A few have grown to a good size already.
When we left Fitzroy’s we walked further along the beach to Lumba Dive
but JP and Clair had already left for the day so we sat at the bar in the
Lazy Turtle and had a drink with JB.
It was dark when we arrived at the Lambi Queen but still we were the
first there. It was only 6PM and the band wouldn’t play until 730PM GMT
(here GMT is Grenada Maybe Time). Gradually people arrived and as the group
grew the party as usual overflowed onto the road. It was a fun evening; the
band got it together a little after 8PM which is not bad. We being the first
to arrive were also the first to leave. It was a little after 10PM when we
arrived back at the boat.
It was a beautiful day and we made perfect use of it by doing nothing. Well, not quite nothing. Rick polished a little stainless steel on deck but I think he must be able to do that in his sleep now. He does it so regularly.
In the afternoon we both jumped overboard for a swim and then sat in the cockpit and watched the boats arrive from the south. Another boat just about ended up on the reef but this captain although obviously didn’t read his charts at least kept a look out at the water. The boat carefully backed out the way it went in then sheepishly found nearby spot to anchor.
We began our Sunday with traditional poached eggs for breakfast. Rick was out on deck immediately afterward polishing again.
After
doing a few down below boat chores, I called Susan and Roy to see if they
were going to be home in the afternoon. Rick and I were ready to tackle
“Hopper’s Hill” which is what we call the mountain that Susan & Roy live on.
Every year we say that we are going to climb the hill but we never do. Many
times we have walked down the hill but we have always been offered a ride
up. Today was going to be the day. Well maybe not. Susan hadn’t been out of
the house since she returned to Carriacou last week and she planned to go to
the Hardwood Bar on Paradise beach for the afternoon. It wasn’t a hill
but it was a good walk so we agreed to meet them at the hardwood for lunch.
Along
the road I took a picture of some sheep we met along the way. The reason for
this picture is that many North Americans and Europeans are confused with
the sheep and goats on the island. Sheep do not grow woolly coats in the
islands because it’s too damn hot. The animals look very similar and the
only way to differentiate between a goat and a sheep is by the tail. A
sheep’s tail hangs down while a goat’s tail stands up.
We left the main road and walked down to Paradise Beach so that we could wade in the water the rest of the way to the bar.
Susan,
her Mother and Roy arrived at the Hardwood Bar minutes after us. We all
enjoyed a nice lunch and then were joined by Joe and Elaine (Island Girl).
It was well after 3PM when the party broke up and we walked back to Harvey Vale and the dinghy.
It was another perfect day in Paradise. Rick cleaned and polished outside, again. I did a little sewing and cleaned down below.
In
the afternoon we anxiously awaited word from Lumba Dive that they were ready
to put the sand screw in for our mooring. The call came and we jumped in the
dinghy to watch Sherwin, JP and Clair scope out the exact spot for the sand
screw. When they were satisfied, they anchored the work
boat, threw
everything overboard except the float and then put on their dive gear. It
didn’t take them too long but JP suggested that we wait a couple of days
before tying to the mooring. They screwed it in very deep but there was a
lot of silt on top. He would like the silt to settle first before we put
strain on the screw. Since he and Sherwin are looking after the boat for us
while we are gone we thought it wise to heed his advice.
Sherwin, JP and Clair had a mooring to move and when he was finished we joined JP and Clair at their house for a beer and to pay the remainder of what we owed him for the mooring.
By the time we left JP’s it was getting late so we stopped at the Lazy Turtle and shared a pizza for dinner.
Not every day or night in the Caribbean is perfect and last night was a perfect example. When we arrived back at the boat in the dark it was rolling beam to beam. I thought I would surf the net for a while but our Wifi was jammed by someone either downloading or uploading a large amount of data.
I gave up on the internet and lay down to read. The roll was so bad that reading was not possible. Finally the only thing we could do was to try and sleep. Both Rick and I slept in the main salon where the roll is not felt as strongly as the forward bunk.
It was about 2AM when Rick got up and started closing ports and hatches which was nice because usually he sleeps through rain showers.
At 2:30AM he got up again and closed three more ports (after the rain). Two in the head and one over the bed were left open. Why he didn’t close these when he closed all the others only he will know.
Now the roll has settled down a little but the bed is quite damp so I remained in the main salon for the rest of the night but now I realize there is a little leak in the port above my head. It is a slow enough leak that I have time to fall asleep before the next drip hits me in the face.
Finally it is morning and I call JP to see if by chance he thinks our mooring may have set enough to give it a try this afternoon rather than tomorrow which would allow us to move out of the roll. He told us to go ahead and give it a try.
Meanwhile, Rick took our last load of laundry ashore and went into town to pick up some cash. He called on his way back to ask if I was cooking chicken for lunch but as I rolled from side to side I let him know without a doubt that I was cooking nothing until we dealt with the roll.
When he climbed on board I gave him an apple to eat which would hold him over until we moved the boat.
When we picked up our new mooring which is very close to shore compared to where we had been rolling the last while, I thought that I had died and gone to heaven. The conditions either changed rapidly in the last 10 minutes or this new location is completely out of the swell.
Lunch
was quickly prepared, roast chicken breasts in mushroom soup with foot long
string beans and potatoes. I am trying to use up as much of our fresh/
refrigerated produce as possible. I only have one more day of meals to
prepare before we leave on vacation and the fridge will be turned off while
we are gone.
After lunch we both jumped overboard for a swim and snorkelled on our new mooring to check the lines and to ensure the sand screw was still well buried. It looked perfect and is there to stay.
After our swim, Rick went ashore for the clean laundry then we relaxed and read until it was time to party. The seasonal reopening of Angel’s Rest, the floating bar was our first stop. There were a lot of people already onboard and by the time we left it was almost overflowing.
We went ashore to the Old Rum Shoppe where we were having an early
birthday party for Brad (Witches Song). I requested the party because we
missed his birthday last year when he was in Toronto and we were in
Carriacou. It was a lot of fun, Alana baked a cake with potent (rum soaked)
cherries on top, Joe and Elaine (Island Girl) came as well as Daniel
and Kelly from the Haulout. Every once in a while someone else would come
by. Slow came and tried to sing a great rendition of Happy Birthday confused
with the tune of we wish you a Merry Christmas but we all joined in.
We awoke to a surprise “low battery alarm” just before 6AM. The batteries were totally depleted which is something we carefully monitor to avoid. Rick thinks that it might have been caused by the logic in our remote inverter/charger panel. Who knows….but we had to start the generator at 6AM in the morning. Our new neighbours must already wonder who these crazy people are who are making noise so early in the day.
The batteries charged up fine so we’ll keep an eye on them during the
day.
It was time to pack. Most of our vacation clothes things for London and Dubai were still packed from when we left Toronto but there were a few items still to be put into the bags after receiving all of our clean laundry yesterday afternoon.
While I packed Rick went to the haulout and ordered a new remote for our inverter which should be here when we return in January.
Next we had a few things to do. We flushed the big engine with fresh water and closed the intake thru hull. We also raised the outboard motor onto the motor mount and Rick gave it a freshwater flush.
In the afternoon, we both had a little siesta then jumped in the water for a swim. While I floated around, Rick scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy.
All work stopped for happy hour then we cooked and ate the last of our meal makings from the fridge. It wasn’t bad; we had chicken wings, carrot sticks and Teriyaki rice.
Rick raised the dinghy into the davits and secured it.
After dinner we ran the generator for a while but we will have to run it again tomorrow to use up the remainder of the gas so it can be stored below.
After
another great night sleep, we awoke and had a quick bowl of cereal for
breakfast.
Everything was under control but we had a few things to do before leaving the boat after lunch.
The last few items were placed into our suit cases. I turned off, emptied and cleaned the fridge. Thru hulls were closed in the galley and the head. Rick fresh water flushed and oiled the head (toilet).
Basically we made sure everything was clean & tidy. It was a lot easier to prepare the boat to be left for three weeks in the water rather than five months on the hard. Plus, knowing in advance that we were leaving again there were certain items like the watermaker that we didn’t put into service.
Kenny
picked us up at the boat with Sherwin’s water taxi a little before 12:30PM
and dropped us at the big jetty. We went into Bek’s Restaurant and shared a
chicken lunch. Bubbles (Bob) met us outside the restaurant and drove us to
the airport for the 2:30PM SVG flight to Grenada. Arriving at the airport in
Carriacou more than an hour before the flight is ridiculous. If we arrive 15
minutes ahead of time, it is more than enough. There is no such thing as
heavy traffic in Carriacou but I still like to leave ourselves a little
leeway for the unexpected so we arrived early.
The visibility during the flight to Grenada was unlimited the sky was so clear. We had received an email from Virgin Atlantic advising us that there would be a five hour delay in our flight due to ice conditions on the runway in Gatwick.
The delay was not a problem, the thought of ice and the cold temperatures was a little scary.
Our Norwegian friend Karen met us at the Grenada airport and after we
checked our bags, the three of us walked to the Aquarium Restaurant where we
spent the afternoon at their bar the beach.
Our Flight 6:10PM flight to Gatwick finally left first to Tobago and then Gatwick at 11:30PM. During our wait, one of the representatives was trying desperately to have about 35 people volunteer to give up their seat. Because of the delay and the fact the flight came to Grenada before Trinidad, they had 35 crew members that they needed to transport to Trinidad.
We were offered a flight to Barbados with hotel for the night as well, they would cover the cost of our already paid for accommodation in London. We declined but heard that they eventually added a cash payout of 500 pounds as well.
There was a long walk from the gate to Immigration, luggage pickup and
Customs but we sure zipped through everything very quickly.
Other than the delay it was a very nice flight and we arrived in Gatwick at 1:30PM (London time).
I purchased tickets for the Gatwick Express and we were in Victoria Station, central London in 30 minutes. It was walking distance to our hotel so we checked in, dumped our bags and went for a walk.
We hadn’t walked far when we saw a small souvenir store that sold everything a tourist might forget to bring including gloves for the winter months. Rick and I each bought a pair of warm Thinsulate gloves and had the clerk, cut the tags off so we could wear them immediately.
Our
walk took us up Buckingham Palace Road, around the palace and then down
Buckingham Gate road to Victoria St. At times, in the dark, we weren’t sure
if we were lost but the two roads eventually merged and we were back where
we started.
Not thinking of the fact that it was Friday night, we noticed a pub
(Shakespeare’s) which appeared to have a very traditional British menu so we
gave it a try. In the bar area there was barely standing room. It was early
enough however that there were a few empty tables in the restaurant. We were
seated immediately and after Rick ordered a pint, we each ordered what we
classed as a British meal. Rick’s dinner was steak and mushroom pie with
gravy, mashed potatoes and peas.
I
ordered fish and chips with mushy peas. It was a large piece of haddock and
came with malt vinegar, tartar sauce and lemon.
After dinner, we made our way back to the hotel and crashed for the night.
Wow, we haven’t seen weather like England had today for many years. It was not only raining heavily, the wind was so strong it was difficult to keep the umbrellas from collapsing. Our plan was to go first to Westminster Abby but we goofed and ended up at Westminster Cathedral.
It was a nice cathedral and we walked down the road to get our goodies
for the Big Bus tour that we were
planning to take today and tomorrow. The guide at the tour company
recommended that we not take the bus today because the weather was so
dreadful and there were demonstrations going on in the city that would
interfere with the tour.
We had planned to go to Windsor Castle on Monday so we adjusted the itinerary a little and made our way to Windsor.
The Victoria Underground Station was just across the street so down we
went for our first London Underground ride. We left Victoria Station and
took the District Line to Westminster where we happened upon a few British
and very Jolly St Nick helpers. We transferred to the Jubilee Line and to
the Waterloo station. At Waterloo we purchased train tickets to Windsor with
about 20 minutes to spare before the train was to depart.
We didn’t think it possible but the weather seemed worse in Windsor than it was in London.
We had a wonderful and humorous guide take us all around the outside of the castle. The Royal flag was flying so the Queen was in residence. In fact the guide pointed out her sitting room and the smoke coming from the fireplace chimney. Just in case she was looking out the window, I waved.
It seemed forever but we finally made our way inside to a little warmth
where we saw Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House, The Drawings Gallery and the State
Apartments.
It
was a little sad to see all of the Royal family pictures including Camilla
and not one included Princess Diana.
The final building we toured was the St. George’s Chapel which is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.
When we finished touring the castle we walked around the village of Windsor for a while before stopping at a pub called Maloney’s. There we sat at the bar and talked with the locals while having a nice bowl of vegetable soup to warm us up.
After leaving the pub we noticed that although it was only around 3PM it
was getting dark. We commented to each other when we noticed this yesterday
but we really thought it was just the dark clouds blocking the light. Not
so, the days are extremely short right now.
We made our return trip back to London and then went for a little walk to find an Italian Restaurant for dinner. I was craving pasta. We found an excellent place called Bella Italia. I had a nice glass of wine, Rick had his beer and then we shared mussels in cream sauce and some bruschetta. Rick had a penne dish with chicken while I enjoyed a linguini and shrimp plate. It was good that we were a little early in arriving because when we left, both the upstairs and downstairs in the restaurant were packed and people were lined up out the door and down the street in the terrible weather, waiting for a table.
All in all for our first full day in London it was very enjoyable.
We both awoke well rested and quickly prepared to head out for the day.
Our first stop was to catch the Big Bus on Buckingham Palace Road. We took it to Marble Arch where we changed to the city Route which we rode as far as the Tower of London and London Bridge where we again braved the freezing weather to tour the tower.
I think we toured every inch and needed to warm up and sit down for a
while so we left the tour and took a riverboat up river Thames to the town
of Greenwich.
It
was a forty minute boat ride so we were energized and ready to go when we
left the boat. We walked through town and found a wonderful Sunday market
that was extremely busy with locals and tourists.
When we left the market we climbed the hill up to the observatory which is also where the prime longitude meridian is located. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) starts here. Rick and I both took turns straddling the meridian line.
It was a much easier walk down the hill and we made our way back through town to where we had noticed earlier the scent of fresh fish and chips. Sure enough, we found a small place called the Beachcomber where we both had a plate for fresh cod and chips.
It
was after 3PM when we climbed back aboard the boat to return to the city. By
the time we arrived at the Westminster Dock the London Eye, Parliament
buildings, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey were all alight.
Although it was still freezing, we decided to walk back to the hotel stopping on the way at the Kings Arms for dinner. We wanted traditional English Sunday roast beef dinner. We got exactly what we asked for and it reminded me of the roast beef dinners that my Grandmother used to make. Yuk!! We had to try it though but once was enough.
It was still early but we were a little exhausted so we walked the
remaining distance back to the hotel and called it a day.
The weather was still not great. It was extremely cold and windy but there was a moment when we thought we might get to see the sun. It didn’t happen but it was nice to have a moment of hope.
Our first event this morning after riding around on the Big Bus for a
while was to find a prime position at Buckingham Palace to watch the
changing of the guards. A friendly Bobby gave us some good advice and we had
our own little spot without the crowds. After an hour of standing still our
feet were numb and our fingers burning so we quickly departed as soon as the
crowds were able to disperse.
We hopped on the bus again and made our way to St Paul’s Cathedral. The interior of this Cathedral is magnificent. We used an audio tour and walked through the church, the crypt and even climbed the 156 steps up to the Whispering Gallery.
By the time we left St. Paul’s it was almost 4PM and we hadn’t had lunch. There was a Gourmet Burger place just across the street and we both seemed drawn directly to that particular door.
We hopped back on the Big Bus for the last time and took it as far as
Harrods Department Store. The store was huge and everyone one was there
doing their last minute Christmas shopping. We roamed around in search of
affordable souvenirs.
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Interesting but in the whole of London we finally found something to show that Princess Diana existed. There is a memorial and pictures of Diana and Dodi in the store. It was simple and nicely done.
There were some interesting food bars and even a champagne bar that we considered sampling but our aching feet won out and we found our way back to the hotel. The Big Bus driver had informed us that his was the last bus to Harrods this evening so we used regular London bus transit to return.
Neither of us were hungry but we have been passing an “Award Winning
Cornish Pastry”
store
every day and since this may be our last opportunity to try one we headed
there and purchased on chicken and one beef Cornish pastry to take back to
the hotel. They have our vote as award winning.
It was a perfect last day in London. We walked from the hotel to Westminster Abbey and arrived just as the gift shop opened. It was less than ten minutes later when the Abbey itself was open to the public.
Rick has been kidding me lately because I have told him of so many people
that were buried there. He thought I was kidding but now he was able to see
for himself it was true.
We
both stood in awe looking at the ceilings in every area of the Abbey while
using the audio tour to guide us.
When we left Westminster Abbey we walked by the Parliament buildings and passed by Big Ben just in time to hear it chime 11AM.
Our next tour was the War Room and Winston Churchill museum which was recommended by my niece Heather. The war rooms were extremely interesting and we also enjoyed the museum.
It was just a little further along the street to Whitehall and the horse
guards. We stopped there before heading to 10 Downing. Oops,
things
have changed a little since I was last here. There is no way to get to the
front door of 10 Downing St. any more. There are large iron gates blocking
each end of the road and there are many police men guarding the gates.
We left Downing Street and walked along Victoria to another Italian Restaurant for lunch. When we left the restaurant the cold damp air seemed to be going right to our bones and we both chose to walk back to the hotel where we could warm up and wait for our transportation to the airport.
The Heathrow Shuttle picked us up a little after 5PM and had us to the airport in plenty of time for our 9PM flight to Dubai.
Shortly after takeoff we were served a hot meal with wine. Rick and I both finished our meal and turned on our individual monitors to watch a movie. I think I lasted almost an hour when sleep seemed much more interesting than a movie.
The next thing I knew I was awake and breakfast was being served. Rick thinks I may have slept a full three hours.
It was around 8AM (Dubai time) when we landed. Going through Immigration and Customs was pretty fast and within a few minutes after that we had our bags and we were standing near the coffee shop where a driver was to pick us up. Our driver informed us that it only rains one day a year in Dubai and today was the day. We later learned that it had actually rained 10 days this year. With so little rain, Dubai does not have a storm sewer system so the streets were flooded in some areas.
We
arrived at the Miriam's friend's house, dropped our bags and went with our
driver again but
this time to one of the Big Bus stops. We had left so quickly that the
camera and my sun glasses were back in our room.
We rode the bus on the beach tour which is the new Dubai where the largest hotel in the world, tallest tower in the world, largest indoor shopping mall in the world etc. etc. is located. The architecture is unique and what is interesting is that because everything is so extremely large it all becomes relative. There are so many tall cranes cluttering the skyline that they are more noticeable than all of the buildings. Along with the cranes there are pillars which in many places have a new overhead rail system in place. Evidently this rail line will be both overhead and underground throughout Dubai to help with the traffic congestion and opens next year (2009).
When we went into a mall (Festival City) with maybe at least a hundred stores and I was looking for the lady’s washroom (after three hours of riding the bus). I saw the washroom signs pointing to a hallway. The first door in the hallway had a picture of person with a head covering which as I opened the door I questioned myself as to whether it might be the men’s rather than the lady’s washroom. I didn’t get very far when a man came walking towards me. He very politely asked what I was looking for. When I said the ladies washroom he chuckled and said I was entering a Mosque or prayer room. Oh well…
I later noticed that there are Mosques and prayer rooms everywhere and yes it was the sheik’s headdress on the sign on the door not the silhouette of a lady. The call to prayer is heard every where over loud speakers during the day from every Mosque.
Well, after we had a little lunch (at Ikea) we continued to walk around the mall. There were many very nice looking restaurants but they were also very expensive so Rick’s suggestion of Ikea was perfect.
After about an hour we both had our second wind and decided to ride the bus again for the Old Dubai tour which was only 1 ¾ hours long. The tour took us by many souqs (markets) and along the river where we saw all of the old Dhow ships and their cargo. I found the old Dubai very interesting and we will see more tomorrow, with a camera.
During the tour we each had to nudge one another as eyelids were drooping. Finally when we arrived at the last stop on the tour we went into an even more expensive mall (Wafi Mall) and had a glass of juice before heading back to the guest house. We took a taxi and using our little map and instructions and the taxi drivers knowledge we found our way.
Rick and I still wearing same the clothes we had on yesterday while touring London wanted (needed) a shower and clean clothes.
It was about 6PM when we left our little cottage and returned to the main house to meet the other guests. Dinner was fascinating. Everyone had worked as humanitarian aid workers in Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan etc. Some were very young and still studying languages and others were on their way back to North America to retire.
We sat together at large tables for dinner and had homemade tacos. It was
a very enjoyable evening listening to the different experiences. By 8:30PM
Dubai time on Wednesday December 17th, 11:30PM Toronto time(December 16th),
12,30PM
Grenada time and 4:30PM London time we retired to our room and bed.
Somehow I awoke at 6AM and felt like it really was 6AM. I nudged Rick and he went to the outdoor kitchen and made our morning coffee while I rearranged suitcases again.
About 30 minutes later while I was in the shower, our hostess came to our door with a tray of coffee for us. First thing in the morning I can drink unlimited coffee no problem and it was so sweet of Becky to do this that there was no way I was not going to drink more coffee.
Miriam,
Rick’s sister arrived just before breakfast.
Our first challenge of the day was to find a parking spot in City Centre which is part of old Dubai. This was not an easy task but was accomplished prior to noon.
We took an Abra which is a traditional water taxi across the creek and walked to the Dubai museum.
The Dubai museum provides very realistic displays of Arabic life in the
past and present as well as a history of growth and changes in Dubai. We
could have easily spent most of the day in the museum but we had other
things to see and do.
After the museum we walked along the water’s edge to a restaurant where we, with Miriam's help ordered a sample of Arabian food. The view was great and the food very enjoyable.
With our hunger sated we took another Abra back across the creek and arrived at the gold souq just as the merchants were reopening at 4PM. The gold shops run for blocks and bartering is half the fun. Gold is expensive because of the current market conditions. We would have liked to have purchased some nice necklaces but we settled for some small earrings.
After the gold souq we walked a little further to the spice souq. The
first thing was saw there were a couple of men drying and sorting
frankincense.
I
purchased a little dried lemon and saffron. The saffron I will take back to
the boat but with the dried lemon we will make some tea one evening.
It was surprising to find Christmas decorations in some of the stores. One store had a Santa in the window and a large decorated tree in the store.
We continued to stroll through the narrow streets of the souqs stopping once in a while for coffee.
A little before 8PM we went to our Dhow (a large traditional boat) that
provided dinner cruisers. There were many along the pier but we chose one
called Cleopatra. We later commented that we were pleased with the choice.
The food was good and the entertainment cute. It was after 10PM when we
docked and headed back to the car.
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Miriam provided a nice night time tour of the city as she got a little lost initially trying to find the correct road to get us out of the city centre. Getting lost in Dubai is very easy because there are no up-to-date maps. The reason for this is that the construction in the city is progressing at such a rapid pace the roads change almost weekly. There is no way a printed map could be produced and sold before it changed again.
Back at the house I had an opportunity to do a little laundry before going to bed. So at about 1AM in the morning I was folding clothes.
It
was a beautifully clear morning when we left the guest house and headed out
for the day before anyone else was awake. We chose to eat breakfast at
Starbucks so we could get an early start to the day.
Miriam drove straight, well not quite straight, there were a few wrong turns involved, to the mall of Ibn Battuta. Ibn Battuta was an Arab explorer who recorded his journeys in the 1300’s. Each region Ibn Battuta explored – Andalusia (Spain), Tunisia, Egypt, Persia, India and China – is reflected in the architecture and theme of the mall’s six courts.
We had great discussions about Ibn Battuta and the total lack of
knowledge we all had about a man who was just as famous here as Marco Polo
but who was never mentioned in our history books.
When we left the mall our first intention was to visit the Mall of the Emirates which has the indoor ski hill. We were being picked up by Arabian Adventures at the Meridian Hotel which although we knew where the hotel was roughly, we weren’t quite sure how to get there. Plan “B” then was to find the hotel and have lunch and wait to be picked up leaving the ski hill for tomorrow.
It was definitely a wise move. We travelled along the highway and thought
we were doing very well time wise when the traffic suddenly came to a
complete stop. It only took a few minutes and all of the vehicles, including
buses and us, made a U-turn and went the wrong way on the highway and off an
on-ramp to another street.
As
we were going down the on-ramp we could see the miles of traffic building
behind us. This traffic remained a mess for many hours afterwards so we were
lucky to get out of it and not miss our pickup.
The restaurants at the hotel were all very expensive so we chose a Chinese restaurant and had a light lunch.
Our diver Tauris, was a little early arriving and he had a couple and a young boy with them. Wouldn’t you know it, they were originally from Canada but currently living in Bangladesh.
We rode in a Chevy Tahoe to the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve which
is deep in the heart of the Arabian Desert.
We
stopped and saw a few camels while we waited for a convoy of vehicles to
arrive.
There had to be about 40 vehicles and off we went, dune bashing.
What an experience, the driver would race up, along, over and every which
way along the dunes. Sometimes the vehicles followed one another and other
times they were all over the place. We learned that the lead vehicle had a
GPS because otherwise I have no idea how they would have found their way on
the desert. Within 30 minutes the tracks from the tires disappeared. If
screaming as we climbed and raced up and down some of the dunes wasn’t
enough, our driver added a little excitement by getting stuck on the crest
of a nice high dune. Another vehicle stopped behind us and while we climbed
out, the drivers attached a tow rope and carefully pulled our vehicle back.
We saw only one other vehicle do the same thing a little later and that was
the mechanic.
We stopped and climbed a nice high dune to watch the sunset. A desert sunset is a beautiful thing evidently but we had clouds blocking ours. I asked Miriam if the sunset always has clouds and she said, never, only tonight. We will be here for more sunsets so it wasn’t an issue.
Now, the interesting part is that Miriam has taken this tour before. Before we started the dune bashing and as I was asking Tauris to be gentle, she told him to give us the “full package”. “No easing off, go for it”. Those were her words. Now as we are standing there looking for the almost perfect sunset, we learn that Miriam is feeling quite car sick and doesn’t really want to get back into the vehicle. Cute isn’t she.
There
was just a little more dune bashing before we arrived at a traditional
Bedouin encampment. There Rick and I rode our first and probably last camel.
It was great fun but scary when the camel rises with us on its back. It felt
like we were going to tumble off. Surprisingly very few people actually
wanted to ride a camel. I loved it.
Next we were greeted with some Arabian coffee in the traditional way with the tiny cups and a large bowl of water to rinse the cups. The coffee was very good and Miriam coached us through the process while she and our servers had a conversation in Arabic.
The décor and the food at this encampment were awesome.
I
think I missed my calling and should have been Bedouin. They provided a
feast of appetisers, grilled meat, rice, salad and sweets. Dates were always
available with every part of the meal. I smoked a shisha (water pipe) which
for the tourists they call it a hubbly bubbly. An Arabian lady gave me a
henna tattoo on my hand. We were entertained by a fantastic belly dancer.
What more could we ask for, it was an amazing afternoon and evening.
I think it was about 9 or 10PM when we arrived back at the house, I really don’t remember for sure because we hit the pillow and that was it.
Today
was a little slower pace than yesterday. I slept until 7AM and Rick until
8AM. After a coffee we packed and prepared to leave the house. We said
our goodbyes to everyone and went with Miriam to the Mall of the Emirates
for breakfast. This really is the largest mall in the world and it is the
one with the indoor ski slope. It was really the ski slope that we went to
see and it was certainly worth it.
After breakfast we got back into the car and made our way to the Madinat
Jumeirah . The architecture and design of this mall and hotel is beautiful.
It has been constructed to resemble an old traditional Arab town.
There
is a canal system through the resort so we took a tour on an Abra and had a
great view of the Burj Al Arab which is the large hotel built to look like a
sail. We roamed and shopped in the Souq area where we found some very unique
gifts.
Eventually we were “malled out”. We had spent enough time roaming malls to last us a while, it was time to do something different. Miriam being a perfect tour guide suggested that no one should leave Dubai without dipping their toe into the Arabian Gulf. That was our next stop. The beach and the sand were lovely and in the distance along the beach we could see the Burj Al Arab.
As
Miriam was
driving along we noticed a car in the lane beside us had left a
paper coffee cup and napkin on the roof of his car. Had we really thought
about it, the cup probably would have tipped and fallen off the first time
the car stopped. Anyway, as we pulled near it, Rick rolled down his window
to tell the driver about the cup on his roof. Immediately, the other car
pulled closer and passed Rick a card. It was a coupon from Starbucks and it
said, “You have done a nice thing, have a drink on us.” Well one coupon
wasn’t much good to us so we caught up with the car, Rick rolled down his
window and the same event took place again. The car made a right hand turn
onto another street before we could try for a third
coupon. We weren’t being greedy; it was just that there are three of us.
That was about it for Dubai we were on our way to Buraimi. There was an
option to go directly along a fast straight highway or we could drive
through the mountains. It took Rick a fraction of a second to decide on the
mountains. It was one of his best decisions. The scenery was a continual
Kodak moment but it was difficult to capture everything. Along the road
there were random camels strolling along in the sand dunes. There was a
flamingo reserve where we saw thousands of huge pink flamingos as we drove
by. There was even a random donkey as we left the desert and headed through
the mountains.
There Rick tried to catch a picture of the sun setting behind the mountains
while I needed the camera on the other side of the car to take a picture of
the small oasis on my side.
The town of Buraimi is much larger than I imagined. The population is 44,000 and Al Ain which is right next door is 200,000. The shopping is very Western. Absolutely everything is available in the stores and shopping malls.
We dropped our bags where we were staying and went for a bite to eat in the food court at a shopping mall in Al Ain. To get to the mall we had to go through a border crossing back into UAE. Although there is a chain link fence with razor wire separating the two cities, but it is a pretty simple check point. Tomorrow we will actually check out of UAE so that we can travel elsewhere. I found it interesting that the UAE is run by Sheiks but Oman is ruled by a Sultan.
After dinner we went grocery shopping for food items to take with us on a road trip. This shopping mall was very interesting because the people in Buraimi are much more conservative than those in Dubai. The women all wear the traditional abaya and sheila while the men look very handsome wearing their kandura and head wrap. It was easy to see the separation that is required between the men and the women was maintained in the mall but there were also many family groups where both parents and the children were grocery shopping together.
After shopping we returned to the place where we were staying and repacked for the road trip tomorrow.
The car was packed and we were on our way by a little after 8AM, to check out of the UAE so that we could officially check into Oman later this morning.
It didn’t take long to have the paperwork processed and then we were back in Buraimi to have breakfast with Miriam's friends and their two young girls. It was our hostess' birthday and here she was making waffles for us. Our visit was very short but nice, we ate and ran.
It was about 40 Km to the official customs and immigration office for
Oman. There we checked into Oman and had our passports stamped.
We had to
get some cash from an ATM because unlike the UAE which uses Dirhams, the
money used in Oman is Rials.
Muscat is about a 340km distance which Miriam nicely broke up for us by stopping at some interesting places. The drive took us through the Hajar mountain range. The first stop was the town of Sohar. This is the town that is rumoured to be the birthplace of Sinbad the Sailor.
It was definitely a fishing town with a lovely beach where we spread out the mat and had a traditional Arab picnic lunch. It was important that we dipped our toes in the water here, as this water was the Gulf of Oman.
It was interesting to people watch as Omanis wear different head scarves
that the UAE sheiks. The sheiks of UAE that we saw in Dubai wear their scarf
in a triangle with a ring on top and a portion of the scarf hanging down
their back. The
Omanis wear their scarf wrapped around their head with nothing hanging down
their back. Most Omanis however were wearing the informal cap ( kimma )
rather than the scarf.
Our next stop was Al Sawadi beach where we saw Dhows anchored near the shore and small islands in the distance. Here we walked the beach for a while and had an ice cream before continuing on our road trip.
We have seen quite a few camels grazing in fields but this time there
were two camels and a rider on the road coming toward us. Miriam quickly
stopped the car so I could get out for a picture.
Our next stop would be Muscat but first we needed to purchase a small coffee maker. We forgot to pack one in the car. We had been doing very well by not getting lost so far but we were all getting tired so I guess we missed the turn-off for a large mall. Once we found our bearings again and had our coffee maker, we were back on the road. Again we must have missed a turn-off and we found ourselves going the wrong direction. Miriam knew this because the mountains were on our left when they should have been to our right. No problem, eventually we arrived at a place that was identified on our map and set off from there in the right direction.
Muscat is a beautiful and picturesque town with the Gulf of Oman inner
harbour on one side of the town and the mountains on the other side. The
Sultan’s mega yacht was in port along with a cruise ship.
There was construction right in front of our hotel so it was a little awkward getting in but we managed.
After checking in we left our bags and went for a little walk along the corniche (boardwalk or edge along the water) and then dinner. Dinner was in a restaurant right by the souq but we were too tired to shop and decided to save the souq for tomorrow. It was 9PM when we returned to the hotel we were extremely tired and yet it was Miriam who had done all of the driving so we called it a day.
December 22nd, Muscat, Oman
I awoke with the call to prayer from the nearby Mosque. The man calling has a very nice voice but any voice at sunrise is not necessarily my favourite.
Rick had coffee ready to go so I pushed the button, and got my fix for the day.
We were dressed and ready before Miriam opened her eyes. When she did awaken, she suggested that we go downstairs for breakfast and she would meet us there.
Our first stop after breakfast was the Muscat fish market which is just across the street from our hotel.
The highlight of the day was the souq where I blew the budget but we had
great fun.
It certainly feels like Christmas when I can buy Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. Rick tried on and even bought a man’s
traditional Omani dress (Kandura )and a cap (Kimma). I
tried a black veil with eye slots (Nakab) but didn’t go as far as buying
one. There was a cruise ship in port and the souq was a little crowded with
tourists but most didn’t speak English and were shopping with Euro’s rather
than Rials. I’m not sure if this made things easier for me to bargain or not
but I was pleased with the prices I got for all my purchases. Most stores in
Oman close between 1PM and 4PM so we did our best to be finished by then.
Next we went to the gates of the city which provided a nice view but since it was 1pm the little museum that is within the gate was closed.
We drove to the Sultan’s Palace because like most other palaces we could
only view the exterior so the 1 to 4pm wasn’t an issue.
It was busy with tourists but we were still able to see everything we
wanted.
It was about 2PM and we wanted to have high tea at the Al Bustan Intercontinental Hotel. Security was very tight there, probably because of the bombings of the hotels in other countries. When we were turned away because we didn’t have a reservation, we drove back down the road a bit where Miriam used her cell phone and called the hotel to make a reservation for 3PM when high tea begins.
We had about 30 minutes to kill and just down the road we notice a marine
museum and aquarium. It was a small museum but the perfect size for us to
tour in about 20 minutes.
This time when we drove through the hotel front gates and were stopped by security, we just told them we had a reservation for tea and they waved us through.
The hotel was opulent. The tea was nice but our server was a little too busy to really provide proper service. It didn’t matter we enjoyed it anyway. Security inside the hotel was as obvious as the outside. There were two police officers with a sniffer dog walking continually around the interior lobby.
It was after 4PM by the time we left the hotel so things were open again. We went to the Muscat Museum which had some wonderful displays of clothing, furniture, maps and photographs of Oman through the last few centuries.
We knew that someone important (other than us) was in the museum because there was an entourage of very official vehicles waiting outside the door of one of the buildings. The official drivers took my picture with them (the drivers) and just as we finished the group of officials exited the building and took off in the cars with sirens and a police escort.
When we left the museum it was getting close to sunset. We thought we could go up to the lookout platform on the large incense burner that dominates the view of the city but it isn’t open to the public. So, as the sun was setting we walked along the corniche again and enjoyed watching the lights of the city and harbour being turned on slowly
Finally we parked the car and walked to the same little restaurant where
we ate last night.
I can’t believe it is so close to Christmas. There certainly aren’t too many reminders here in the Middle East.
We were up and finished breakfast quite early because this morning we wanted to visit the Sultan Qaboos Gran Mosque. This is a very beautiful Mosque where the public is allowed to visit but with certain restrictions. Men must wear full length pants and women must be properly covered even their head. I brought a pashmina along but Miriam thought they would provide a head covering at the entrance. They didn’t so Miriam wasn’t able to come in with us.
We removed our shoes before entering the Mosque building and roamed through the circular area looking at the beautiful craftsmanship that went into the structure. The Korans were stored neatly along the walls. One of the Omani men removed one and opened it for us. It was a lovely Mosque to visit and probably one of the most beautiful in the world.
We
had planned to visit a Nature Reserve in Qurm
but when we arrived there the
reserve was closed. It opens from 8:30AM to 1PM and again at 4PM until 11PM.
The reserve is pretty close to the water so plan “B” our next stop was the
beach. We parked the car and walked along the shore until we reached a hotel
and Mall area. It was almost noon and a nice place to have lunch.
After Lunch Miriam suggested that we drive to the Rustaq Fort. The town of Rustaq is more than 100 kilometres from Muscat and we would have to drive through the mountains. If our driver Miriam was willing we certainly were as well.
It was a good road most of the way there. We stopped partway and Rick jumped out to take a picture of a wadi (valley). Most wadis have a good oasis and this was no exception. Rick climbed the hill for a picture of the mountains, wadi and oasis.
The Rustiq Fort was well worth the drive. The town of Rustaq was the capital of Oman in the Middle Ages. The Fort is hundreds of years old and a very scenic view of the town can be seen from high atop the towers.
The drive back to Qurm and the Nature Reserve was good.
It was opened
when we arrived this time and after a shwarma and ice cream we went for a
walk. To us the reserve was more like one of our parks. It was nicely laid
out with gardens, ponds and fountains which created a lovely area to walk
through in the evening.
Finally it was time to head back to the hotel. This time the traffic was
backed up everywhere. Omani drivers are wild at the best of time but after
being held up in traffic that doesn’t move, they go crazy when it does.
The
speed limit is normally 120 KPH and Miriam drives at that speed and
sometimes a little over. The other cars whiz by us like we weren’t even
moving and with all of the round-a-bouts we at times are white
knuckles
passengers.
When we arrived at the hotel Miriam went directly to the room while Rick and I went for a little walk.
It was a nice surprise when we did return to the hotel because the internet access (not wifi) had been restored to the computer in the lobby. A few days ago a major underwater cable feeding Oman had been cut so there had been no internet since we arrived.
I can’t believe that today is Christmas Eve. It snuck up on us so quickly.
Rick started his day having a shower in the dark.
Well actually he
started with the lights on but the power went out before he was finished. I
prepared myself for a shower in the dark but as I closed the door, on came
the lights.
We left the hotel at around 9AM and drove away from the coast, inland
through the mountains toward Nizwa. Driving through the mountains can give
one a headache because there is always an awesome view in every direction.
Head spinning is not a healthy practice. When
we arrived at Nizwa after checking into our hotel, Miriam took us to the
city centre where the old Nizwa Fort and souq were busy with people. We
didn’t go into either as our trip into this fort is being saved for market
day which is Friday.
We went into a small bakery and grocery store and
bought a few things for lunch. Then, doing as the locals do, we found a spot
to sit on the wall in the shade of a tree and had a picnic lunch.
Next Miriam informed us that she was taking us to the town of Bahla. In this town are potters. Once there, we found one who invited us into his workshop to have a look. Miriam found a woven basket that had a portion of it constructed using camel hide which she just had to buy. The other thing that this town is known for is Black Magic. It is the place that locals come to if they want to have a curse placed on someone. We didn’t request any curses this day.
The fort at Bahla has been declared a world Heritage Site and is currently being restored. Although we couldn’t go inside it was interesting to roam around the exterior looking at the adobe style buildings.
You would think that Miriam would get tired of driving but she obviously
hasn’t. Next she suggested that we drive to the Al Hoota caves. We
almost declared the caves a miracle because there were signs directing us
all the way.
This cave has been extremely well preserved with no damage or
vandalism. The walkways throughout have been constructed to cause as little
damage as possible. There are numerous rooms with stalactites, stalagmites
and columns. During rainy season and flash floods the cave must be closed to
the public for a few months while the water is pumped out.
While driving through the mountains which seem to grow out of the desert,
it is very easy to see how flash floods would be so dangerous here. The
mountains are solid rock and the ground is rock rubble so although it seldom
rains, when it does, the rain would flow down all of the mountains and cause
huge rivers in the wadis.
In
fact most wadis have the appearance of a dry riverbed but it is possible to
see the height that the water reaches along the cliffs.
It was still daylight when we came out of the cave so we drove to another town, Al Hamra. In this town we were looking for two things, first a nice high spot from which we could watch the sunset behind the mountains. That was easy. The second was to find a place called Bait Al-Safah. It took us until after dark to find it and even then we had stopped a few times and asked the local Omanis where to find it. When we finally found it we were amazed that anyone has ever found it before us. We are not sure what to expect here but we want to visit tomorrow.
Now the trick was to find our way from Al Hamra back to Nizra. It wasn’t too difficult and when we got there, Miriam suggested Pizza Hut for dinner. We have been doing so well until now eating local food but Pizza Hut sounded perfect.
I was awakened by a jolly old man yelling “Merry Christmas” at 6AM. The jolly old man had been told that we didn’t have to get up early this morning but he either didn’t hear or forgot. The coffee maker was left in the car last night so I wasn’t even awakened with a cup of coffee. He sure was lucky that it was Christmas Day because I never get upset or angry on this day.
We
got washed and dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. There was a tour
group ahead of us so we had a little wait for a table. The breakfast which
was included with the price of our room was very good and the timing was
perfect. Just after a table became available Miriam appeared. She gave us a
gift of dates and chocolate covered dates which she had planned on sharing
with us over coffee this morning. Oops no coffee!
We headed out toward Al Hamra where we had spent forever yesterday finding this particular museum that I wanted to see.
As
we drove by the Nizwa fort and Souq on our way out of town we noticed a
large number of
vehicles parked around the souq. Friday is the market day
for goats but even from the road we could see a lot of goats today
(Thursday). Miriam quickly turned into the parking area and we walked into
the souq area. Sure enough there were many goats as well as calves being
sold. Miriam checked with a local lady to ask if the big market would still
be on tomorrow. Once assured that we would see goats and camels tomorrow we
continued on our quest for the museum today.
We found it exactly where it was yesterday but this time we were able to
drive directly to it. There were two museums nearby each other. The first
one we stopped at was Bait Al-Jabal however it seemed closed. Miriam called
the number on the sign to ask what time it would open and the response was
9AM. There was a little laughter when Miriam mentioned that it was now
9:30AM.
They then realized that we had arrived and were looking to get in.
Miriam told them not to worry we would visit the other nearby museum first
and return to this one later. Listening to Miriam speak in Arabic
especially on the phone is very impressive.
We entered Bait Al Safah, this was the museum I was anxious to see. We were the only ones there, probably because no one else has been able to find the place.
Bait Al-Safah is a house that is more than 400 years old. It is maintained as it was then. Once in the house it is like a living history of earlier Omani times.
We were escorted throughout the different rooms and provided with an
explanation of what each area of the house was used for. We saw one Omani
lady grinding wheat into flour using a stick in a flat stone.
In another
room a lady had a log fire and was making the traditional Omani flat bread.
With
bag and camera in hand we were each given a full piece of the bread to eat.
It was extremely thin and we were dropping many crumbs all over the floor as
we tried to maintain “right hand only”. Our guide didn’t seem to mind
at all. In this room it was almost difficult to see because there were two
separate fires and the smoke was quite thick. Across the room a lady was
roasting coffee beans and grinding them by hand. When the Omanis make coffee
they add a little cardamom giving it an interesting flavour.
In another room a lady was pressing pistachio nuts into a paste and then
further into oil. We were each given a taste of the oil which was quite
pleasant. Pistachios are a local nut.
The next lady we saw was using a stone and rubbing or grinding something on it but it took us a while to understand that what she was doing was making a cream from sandalwood. This is what the Omani ladies wear as make up. Next thing you know, both Miriam and I were having the traditional sandalwood applied to our faces. Since we were starting to look a little local, our guide took us into the clothing room. Here he explained the traditional dress of men women and children. Sure enough, a few minutes later we were wearing some of the Omani clothing.
Still we were the only people touring this house.
We
were escorted into the majlis.
This is the room that even today is used in
homes to entertain guests. The lovely carpets cover the floor and cushions
surround the walls as a place to sit. We were first provided with water with
which to wash our hands. Dates were in a lovely dish for us to help
ourselves. The guide poured and provided us with coffee in the little cups.
We could taste the cardamom but it wasn’t a strong coffee. Miriam had
coached us that it was polite to drink at least three cups before twisting
your hand back and forth with the cup to indicate that you had had enough.
There were a few chuckles as we were sitting on the carpet enjoying the
drinks because poor Rick
could not get comfortable. Next we were given a nice sweet tea to drink in
small glass cups quite different from the coffee cups.
From what Miriam has
explained to us, it would be about this time when the host would light the
incense. This is an indication that the visit has come to the end and it is
time to leave. As Miriam says, when this happens, you have been Bahoored.
That didn’t happen today. Although this was the end of the tour, our guide
wanted to show us another house which they are turning into a guest house.
If someone really wants to experience the history by staying overnight they
can book rooms. There are three bedrooms in this house as well as other main
rooms. The only thing not quite historic is that it has indoor washrooms
which the guide offered for our use. He informed us that there are
three Italian ladies coming to stay in the house next week.
We
left the Bait Al Safah and returned to Bait Al-Jabal which was now open. It
was a museum without the live demonstrations. Having said that our two
guides showed us how the swords and shields were used. This house was only
250 years old however what is unique is that the present owner lived in it
until 10 years ago. This owner is now the Omani Ambassador to the Turkish
Government. A very important man to have come from this small village. He
still returns to this house for vacation once in a while and cooks over an
open fire in the dark little adobe style kitchen.
After viewing the two old houses we walked a little through the adjacent
date plantation and then through the town.
There
was a sweet shop in town where Miriam purchased five pots of Omani halwa.
Omani halwa (sweet) is a symbol of traditional Omani hospitality. It is
usually served in Omani homes before drinking Arabic coffee.
The main ingredients which go into the making of halwa are: starch, eggs, sugar, water, ghee, saffron, cardamom, nuts and rose water from the Jebel al Akdhar. The ingredients are mixed, in proportions and quantities known only to the skilled halwamaker, and cooked in a mirjnl (large cooking pot used especially for halwa).
I don’t think the halwamaker has ever sold five pots of halwa at one
time. When you buy the halwa you get to keep the little pot that it
comes in.
Miriam paid 1 Rial for each pot of halwa. The halwamaker wouldn’t let us
carry them out he wanted to help. He boxed and carried them all the
way to the car for us.
It was time to leave Hambra and drive through Wadi Ghul and make
our way up as high as Miriam’s little car would take us into Jabal Shams.
Almost every car we passed going in either direction up the mountain road
was a four wheel drive. We were in a little two wheel drive Kia. Jabal Shams
is the highest point in Oman. It is 3,009 metres high. There were quite a
few times on our way up the tight “S” turns where we were saying, “I think I
can, I think I can”. This is also an area where we had to stop frequently
for goats standing on or crossing the road. We made it up as far as the
paved road went and the view was spectacular.
Worth
the climb but now the trip down was just as scary and very hard on the
manual transmission and breaks.
As we neared the bottom of the mountain there were wadis (valleys or gouges) created by raging water when the rain arrives. We decided to walk along this one particular wadi that had very deep gouges and a lovely Oasis of date palms. Before walking down into the wadi Miriam taught us that it is important to first check the sky and make sure that there are no clouds. This was pretty important considering we did have rain on our first day here.
It was an interesting walk but finally time to head back for Nizwa. We
stopped at a restaurant in the city center for a late lunch and early
dinner. This was a real Omani restaurant so we were immediately directed to
the women’s room. Once in the women’s room the curtains were drawn so that
when another family arrived and were escorted into the same room, they could
not see us and we could not see or be seen either.
Back at the hotel everyone had a little Christmas Day afternoon siesta. At 6:30PM Rick knocked on Miriam’s door and woke her for our little Christmas celebration of dates, halwa, fruit cake and coffee. It was enjoyable but the real treat was that I had found a wifi access. We were able to check our email messages and receive Christmas greetings on Christmas Day.
Today we did have to get up early. Rick was up at 5:30AM and had coffee
made when I woke at 5:45AM. We got ready, packed to leave and went
downstairs to check out and have breakfast all before 7AM.
It was 7:30AM when we left for the Nizwa Animal Market. On Fridays people come from many towns to buy and sell goats, calves and even camels but today there were no camels. The whole process involves the sellers walking around a circle within the market and the potential buyers checking the animals as they are paraded and sometimes carried by.
When we left the Animal Market we walked through the large souq that is
sort of between the Nizwa Fort and the Animal Market. This souq had
absolutely everything from guns to fabrics, clothing, crafts and vegetables.
Lastly when we were souqed out again we toured the Fort. Nizwa Fort is a
wonderful museum with.jpg)
motion activated videos describing the use of not only the rooms in the fort
but the life of the Omanis in times past.
Outside the fort and market we found a lady with her little girl and mother selling a variety of things. Miriam liked one of the containers of incense even though we weren’t sure which incense it was.
We then stopped for a Musui (grilled meat) that looked and smelled too
good to pass by without trying. They serve the Musui wrapped in some nice
fresh flat bread. Although it was tasty, we were still hungry. Rick had
already picked out a bakery and he led the way to almost the other side of
town.
.jpg)
We
picked out a variety of foods and then found a nice shady spot outside to
picnic.
Finally it was time to leave Nizwa and make our way back to Buraimi. Along the way we stopped and toured the Jabrin Castle. It was after 1PM and by all rights the castle should have been closed but there was a prearranged tour of 200 people so we were allowed in as well.
This castle is described as whimsical because of the rooms and layout. The view from the turrets overlooking plantations and the town with mountains in the background was beautiful.
We left the castle and headed down the highway but having to slow
frequently because of goats continually roaming out onto the road.
I saw the first random camel munching away on a tree. It had a friend nearby but both were a little hesitant to let me come close. Back in the car and we had only gone a few more miles when there were a few more camels right by the side of the road. Out I jumped again and this time they stayed and kept an eye on me for a while before running off.
It was certainly a good camel day. We were almost at the border
checkpoint when Miriam noticed a camel sitting in the back of the pickup
truck. Not only that, the truck was stopped next to one of my favourite
signs. In Oman and UAE, the speed bumps are called humps.
So
the sign reads, Reduce Speed, Humps ahead. In a land where camels are so
prevalent I think that referring to the bumps as humps is more than
appropriate. My other favourite sign is the Camel Crossing sign.
It has been a hectic week and now felt good to be back in Buraimi.
Exhausted and hungry again, we emptied the car of all the suit cases and bags leaving them in the apartment while we took off again. We were headed for the Intercontinental Hotel in Al Ain this time for a haircut. Miriam had called ahead and made an appointment for the two of us.
On our way we stopped first at the Al Ain Mall for a quick bite to eat
then a made it to our appointment just in time.
It was a good thing that
Rick brought his book along as he had to sit in the Hotel lobby and wait for
us. Men are not allowed in the hair salon.
The weekend in AL Ain, UAE is Thursday and Friday however the weekend in Oman is Friday and Saturday. Friday in both places is considered the Holy Day. Things can get a little confusing for Miriam especially when she has family visiting who refer to the weekend as Saturday and Sunday. I have totally lost track of the days of the week.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is Miriam’s first day back at language school and instead of studying she has been entertaining us. Today, she needed to study and therefore we went off on our own. She nicely offered us her car but there are so many high-speed round-a-bouts that Rick declined and chose to take a taxi instead.
It was about 9:30AM when Miriam dropped us off at the border crossing
between Al Ain and Omen. We
walked through the checkpoint and once on the Emirates side of the border
hailed a cab. It is a 15 kilometre ride to the Al Ain Mall and the taxi
charged us 10 Dirhams ($3.30CAD). To put that in
perspective, when we
arrived at the mall, Rick and I went to Starbucks for breakfast. We each had
a quiche with a tall coffee in addition someone also ordered a muffin. The
total price for breakfast was 64 Dirhams. We have decided to take more cabs
and drink less coffee while here.
We had stopped by the Al Ain Mall last night but today Rick and I wanted to explore it a little more. There was the ice rink that we noticed last night as well as an area for little bumper/race cars and an indoor play area for young children. There was even a nice looking bowling alley.
One of the first things we walked by was a men’s hair salon (Cuts R Us). Rick went in and they were more than willing to cut his hair and unlike a women’s salon, I was able to sit inside and wait for him. He received a very nice looking cut and the price was 40 Dirham, cheaper than our breakfast at Starbucks.
There
are three floors in this mall and we roamed each one. It was about 12:40PM
and Rick suggested we go to one of the cinemas in the mall. The movie
Australia was to start a 1PM.
I purchased the tickets and on a screen the
ticket seller asked us to choose what seats we would like. This was
different for us so we just asked him to select the best for us and he did.
It was a long movie starting at 1PM and continuing until 3:45PM. I am so
glad we went to see it and hope to see it win some awards. I thoroughly
enjoyed it.
It was late in the day so we started to walk back towards the border crossing. We didn’t intend to walk the full 15 kilometres; it was just a nice afternoon for a walk. I think we made it a little more than halfway when we stopped in a small strip mall at a Dunkin Donuts. While there I called Miriam to see if she wanted us to pick up anything for dinner. It just so happened that her favourite bakery was in this very mall. She suggested we buy some Manaquiche. Since I had no idea what I was ordering I bought way too much. They are soft thick pita with feta cheese and a variety of other items melted in it.
Rather than meet us at the border, Miriam suggested that the manaquiche
would probably be ready about the same time that she would be able to drive
across the border and pick us up.
There is enough leftover manaquiche now in the refrigerator for multitudes of guests.
A little thing that I have failed to mention that seems to be a very important thing in the Arab live style is a Jinn (Genie) light. Jinns are bad genies or devils that live everywhere and with everyone. I never thought of the story of Aladdin and the Genie as anything but a fairy tale.
Arabian people all have Jinn lights. They are found in bedrooms, washrooms, all along the top of walls that surround the house. Usually they are a small light and it is believed that the Jinn lights protect the occupants from the genies. Even our bedroom has blue Jinn light.
Miriam and her roommates were back in school today but only until 1PM.
While they were gone I did a couple of loads of laundry. Rick had planned to
do a couple of handyman projects but awoke with a splitting headache. I
don’t think I ever remember him feeling so bad with a headache before. He
slept the morning away but felt much improved when he awoke just before
noon..jpg)
When Miriam returned she took us to the Al Jimi Oasis in Al Ain which is a nice place to walk. The Oasis is owned by different people but the walkway and wall dividing the plots is uniform throughout the Oasis. Some plots are maintained better than others but they all have a falaj. A falaj is an irrigation system that looks like a small canal system. In this plantation we saw a deep well with water in it which may be a natural spring used to feed the falaj. Al Ain is the Arabic word for The Spring so it wouldn’t be strange to come across a natural spring in this area. There are 7 springs (oasis) in the area of Al Ain.
When we returned to the place we were staying, we gathered a few things and went to visit a friend of Miriam’s. Rick couldn’t come with us because the men and women don’t visit together and we were visiting a young single woman and there were no men for him to visit with.
We had an interesting time and Miriam practiced speaking Arabic by
describing to her friend the pictures in the album I had brought from home
and explaining where we came from.
Meanwhile, back at the place we were staying it is not proper for Rick to be there if the single female roommates were home. They had gone out but just in case they returned before Miriam and I, Rick was to go for a walk at 4:45PM and not return until 5:15PM when Miriam and I would make sure we were there. In the end Rick, Miriam and I were all back before the girls.
One visit down and another was planned. This time we (Miriam, her room mates and I) were going to visit with the ladies across the street and Rick was going to visit with their husbands. We weren’t sure how long we would be so Suzy Q gave Rick her phone so when he wanted to leave he could call us and we would leave.
The ladies were all in the women’s majlis and Rick was in the tent next door where the father of the house greets his men neighbours and friends that stop by.
Things did not really go as planned. Rick phoned and wanted to leave but we hadn’t been there long enough to leave without it seeming rude. Rick’s problem was that his hip was really bothering him sitting on the carpet. When Miriam told the wife about his problem, she marched outside over to the tent and told her husband to give Rick a chair. Everyone chuckled over this.
A while later we heard a man’s voice and Rick’s voice outside our majlis door. This really startled our hostess who quickly used her scarf to cover her head (they cannot show any hair) and moved to the other side of the room away from the door.
Miriam passed the keys out to Rick so he could leave but we couldn’t go as we were being served multiple courses of Arabian food including dinner. Eventually it was 9PM and we were able to say our goodbyes. As we started to cross the street, I happened to look back at the tent and noticed Rick still there. This was a surprise to all of us. The oldest son of our hostess speaks English and he and Rick had been conversing since we last heard from him hours ago. The men wouldn’t let him leave because they were also serving him dinner.
Miriam left for school and we checked to make sure that our bags were
packed, papers in order and travel documents ready to go. This was our last
full day in Buraimi.
What a finale she provided for us. As soon as Miriam returned from school, we jumped into the car and drove to Al Ain again. None of us had eaten lunch so we made a quick stop at Al Jimi Mall for some Chinese food. Then a few blocks away we were back in the desert.
Al Ain was built in the desert but driving around town it is difficult to
imagine that. The streets are lined with palm trees and gardens. The
round-a-bouts look like golf greens. Everything is irrigated. Evidently in
the summer when the temperatures are over 40 degrees Celsius there are no
flowers because they would wither and die in the heat. When we were on our
road trip last week we noticed all of the large pipes that were being laid
to transport water across the country through desert, mountains and
scrubland. Each large city appears very lush right now. There were smaller
pipes being laid and Rick identified them as natural gas or oil pipelines.
Out on the desert we all admired the dunes again but there was a little breeze today and the sand was getting into everything. My eyes were gritty and when I spoke I felt as if I had a mouthful of sand. It was well worth it. Not only was it a desert day it was an amazing camel day.
The area where Miriam had brought us had a large camel track. It was a training track rather than racing track. Camel racing is very popular in the Middle East but it is a sport mainly attended by men.
Here, the trainers use the full grown camels to train the younger ones.
There were camels everywhere and the trainers loved having their picture
taken. Each trainer that rode by us had normally a few young camels tethered
to him.
We
also saw a truck driving around the outside of the track with a camel
tethered to it. Some trainers were riding in the dunes rather than on the
track. Some crossed the road in front of the camel crossing signs others
walked by the road with the “humps ahead” (speed bumps) sign in the
distance. It was just totally amazing to see so many camels going
every which way.
There were some camels penned off on the side of the road so we walked over to take a look and found many more camels. My favourite was a mother and baby. The baby was less than one month old and still fuzzy.
Some of the camel trainers were behind a palm frond area having a break
and they called us over.
It
was a classic Arabian picture. One man was smoking a she-sha while the
others were sitting on the ground with their small cups of coffee.
They didn’t mind us taking a picture. In fact one of them wanted me to go
and see his camel and have another picture taken with him and the camel.
These men weren’t Arab though – they were workers from Pakistan and Sudan
and other places who are sponsored by the locals to come and work with the
camels.
When we finally pulled ourselves away from the desert our next stop was the Oasis Hospital. Sounds like a strange place to visit but Oasis Hospital is the oldest hospital in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. There is a small museum there with pictures of the hospital when it was established as a small hut in the middle of the desert during the 1960’s. The change in this area has been so rapid and extreme it is difficult to imagine that this city of about 350,000 with modern shopping malls, expressways and everything else that one would expect to find in a modern metropolis was wide open desert less thirty five years ago.
It
was time to race back to the place we were staying and change. We were
visiting a friend and teacher of Miriam’s in less than 20 minutes. This time
it was possible for Rick to join us in the ladies Majlis. We were served
traditional Arab food again but some of it Rick had not encountered. One of
my favourites is a dish of pancakes served with syrup. Yesterday I had some
with date syrup. Today they were being served with sweet syrup made from
flower blossoms grown high in the mountains near the village of this family.
We felt very honoured when Miriam translated that it was only served when
there were very special guests. We had a lovely visit and will meet the
teacher again tomorrow when Rick and I visit Miriam’s school.
It was time again to make a quick trip home and then head out for another
visit. This was a full family visit and even the man of the house joined us
in the Majlis (visiting room). Miriam had never had this happen before even
though she has visited this house every week for over a year. Rick and
Mohamed sat and talked a little. Mohamed could speak a little English.
When
the men were served the very thin Arabian bread and a bowl of date syrup,
Mohamed showed Rick how to eat it with his hands. We were also served a dish
that I enjoyed yesterday that was like a ratatouille that is eaten with flat
bread used as a scoop. Before all that we had a big helping of cake. And in
addition we had chicken, and a white bean dish and cake. The drink was hot
milk with ginger and a little thyme. As Miriam said, “A true Omani
experience”.
One of the daughters is extremely artistic and in demand for her ability to apply henna in beautiful patterns. She gave Suzy Q, Miriam and I a hand henna treatment.
As we were leaving, Rick was presented with a gift of Omani dates to take home with him and I was given a lovely scarf. As I mentioned before, what a wonderful last full bay in Buraimi.
This was it. The very last day we had to spend time with Miriam. She went to school at 8AM while we finished our last bit of packing and prepared to leave.
Rick
and I left the place where we were staying at 10:30AM and walked to Miriam’s
school where we met her teachers and classmates during the break. We walked
in the front door and the receptionist who was supposed to be studying
English seemed only to know Arabic. She was such a cute young Omani lady
dressed in her full abaya and Sheila and she couldn’t lie. It was a set up!!
Miriam let her know we were coming and had her pretend to only speak Arabic.
The problem was that we sort of understood what she was telling us so she
broke out laughing and confessed.
We met everyone including a few who we already knew. Husain, one of the teachers posed for us and provided his best Emirate look by wearing his big dark sunglasses. (he mentioned something about GQ!!)
When
break time was over, we returned to the place we were staying and waited for
Miriam. As soon as she arrived we hopped into the car and took off for lunch
and the trip to Dubai.
During our road trip today we continued to see camels but this time they we all in the back of trucks. We also drove by the flocks of flamingos that we saw when we first arrived.
We were driving across desert but there were palm trees lining the road
the whole way to Dubai. The stretch across the desert is irrigated and the
trees planted to act as a wall to keep the sand off the highway. It is
similar to the snow fences and trees in Canada that are used to keep the
snow off the highway.
Without getting lost we arrived at the new Dubai Mall. It only opened officially last week and we wanted to see the huge aquarium before leaving. It can be viewed from the mall or you can walk through a tunnel of glass while the fish swim right over your head. There were many types of fish and rays including a strange shark-ray. The largest fish in the aquarium were a few groupers that were each over 200 kilos. They were huge looking even next to all of the sharks.
After experiencing the aquarium, we walked around the mall for a while and saw the Giant Christmas tree with over 8000 lights that by Rick’s estimation was about 80 feet tall. Not bad for a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas.
The mall also has a full size indoor hockey ice rink. After seeing the
rink the only thing left to look at was all of the stores. We chose instead
to leave and go to the Festival City Mall which is closer to the house where
Rick and I will be spending the night.
We found an Italian restaurant with a table by the canal and had our last meal together at the Festival City Mall. We said our goodbyes and Miriam drove all the way back to home (about 2 hour drive) as she has classes tomorrow. Hopefully she will have a well deserved rest (when she is not at school or studying).
We were up early and our driver was ready and waiting when we opened the door of the cottage we were staying in. He drove us through fog to the airport where we checked in easily and then went for breakfast.
Our flight was a little late leaving because of the fog but it was a comfortable journey to England during daylight hours.
We took a shuttle bus from Heathrow Airport to Gatwick and then found the hotel shuttle bus spot at Gatwick. The temperature was 0 degrees Celsius and we were freezing even though we had on our jackets and vests in anticipation of the cold. The shuttle bus arrived after about 10 minutes and it was cozy warm inside.
When we checked in at the hotel I immediately noticed that there were no lifts (elevators) so I requested a room on the ground floor. I expected a small room because it is London but I did not expect a freezing cold room. There was a radiator but no heat coming from it. I quickly returned to the front desk and identified that we had no heat in our room. The desk told us that someone would come and check the problem. The person arrived and pulled out a portable heater from under the small TV table and plugged it in. This was our heat in a three star hotel. Next problem I noted 2 signs in the washroom that identified the need to run the water for a few minutes before it would be hot. I tried and sure enough, it took a while but eventually we had hot water.
It was New Years Eve so we wanted to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out. There was a very busy pub and a more formal restaurant next door. We chose the restaurant. The food wasn’t bad as even the vegetables were fresh and nicely prepared. The prices were a little over the top but it was New Years Eve.
We were sound asleep in bed well before midnight but we had an early flight in the morning.
