Bush camp to bush camp near Wadi Ghul, Oman November 15, 2022

Bush camp to bush camp near Wadi Ghul, Oman November 15, 2022

It was a beautiful night- quiet and soothing even with the big electrical tower running through our deserted bush camp.  I was in my tent by 7 pm and had a “bath” - I have bought a small wash basin and washcloth so I was very clean crawling into bed.  Everything is manageable while bush camping and we are lucky there are only 18 of us on the coach so there’s lots of room for our stuff.  

We are an old group, both in age and in overlanding experience so we are often ready to leave before departure time.  Today was no exception and we were on our way to Al Ayn travelling through a very fertile valley with great mountain views-

To get there we walked through a dry riverbed-

and soon we were at the Al Ayn Beehive Tombs-

There’s lots of farming in the valley- 

Presently they’re growing corn for human consumption and bird seed-

The Al Ayn Beehive Tombs are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Copper, pottery and other ceramics made in Mesopotamia have been found which means this site is 4000+ years old.  Some tombs are small single chambered that date to the beginning of the 3rd millennium BCE-

The mountain is shale-

Next to where the bus was parked was a tailor-

I presumed the hanging dress meant he was open so I went in-

The man was from Bangladesh and said a dress would cost about $27 and be ready in 8 hours-

Our next stop was Jabreen Castle, built in 1675 as an important centre for learning about astrology, medicine and Islamic law-

There were a lot of painted wood timber ceilings-

The irrigation channel was not used as a water source but to keep the fort cool-

An Iman’s tomb-

Floral motifs around a door-

and windows-

Writing on the walls by the tomb-

A decorated staircase-

and ceiling-

The women’s whispering room.  Not sure what they’d be whispering about; certainly not last night’s alcohol induced party-

Bahla Fort was next.  It was all redone in 2012 so not at all authentic.  I don’t like that.  The original fort was built between the 12th and 15th centuries by the Banu Nebhan tribe to protect the trade of frankincense.  The original building was built of mud-brick, mortar and plaster.  The renovation, without any consultation, was with stone and cement.  How unfortunate-

Lunch was a salad with way too many onions, dal and pita bread.  Delicious!  For dessert I had jalep which is hollow deep fried rings soaked in honey-

I love the storefronts-

Tide in Arabic-

After Bahia we had a long drive towards Wadi Guhl-

 but soon the pavement ran out and we were on a gravel road being constructed-

It was soft so the coach rocked from side to side and soon the driver stopped. We could see the road where we had to go heading up the hill–

He told us he wasn’t going there because he was afraid of tipping over and/or getting a flat from the rocks.  Karen phoned someone to see if the road had truly been changed since last year because right away there were 4 x 4s around wanting our business.  She learned it had and it was pretty obvious because they were working on it right in front of us, so we descended and set up our camp. In the morning a truck will come to take us to the top so we can walk along the canyon.

I’m was on cook group with Kelly from San Antonio-

and we had chicken, mashed potatoes with mixed vegetables.  Even though it was easy, it took 3 hours!  And because we are walking part of Wadi Guhl in the morning, breakfast is at 6 to beat the heat.