Saturday, January 21, 2006

An Oasis in the Rocks

19th January, 2006

Our first venture into the Omani outback couldn’t have been better. Wadi Bani Khalid is named after a Prophet, and is a spot no visitor to this country can afford to miss. It has pools of crystal clear water formed from cascades flowing out of the small openings concealed in this rocky valley that encloses the area.














Hamid, our driver for the day, zoomed at speeds of over 100 Km/hr as we headed towards Wadi.














At an eat out on the way.
















Back on the road.














The sudden upsurge of greenery gave us an inkling of what lied ahead.














There it is! Truly, a sight without an equal!














We were already on our feet and had started scaling the rocks.














It isn’t always the worst of experiences to become a subject of somebody’s attention. These kids seemed more than interested in analyzing our ascending skills.














Heading for the cliff.



















Climbing down to this pool was a very scary experience.














Once there, the source was never far off.














Dad zooms in from the top as my bro poses for my cam.














My bro couldn’t keep off the water for long.















The sight right above the pool.














Back on the rocks above.














The wadis of Oman, though dry when the weather is still, turn into raging streams on a rampage when the rare rains pour down. I truly enjoyed this Grand Canyon of Oman, negotiating my way through its rugged corridors, following the instinct of a hill dweller.

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