Well, Wadi ya know - Lausanne to Muscat 2018 Day 5 (Wadi and sink hole trip)

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Cast:
Me: Shaun
Alison (who edits and adds comments to these reports before I post them!)

Link to Index is here https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1065039


We set our alarm set for 6.30am this morning (which was a bit of a struggle as it felt like 2.30m UK time) and after showering and getting dressed headed to the lounge for breakfast although I was bit surprised that we weren’t the first people to arrive although I reckon it must have been a close run thing.

We both had a quick cup of coffee and pastries on the patio before heading down to the lobby at 7.15 to meet Khalfan, who was going to be our driver for the day. Nice looking guy in his mid-twenties who had spent a lot of time in Europe and the UK and was very fluent in English and made us feel very welcome.

He led us out to his Toyota land cruiser and we started out on our journey and as a nice surprise it was only the pair of us on the trip today. We chatted about various things, putting the world to rights as we drove south along the Quryyat sur road, with the Gulf of Oman to one side and desert and mountains to the other.



There was not a huge amount to see or catch the eye, really a whole bunch of nothing as far as the eye could see to be honest. This, coupled with the early hour of our departure meant that we both nodded off from time to time. The roads were excellent – Khalfan explained that all the roads were quite new and were a pleasure to drive on!

Eventually we arrived at Wadi Shab, aptly named in Arabic the ‘Gorge Between Cliffs’, and a really lovely destination despite the Muscat–Sur Hwy slung across the entrance which took away some of the natural beauty of the surrounding areas.

On arrival in the car park we took a quick comfort break and gathered up things we wanted to take for the day. To start we had to take the world’s shortest ferry crossing to the other side of a pool via a ferryman. I think it cost 1/2 Riyal each (which was included in the cost of the day) and must keep some locals paid enough to live on or at least supplement an income.





Once across we started our 45 minute walk along the gorge, following the dried up riverbed to eventually come to a series of freshwater pools. We pulled over to one side, stripped off and left our rucksacks and towels on the side and were assured that our personal things would be perfectly safe.















We fired up our Go Pro and made our way into the cool, refreshing water swimming along one pool to another before arriving at our final destination.





Once at the upper reaches of the wadi it looked like that was it apart from a small notch at the base. As we approached it was actually bigger than we thought and we squeezed through into a partially submerged cave complete with waterfall.

We were absolutely dumbstruck at the sheer beauty of this unspoilt place, well, except for a rope where you could climb up the waterfall and jump off down into the pool. I weighed up my options and thought better of it, maybe years earlier I may have attempted it but I was a long way from home!

We lingered a while and even managed to crawl / swim behind the waterfall before calling it a day and making our way back. It was only at this time that others were beginning to make their way to the final destination – we were really, really glad that we had an early start, missing all the crowds so having the whole place to ourselves.

When I say groups I really mean groups, there was a school trip of about 50 just starting out swimming up the pools, just as we got back.

We made our way back, the same way we had come as many other groups of tourists were now coming in. Can’t really imagine what it would have been like with the masses as we’d had a truly magical experience.





From here our driver took us to his hometown, a little fishing village of Tiwi, being flanked by two of Oman’s beauty spots, Wadi Shab and Wadi Tiwi, it has found itself very much on the tourist map. Saying that, it’s not made many concessions to tourism, only one small hotel and no public transport, either to Muscat or to Sur.

One thing I found out afterwards was to ask about Ibn Mukarab. The story goes that this Saudi fugitive paved the steps from his house (the ruins are still visible on the hill) to his tomb in gold. As anticipated, the locals dug the steps up for the gold, making the tomb inaccessible. Ibn Mukarab has since been able to enjoy the peace in death that he couldn’t find in life.



Anyway, we pulled up outside a small local restaurant and our driver went ahead and greeted the owner before coming back to say the choice of food was fish or chicken and we could sit outside or inside. We all decided on chicken and to sit outside where the local youths were chatting and playing on I-Phones – things just don’t change the world over!

Food was served and we had a platter of salad to start before the main course of spiced chicken, rice, dhal, mixed vegetables and a bowl of hot sauce - all typical Omani food apparently. We chatted to our guide who said that Omani’s like their food slightly spicy and flavoursome but not spicy hot like Indian food.





We were offered cutlery being Europeans but to my surprise, Alison managed to go native for the entire meal. I did my best but I was so hungry that I reluctantly gave up and started to use the cutlery for the last part of the meal.

When we had finished we were ushered to the back of the restaurant where the toilets and water tap for hand washing was supplied. A truly stunning meal in a wonderful setting, the only thing is I have absolutely no idea what the place was called!

Our next stop on the way back was at The Hawiyat Najm Park where the Bimmah Sink Hole or the Dabab Sinkhole is a large hole in the Earth crust filled with some fresh water. The local legend says that it was created by a meteorite. This is why its name "Hawaiyat Najm" translates to "The Falling Star". However geologists have confirmed that the Earth's upper crust layer collapsed due to erosion (the interaction of limestone with water).







The hole, which is not the only one in Oman, is a 40 meters wide and 20 meters deep cavernous hole, filled with multi-toned turquoise water.

The Daily Mail even called it the world's most beautiful sinkhole...
dailymail/news/arti...mers-Oman.html

To go down to the water level, a cement staircase was added. Not the prettiest of things and really quite steep and you need to be aware that there are roughly 80 steps down to the bottom.





We climbed down, stripped off and took another refreshing swim although we didn’t have the place to ourselves this time. One of the interesting things about the hole is that the small fish inside act like your own personal foot care experts as they tentatively nibble away and dead skin you might have. I think I’d pay a fortune for this type of treatment back in London.

Rough skin on my feet nibbled away and nicely cooled down we climbed back up to the car for the long drive back. On the way we passed a camel wandering along the side of the road (as you do!)



We desperately tried to stay awake, but gave up in the end!

We arrived back at the hotel, feeling a bit shattered but managed to find time to get into the lounge for a well-deserved afternoon tea.



We showered and changed before relaxing for the last part of the day in the pool and hot tub.

We ate in the lounge as per the other evenings (this evening the food was Japanese), accompanied by our usual red wine and prosecco. The lounge ‘angels’ now get our drinks ready for us when they see us coming in! We switched to g & t and prosecco after a while!



After dinner we had a wander along the beach and stopped in a local café for tea/coffee, and decided on trying shisha, which we’ve never tried before. No tobacco was included – and we plumped for cherry flavour. It was quite pleasant and good fun joining in with the locals!





We didn’t spend long there before we started flagging so headed back to the hotel and our bed. What a fantastic day!

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Meant to add there is some Go-Pro video clips of the actual cave and waterfall but not had time to edit just yet.

[Dissie]

It looks beautiful, what a lovely day.

[Glee Fan]

Looks a stunning place!

What a fantastic day.

Not sure about the steps though or the feet nibbling fish!