I jumped at the chance as I'd been getting a bit of cabin-fever just loitering around Gills little apartment. As much as I have loved basking in the sun by the pool, reading essays and short stories from the oh-so cynical and quite depraved Hunter S. Thompson, I was beginning to get a bit scratchy. And Gill and I don't get on when that starts to happen, especially as she has been advising me that I'm beginning to 'cramp her style'. What that 'style' is, need not be said here, but let's just say that I should get out of the house for at least an evening....
So the morning of leaving came about and, as usual, I was an absolute pack-horse - toilet paper, sleeping bag, extra clothes, snack food, camera(s), blankets, jersey, the lot, especially as Gill advised that it was going to be cold.
Naseeb and Janey arrived and I was introduced to Adam and Nakia, an Australian couple who are here on their way back from Europe.
The drive down in the 4wd (the 'Donkey' as Naseeb calls it, as it's trusty and reliable... I would later learn and appreciate this reliability when we went 'Dune Bashing' the next day...) was interesting as I started talking with Janey and Naseeb about local politics and way of life in Oman, from both an ex-pat and Omani national point of view.
Now, I'm unsure of how much to take on board from this and future discussions with these two, specifically related to history and political climate. Like a good investigator, I am to remain as objective as I can and to take any conversation with a grain of salt... (the 'suspicious' element of my personality coming out here) But I'm still going to restrict how much I say, simply because I don't want to end up deported, or in the slammer. Could be my paranoia (another element of my personality) but paranoia keeps us alive, right?
Anyway, to explain ever so briefly - there is a lot of propoganda here, misinformation, suppressed information and corruption. It's alarming to hear that there have been a number of people that have disappeared (ex-pat's) over the last few years, apparently for things ranging from voicing their opinion to protesting the way things operate (and the way you are told to operate) in the system here.
But I am here on Omani terms and I am certainly happy to be here, so I will take these onboard and learn to operate as much as I can within the system that I am apart of at the moment.
ANYWAY.
It was a reasonably hot day (31') and nearly 3 hours in the car was beginning to swelter. Luckily as soon as this began, we turned off the main road and began some off-road trekking. We puled up to two plain, typical white-washed structures and a surrounding fence. This was the entrance to the Tiwi sinkhole.
I chucked on my boardies, grabbed my camera and followed everyone out to the spot. I had absolutely no idea how deep it would be (I was expecting, maybe, 10 meters deep) but I was awestruck when I arrived, after a quick 5 minute walk, to see that it was about 50 meters below the surface. It was epic! I took some photos and quickly clambered down the huge steps to the brilliant green and blue water that waited for me down below.
Getting into the water I experienced quite a strange sensation, like extremely intense pins and needles in my legs. I looked down, to see a school of fish gently biting at my skin! Despite these fish EATING me, strangely enough I wasn't alarmed. Apparently, these fish eat the dead skin off your body. Weird!
I dove in the water and it was so refreshing. I was expecting it to be chilling and icey, but it was beautiful. I swam out deeper and looked down below me. It was crystal clear and incredibly deep. Which was quite creepy. Eerily so. Mainly because it was so still.. It felt like something was going to come exploding to the surface with its jaws wide open and consume me in one giant gulp, while quickly retreating to the still and quiet depths below.
But I pressed that disturbing thought as deep as I possibly could and began to mince about in the water, splashing and generally making a mockery of myself. At one point I tried to -actually- touch the bottom, but to no avail. Which made me think about, maybe, just maybe, jumping from the top of the cliff, into the water - another chilling thought that ran down my spine and I also quickly sent that thought on it's way.
Apparently though, some divers had tried to investigate how deep the sinkhole really was - they got to around 40 meters and gave up. Which is interesting, as I could taste a small amount of salt in the water, which meant that it was both fresh and salt water and that there was a connection point underground from the ocean, some 5km away.
Janey ushered us to swim around the back, around and underneath into a cave. It was quite a scary feeling to be floating on your belly, heading into a limestone cave and have the black abyss below you. But once we were in, we could see the sand below which gave a welcome relief - there is something calming about seeing the bottom!
It was awesome though, the water was stunning and swimming around in the depths was quite exhilarating!
After while we got out and headed out to the beach, as we needed to get a nice spot before all the ex-pat's turned up.
We arrived after only a short, bumpy off-road ride to the beach and Adam, Nakia and I set up camp while Janey and Naseeb raced off to Tiwi for a meeting.
We began collecting wood for the fire, chased the damn dog as he raced off into the distance and chatted to some people along the beach. One particular couple were ex-pat's from Saudi Arabia and were planning on camping out until some unrest had settle. I wasn't quite sure what that was specifically, I tried to ask but they avoided the question quite bluntly. I have since tried to find out exactly, but no luck with the interwebz either.
Anyway, I sat down with Adam and Nakia and heard all about their unfortunate travels through Europe. They had apparently had a bit of a rough time traveling, not quite what they expected. One thing that made me think, was the fact that they were unable to get jobs in Ireland. Unemployment is incredibly high and the travelers are leaving in their droves, apparently for Australia, to find jobs elsewhere. The country also officially entered into a recession when they were there, so things are pretty dire.
It was great to chat to some people around my own age and just sit down, have a beer (!) and yak. They're hardcase, down to earth and friendly as hell.
I really enjoyed that evening. Janey and Naseeb arrived back after a couple of hours, after the three of us watched the moon rise over the gulf and as I dug my feet into the sand and kept them warm.
We began to prepare and cook dinner, which was eggplant mixed with lime, a sort of pita bread, humus and hamour fish, cooked on the fire. The food was delicious and I was blissfully happy as we sat on the beach next to the warming fire and ate, drank beer (I've kind of missed having the odd drink) and listened to pink floyd under the moonlit sky.
It was a real high point and I still remember fondly how it felt. And the funny thing is, I certainly didn't think I would be sitting on a beach, with a full belly, a beer in hand and listening to pink floyd - in Oman. It was wonderful chatting and laughing and being generally silly as the night grew deeper.
Eventually, one-by-one, we peeled off to sleep, under a star-less sky (there are virtually no stars out here at night - even a few hours out of Muscat, which isn't even a light polluted city) and drifted off to sleep while the fire gently crackled and sparked beside us.
I awoke just after sunrise and watched the waves crash loudly on the shore. I sat up and basked in the sun for an hour or so, as I imagined that the rest of the day would be simply too hot to venture out into for too long.
The rest of the gang slowly woke up and people around us began packing their gear up and shovelling off. We decided to follow suit, right before having a hearty breakfast - bread, tea and this really yummy bean-mulch-thing. Sounds gross, but really was nice and set me up for the day ahead.
We then set-off for Wadi Shab, just passed Tiwi, which was only about 5 minutes off road. We continued to bump, swerve and slide on the gravel surface, driving up some pretty hairy ramps and roads.
It was quite a sight to see the entrance of Wadi Shab (Mum - apparently you've sat at the entrance to Wadi Shab with Gill?) - Massive cliffs, either side of a small waterway, with a path weaving through a palm grove on the right next to the water.
Hah, for some reason, walking through the wadi reminded me of the beginning of the movie 'The Exorcist' - with the broad cliff faces and where whatever 'evil' spirit was 'unleashed' by excavators. It might have been the menacing jagged edges of the cliff, which the river bed would have taken thousands of years to carve through as it trickled out to the ocean from the higher mountain regions.
As we walked, the pools on either side of us began to get larger and deeper and eventually we had to swim across a deep part of the river to continue on up to the main pools and caves. As I had my camera, I said I would play pack-horse (something I'm good at, don't ya know?) and carry all the important gear on the higher pathway while everyone else would swim across.
So I double-backed and walked the path, which has been obliterated by Cyclone Gonu, which was June or July last year. They had apparantly just carved the path out and put a handrail on the side, but it has been devastated by rocks, boulders, massive river waves, winds and palm trees during the cyclone.
I eventually made it to a point which had a rock that was about 13 meters high, above a wadi pool below. Naseeb was preparing to jump in and screamed an almighty 'aiiiighheeeeyaaaaa' as he plummeted to the deep water below. Adam soon followed and suddenly it was my turn. I walked up to the edge, looked down and suddenly got a bad case of vertigo. I almost lost my balance as my stomach sunk and felt dizzy, peering over the edge of the rock.
I put down my camera and all the gear, took off my shirt and walked to the edge, which was an incredible sensation in itself. My sense of self preservation kicked in and URGED me not to jump in. This over-rode the cheering and coaxing from below and I took a step back and let Nakia tempt fate. After a few minutes of trying to overcome her fear, she also backed off, at which time I hurtled to the edge and threw myself off in a screaming panic and fell to the water below.
I rose from the depths and was pumped full of adrenaline as I laughed and screamed in celebration. What a massive rush! Overcoming that thought of fear and panic as my mind told me 'no! Don't do it Andrew!' and leaving the edge, sending myself into the unknown.
Nakia followed soon after, not willing to be the only one that wouldn't jump and we celebrated and laughed maniacally.
After the jump, we scrambled up some extremely slippery rocks and got back to the path and followed through a wadi of streams and boulders, slowly making our way to to our destination, which we reached after about another half hour of walking, slipping, laughing, joking and climbing.
It was also quite a sight - a series of deep pools which sat beneath waterfalls and cliffs.
We shed our gear and immediately threw ourselves off other rocks and cliff faces, all addicted like junkies to the sensation of falling through the air, down, at times up to 12-13 meters to the water below.
After mincing around we weaved our way up the crystal clear river. Luckily I was wearing my sandals (which I'm so glad I spent the extra cash on, my Teva's have been awesome and a life-saver) which acted as extra buoyancy as we floated, ducked and dived into the final cave.
Getting in was particularly hard for me, even after jumping some heights, as you could either squeeze through a ridiculously thin wedge in the limestone and risk getting stuck, or, dive down underwater and through to the cave, some 4 or 5 meters in.
I opted for the 'squeeze' approach and luckily didn't get jammed and have to live out my days wedged between two pieces of limestone via sets of breathing apparatus when the place flooded from rain in the mountains.
Once in the cave, we were greeted by a group of Omani's who we chatted to and laughed with, as we watched Naseeb climb up, out of the water via a set of ropes, to a ledge about 10 meters high. He disappeared and came back behind us and jumped into the water.
It certainly didn't look that high, but once we made it up there (and Nakia unfortunately slipping and hurting her knee) it was like we were towering the heavens.
We sat down and chatted for a bit, learning how and where to jump, as the roof was quite low and there was a specific spot to jump towards.
Naseeb threw himself off, with all of us following in quick succession. It was so much fun, and certainly boosted my confidence about being the water.
Finally, it was time to head back and we made our way back to the truck, saying goodbye to high rock points where we jumped and chatting some more to Adam about traveling.
On our way back to Muscat, Naseeb spotted a set of dunes, just out of Quryat, next to the beach.
He was in a particularly playful mood and once we found our way to the dunes (by cheekily tearing through peoples property and various side-roads and random scrub) he got out and began to let the air out of the tyres.
Once at the right level, we all clambered back in and started roaring in 4WD up, over and all around the sandy beach dunes. The thought of something going wrong crossed my mind as hurtled up and down, but I thought 'nah, we're in the hands of a trained professional, what's the worst that can happen?'...
Well, soon after that thought drifted from my mind, we skidded to a stop at the edge of a massive dune. Naseeb peered over the edge and then started reversing, as if to take a run up.
Meanwhile, Janey began shrieking 'Nasseeeeeb, noooot a goood ideaaaaaa!' and before we knew it we were sliding down the edge of the dune and landed with the front right wheel firmly planted into another dune, on an angle!
My heart sunk as we all got out of the truck and inspected the damage. Here we were, about 2 hours out of Muscat, a small village maybe 40 minutes walk and losing light, fast. I chuckled slightly as I thought we might be camping out for another night underneath the stars, which wouldn't be so bad, until I learned that Naseeb had another tour the following day.
Nakia was quickly dispatched to flag down another 4WD tearing over the dunes, while Adam and I dug away at the sand that surrounded the tyre.
After about 30 minutes of trying hopelessly to free the wheel, a local Omani who looked like he was out training stopped by and started talking to Naseeb and inspecting the damage. He instantly grabbed Naseebs phone and started 'phoning a friend'. By this stage, a number of other trucks skidded up on the dune above and about 15 locals had surrounded, all trying to figure out how to assist now stressed and concerned tour operator.
I was stunned at the local assistance and broad smiles and chuckles, all so willing to help in some way, shape or form.
We tried rocking the truck out, as by this stage the dune was engulfing the side of the chassis, but finally an Omani in a Jeep Cherokee waddled up with cigarette in his mouth and handed Naseeb a rope to pull him out.
We all looked on, as everyone was scattered around and busying themselves amongst the sand trying to fix the problem. Adam, Nakia and I tried to help but the Omani's all smiled as we approached and said 'relax, relax, we fix, we fix' so we watched as they all scratched their heads and began to resolve the stranded truck issue.
Finally, after about an hour of various attempts from all angles, the truck came free (with the tyre fully coming off the rim) and we all cheered and yelled as the poor truck limped away from the grip of the dune that it was stuck in.
The tyre was quickly changed and we all shook each others hands as we beamed in the dim light and dusk, before loading up and following one of the trucks back to the small village to a small tyre shop where Naseeb filled the other tyres.
We all gave a big sigh of relief as we were finally back on the road again and heading towards home. I watched out the window as the now dark mountains and oncoming head lights rushed passed us at great speed.
Naseeb was incredibly apologetic (and embarassed) but I shook my head, beamed and laughed as I said it was all a fantastic experience and made a great story, that thankfully had a happy ending.
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| Tiwi Sinkhole, Beach Camping & Wadi Shab |
1 comment:
Love it! The sinkhole looks amazing...and company sounds great! Keep writing more stories about your adventures - it's great!
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