Wadi Al Arbiyyin and As Suwayh

It was for the 3rd time we tried to complete this route and this time we made it! For the first time we did not have enough time, for the 2nd time rain had destroyed most of the road but this Friday we made it. It was an easy driving route with lovely views on mountains and refreshing pools. It was around 37C and staying outdoors for longer time was quite a challenge!

Some funny hill sculptures on the way:

"Drowning accidents are now popular":

Enjoying some refreshing pools in As Suwayh:

Pools and waterfalls in As Suwayh:

Wadi Al Arbiyyin:

Wadi Bani Awf

After renting a better car we are more free to choose off-road routes for our weekend trips. This Friday we went to Wadi Bani Awf, it is the area where there are Little Snake Canyon and Snake Canyon (the names come not from the numerous snakes but after the canyons' swinging shapes). We did not go hiking in the canyons but enjoyed some real off-road: we crossed many wadis and had a hand-shaking experiences of driving an unpaved road by the high mountain sides. It has been for sure one of the most difficult roads we have taken here in Oman (though, our off-road routes' book described the route as "easy driving" ;)). Yet, usually the scariest means the prettiest views and it was true!

Entrance of Little Snake Canyon:

Of course, we met lots and lots of goats on the way:

Beautiful views:

We did not drive further than this:

Balad Sayt Village down there:

Snake Canyon:

The road goes on the mountain side:

Snake Canyon:

To be a fair-haired kid in Oman

Another day Märt was asking me:
"Mommy, why do everybody always touch me?"
Me: "Because you are different. They do not have any fair-haired kids either kids with green or blue eyes here."
Märt: "Ok. But then, why don't they touch YOU?"
---
Our fair-haired kids do get lots of attention here that is both lovely but sometimes also tiring. There is hardly any trip to shop or restaurant or walk in the street when the locals do not come to touch our kids. Very often, we hear the locals pointing at Marie with "Baby! Baby!" and in worse situations they want to grab her to their lap. The problem is Marie is a very shy and she always starts to cry when some stranger takes her to his/her lap. I must admit I have been very rude sometimes and have said "Don't touch!"
Our boys have been to the restaurant's kitchen where they have returned from with candies as thank you for the photos the Indian expat cooks had taken of and with them.

I do not know - maybe this is a cultural thing. In Estonia, when we see a black kid in the street or in the shop we do not go to touch him/her either grab him/her to our lap. But probably we - cold northern people - are just not enough emotional?

Wahiba Sands

One has not visited Oman if one has not been to the desert, especially since 82% of Oman's areal consists of desert. We had planned this trip for several weekends but only this weekend made it real. Andres had read some theory at home about driving in the desert, we had also bought a rope (to be ready for the worse: to get stuck in the sand) and we hit the road. After 3 hours from Muscat (because we took an inland road, it had been faster to drive the coastal road to Sur; next time we know) we were in Wahiba Sands.

This is how it started, desert right ahead of us:

The locals were practicing driving on the sand dunes, we were not brave enough to try it:

Camel's footsteps on the sand:

Wrong way but beautiful views:

Fun in the sand (but it was hot-hot-hot, so shoes had to be on all the time):

We also met some locals :):

When we had driven and looked around for some hours we decided it was time to say good-bye to the desert for this time (to come back next time and maybe do some more adventurous things there) and we headed near to Wadi Bani Khalid to have picnic by the pools and relax.

 It was already dark when we left the wadi and we spotted a scorpion on the wall: