ENTERING ARAB LANDS Blog # 1

ENTERING ARAB LANDS
February 20, Tuesday & Wednesday

Ready - Set - Action: Direct flight (15 hours) from Seattle to Dubai on Emirates Airline. Blink, watch a movie fast forward and suddenly you find yourself on Wednesday (8 pm) in United Arab Emirates (UAE) met by friendly, handsome Arab men dressed in white flowing dishdashas. Are we dreaming I ask myself as we pass lit-up billboards that look like flat screen TVs - some even like virtual Arab men next to camel statues. I guess not but is it really Dubai? It is dark so we barely see the tall buildings but do notice MacDonalds and Subway. Entering our hotel we are greeted warmly and there is an Arab man offering coffee and dates. Up in our room we find our favorite nespresso coffee machine even with decaffinated coffee. Maybe I am dreaming - a mixture of mostly Western modern living clothed with Arabic touches. Too tired to figure it out.. crash in bed although with the 12 hour time change, it is really morning and we should be getting up. 

February 22, Thursday

We are met by a 38 year old Arab man named Said from Oman who drove 5 hours from home in Muscat to get us.. leaving late because his wife had her 5th baby a few days before and he wanted to stay home as long as possible. He is delightful and tells us how he chose his cousin to marry and convinced his parents she was the right person for him even though they had many other women lined up for him to choose. This is a 7 hour drive in his comfortable Toyota to leave UAE via Al Ain border where we get Oman visas and the border guard tells us we are going to love Oman.

Successfully crossing the border the landscape changes from rolling wave-like, carmel colored sand dunes dotted with camels and tents to more rocky ground with ever growing mountains and scraggy trees. The government has planted palm trees in clusters for farmers to harvest dates and these green patches light up the otherwise grey rock formations. The landscape gradually gets more and more beautiful with cliffs and the occasional herd of goats. We stop to see the Beehive Tombs and are told these are 5000 years old. This in sharp contrast to the amazing modern castle-like places surrounded by fences that are plopped in the middle of this rocky mars-like dessert land. Most of these houses have been built in the last 4-5 years. Like Dubai many of these community houses look like gated communities and didn't exist in the 80's. The country seems to have jumped a century from the 70's to the current time. Certainly it is having a rapid transformation. 

Finally we arrive at Nizwa our destination.. no time to sight see but must sleep. Tomorrow we will see this ancient town..half of which is brand new in recent years and half very old. A time warp.

Tomorrow we will explore. Good night