Thursday, December 22, 2011 Sandy Boyce and I ventured across the border to Oman. There we visited a souk, saw a rebuilt fort, and saw the ruins of a small village. What a day!
We started in the souk. The sellers are known to be very aggressive, so we were prepared to say no. While there I found some delicious red pears. We also found some traditional tea/coffee cups with camels on them so we bought a set to split - for 18 dhs or about $6 for 12 cups.
When we first got the the souk a car full of Omani ladies pulled up and beeped at us. They rolled down their windows and started yelling for Sanday and I to come to their car. They wanted to touch us, shake our hands and talk English to us. We were the only blonde western women in town that day, so I guess we were sort of celebrities.
We were interested in the traditional crafts and items in some of the stalls. We saw frankincense and incense burners. We saw baskets, mats, rugs and oil lamps. It was fun to look, and the sellers were very respectful when we said no thank you.
We next stopped by this fort. It is very interesting, and more of my pictures are posted on Facebook.
I don't love to have my picture taken, but here I am in the fort. The tan is due to the past week at the pool. I use 60 spf sunscreen, but still manage to get some color.
Now we moved on to some ruins. We stumbled upon them totally by accident and Sandy's good driving skills. We drove by and I said, "Hey, that looks cool and old, let's stop". There was nobody there, but the old mud buildings were so interesting. The details in the construction were amazing. We did realize how much there was and we hiked around in the sand for about 45 minutes looking, taking pictures and being amazed at seeing something really authentic!
Speaking of Authentic, we ate at a little roadside cafe and survived. Chicken, rice, salad and some kind of unknown soup.
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| This guy sold me my red pears. He was SO nice! |
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| Me in one of the souk stalls. Neat stuff! |
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| Front of the rebuilt fort - not sure what it's called! |
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| Another view of the fort. |
We were interested in the traditional crafts and items in some of the stalls. We saw frankincense and incense burners. We saw baskets, mats, rugs and oil lamps. It was fun to look, and the sellers were very respectful when we said no thank you.
We next stopped by this fort. It is very interesting, and more of my pictures are posted on Facebook.
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| Me in the fort |
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| Old Village ruins |
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| Another part of the village |
Speaking of Authentic, we ate at a little roadside cafe and survived. Chicken, rice, salad and some kind of unknown soup.
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| Dunes are so beautiful! |
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| View from the top of the dune. |
