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Gulf of Oman, UAE
Saturday, January 20, 2001
On Saturday we crossed the country to see the Gulf of Oman coast.
Our first stop was at University City. This collection of English
language universities was started from scratch and plopped into the
middle of the desert outside Dubai city a couple of years ago. It
might house 10,000 students. The anchor institution is an
extension of American University. University City is the most
beautiful and ostentatious set of academic buildings you've ever
seen. There are grand boulevards, heavy, ornate fences and gates
surrounding each facility and immense, polished-marble plazas.
All this is trimmed with massive, brightly colored formal gardens,
everywhere. Keep in mind that this place is completely surrounded
by miles of desert. Build it and they will come!
Polished Marble at American University
Continuing on our way we crossed miles of scrub desert, camels grazing
on fenced-in land and through increasingly dune-like desert. At
the town of Masafi we turned south through the Hajar Mountains.
Our next stop was at an old fort in the small town of Bithnah. Bithnah
Fort commanded a strategic route through the Hajar mountains.
Though partially collapsed, there still appeared to be only one
entrance and it was locked. However, an old man appeared inside
the fort and bade us to go the door while he slowly made his way to let
us in. He motioned for us to explore the one mostly intact
tower. We did so, passing through the room where he apparently
lived. As we were about to leave the old man held out his
hand. Nat negotiated with him and we ended up giving him an
apple, Coke and granola bars and ten dirhams (about US$2.50). A
few days later in Dubai we happened upon a postcard captioned "Old man
at Fort Bithnah." We wondered what he got paid for the pose.
Bithnah Fort
We came to the Gulf of Oman at the town of Fujairah. This is
a modern, medium sized town with wide streets, lots of shopping and
plenty of construction underway. Just to the north of town we
located Al Bidyah Mosque, thought to be the oldest Mosque in the
emirate of Dubai. Carbon dating has established the existence of
the structure to as early as 1446 AD. It is still used actively
and, although we were allowed to photograph the outside, there was a
sign that forbade entrance to non-Muslims.
Bidyah Mosque
Seaside View
We continued north along the coast road, through several smaller towns,
all with lots of construction going on. We drove past fishing
beaches with their boats high out of the water and their nets set out
to dry. We stopped at lunch time for a picnic on the beach.
There, we watched people surf fishing with poles and with hand
lines. They didn't seem to be having much luck. We examined
one of the fishing boats with its nets and tried our best to rescue a
small crab that was stranded on the sand.
Traditional Gate Decoration
Roadside Market
At the town of Dibba, near the border of the northern section of Oman, we turned back though the barren, red mountains. As we drove we began to see increasingly deep wadis. These are creek beds with steep banks that are normally dry. However, when it rains in the mountains they can fill without warning, washing away everything in their paths. We stopped at one to take a picture and found two old cars pinned where culverts directed the flow under the road. When we returned to Masafi, we took time to explore its roadside market to look at produce and buy bananas. We especially admired the piles of dried sardines offered for sale. These are not packaged. They are emptied from the nets, dried directly on the sand at the beach and sold by the kilogram at market. Yummy!
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