Oman Visit - Dec 2006 to Jan 2007
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Fossilized coral in the graveyard. There were tons of fossils all around this area. |
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Rock formations and mineral veins near the old copper mines. This was on a trip through the interior of the island. |
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Re-creating a moment from 10 years ago. We got fairly close to the original, not too bad since neither of us had seen the original in a while. Here is a scanned copy of the original pic... |
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Road through the mountains |
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Coming out of the mountains on the other side |
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Saying goodbye to Masirah, we're on the ferry that is going to take us to the mainland and there's another waiting to load up to make the trip. |
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Hilf village, leaving Masirah on the ferry. Ferry ride takes about an hour and a half. |
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The sea was incredibly calm as we started the crossing, and there was a slight haze that made it almost a blue-out (hard to see the horizon, hard to differentiate between sea and sky). |
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Platform where the new ferry jetty on the other side will be built. Sea still at a dead calm, made for a quiet crossing. |
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Almost there, passing a ferry bound for the other side. |
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On the long road through the desert, going from Masirah to Muscat, complete with a bit of mirage. |
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Camel crossing! |
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Not a lot to see out this way... |
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Well, what do you know - camels! In the desert! Who'd have thought? |
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This small formation is out by itself in the desert, before you get to the real mountain ranges. It's not a particular attraction for the Omanis though - the djinn are said to live here. |
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Mountain ranges on the way to Muscat |
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This marker denotes where the Tropic of Cancer line crosses. |
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A few nice houses along the way... |
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Another house |
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Date palm plantation |
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Ancient watchtower heading towards Muscat. These are all over the capital city as well as scattered throughout the mountains along the way. |
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Along the road in Muscat. There are flowers everywhere along the roads - even underneath highway overpasses. |
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Mosque |
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Watchtower above the town |
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Old City Gates. Actually, they're new/old - they were taken down and the residents complained, so they were rebuilt again. |
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Al Bustan Palace Hotel |
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Marina |
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Another watchtower. All I could think when seeing some of these was, "Man, I'm glad I don't have to climb up *there* to stand a watch!" |
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Now that is an incense burner! |
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Even the streetlights are beautiful. The patterened sidewalk is as well, and it goes on for miles. |
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Street and watchtower |