The events described in this post took place sometime in June, 2011 in Nizwa, Oman. For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

It is so ironic.  I have always complained that I never really see the Oman everyone seems to talk about.  Here I am living in the Hiterland, and I don't get to actually see the scenic stuff that makes Oman so different from the rest of the Gulf.  I also know that there is many places in the vicinity of where i live that should be in walking distance from my flat that are supposedly really great.

In the last two weeks before leaving Nizwa, I decided to literally explore my backyard.  I mean go into the area behind my flat, away from the market and the rest of the city.


I initally thought that there wasn't much there.  I had been under the impression that the neighborhood stopped a few blocks in.  Presumably at the foot of the mountains behind my house.  Boy, was I wrong!!!

It just so turns out that behind my house starts this community called the Falag Daris.  A falaj is a kind of aquaduct.  It was used by people in the desert to channel water from the mountains for personal use and crops.  There was a great deal there, right behind my house.  A veritable oasis so close to the sprawling nothing of the rest of Nizwa.  Dates, bananas, and all manner of greenery.  Houses surrounded by flowers and plants.  Pools of water that ran off into tributaries to irrigate the crops. You can find more photos here.

The people out there were way different too.  These were the people you hear about when someone talks about Oman. Everyone I met said hello with a big smile, then invited me into their house for tea, No, really they did.  This was the Arab hospitality that I had heard so much about.  It was a far cry from the indifferent tolerance one experiences other places.  Traveling less than a quarter of a mile from my flat was the equivilent to jumping to another universe.

It is a real shame that I only discovered Falaj Daris two weeks before I left Nizwa.  In hindsight, I could have taken my nightly walk through there, instead of trapsing through the souhk every night.  Well, looking behind you is always 20/20.  But, I'm glad I did discover it! It truly is a wonderful place of beauty.  If you are ever in the Nizwa area, I highly recommend taking a stroll through Falag Daris.  It is time well spent!

Wadi Bani Awf (in through the out door)

The events described in this post took place on or about January, 2011 in Nizwa, Oman. For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

As  discussed in the previous post, the Spring semester of 2011 was unofficially dedicated to trying to 'cross-off' all of the things I wanted to do in the interior.  One off the big things that I still had not yet done was to visit Wadi Bani Awf. 

Wadi Bani Awf, is perhaps the preeminent off-road route in Oman.  It bridges Rustaq with Nizwa. Both places in which I had lived. Though ironically I have never been their. 

Wadi Bani Awf is usually done in one direction. That being, from Rustaq to Nizwa.  However, myself and Jared decided to attempt it from the Nizwa side.



Well, I found out why one generally does it that way. It begins with a 5 kilometer descent into the wadi that is very treacherous. I came to the realization that it is easier to go up a steep slope, then try and go down one.  Especially across rocks and extreme off-road terrain. 

We made it to one of the sections called 'Snake Canyon' before deciding to turn back.  It was  rapidly   becoming dark and that kind of climb is not something you want to do in the dark. 
Exploring Wadi Bani Awf was definitely an experience and I am glad I finally got to visit there.  The view was exquisite.  I highly recommend it to anyone who has a 4X4 and is in the Gulf region. You can find excellent maps and directions to Wadi Bani Awf here:  as well as in the book (insert title here).  Definitely a worth while experience.

...probably for the last time.

The events described in this post took place on or about January, 2011 in Nizwa, Oman. For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

Well, the new year came, and with it I returned to Oman, on New Year's Eve actually. I spent the transition between 2010 and 2011 in the Bahrain  airport lounge. Which wasn't too bad considering they had put out a a booze selection for about half an hour to allow the guests in the lounge a quick NYE drink.  Of all the places I could have been, I'm sure that I could have done worse.  No new year's eve kiss though.  :(

Upon returning to Oman, I noticed that something had definitely changed.  I felt different somehow.  I think it was because I was staring down the barrel of what was to become my last semester in Nizwa.  I knew I would be leaving. Where I was going to though, well, that hadn't firmly been decided.  As result of this, I started revisiting places that I liked.  Knowing that I would probably never return to them. As well as trying to 'check off' those things I had always meant to do but never gotten around to doing. 

Shortly after the New Year.  Myself and two friends journeyed up to Jebel Shams again.  It was actually two trips.  One on a Thursday and the next the day after.  I thought I had lost something up there on the mountain on the first day. So myself and my friend Jared returned the next day to look for it. 

The second day was really the trip that was worth note.  It was actually a very cool experience, if not a bit harrowing and freaky.

 Upon arriving to the crest of the mountain where one parks and then walks a trail down into the canyon, we were beset on by the local children.  They crowded around Jared's truck and kinda of just gawked at us.  These were no ordinary children. You could tell by looking at them just how shallow the gene-pool is up there.  Millennia of all-too-close conjugal relations with family had produced more-than-slightly irregular fruit.  One of the children, the tallest and apparently the oldest had tried to talk to us.  We couldn't understand him at all.  Partly because of a condition that was similar to turrets.  But instead of random curse words that were interjected sporadically, he broke into a gravelly demon-like voice, intermittently throughout his attempts at communication.  This, coupled with his enormous man-sized hands, swollen, bulbous arm joints  and a very clumsy put together jaw that was slightly too big for the rest of his head, made for a very surreal experience altogether. 

After we had made our way past the group of children and continued down the path towards the entrance of the canyon, we were confronted by a wizened, desiccated husk of an old man.  With nary a half dozen teeth in his head, he crouched on a piece of ancient wood on the floor.  He wore a  filthy robe, and his skin was caked with something that appeared to be baked-on, or that could have been just the condition of his time and sun-worn skin.  In a manner befitting of a horror movie he began to point and shout at us most creepily.  It was very much as if he was shouting a warning at us not to pass.  This made my skin prickle.  I felt as if we were in a some kind of horror movie.  Like an Omani version of the 'HIlls Have Eyes'.  We actually discussed stopping the planned hike and returning some other time.  But, in the end, we manned-up and decided to continue down the trail into the canyon.

After suffering the initial weirdness at the mouth of the trail, we had no problems with the rest of the hike.  The view was spectacular, as always.  We did not, however, find the lost thing we were looking for (months later it turns out it was never truly lost). But we did manage to get a Yoga session in at the end of the trail.  Not bad, despite the trips ominous beginnings. Just goes to show, sometimes you just need to sail through the storm to find nicer weather.  Well, this was probably my last trip to Jebel Shams, and I'm glad I took it.  I wouldn't have time to take another such trip out that way.  There was many other things to do before I left Nizwa

Fall 2011: To everything turn,turn, turn...

The events described in this post took place on or about late Sept. in Muscat, Oman. For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'

Well, first I have to apologize for what will transpire in the coming weeks. Those of you (if any) who actually read my blog will have noticed that the events being posted about are a little 'out of date'. This is because I have not been a good little blogger and have not been faithfully recording events in a timely fashion as they unfold. There has been a bit of a 'lag'. I blame the lack of bandwidth (ie time) of reality. But, I have been doing a lot of 'stuf' and keeping myself busy with lots of 'blogworthy' things. So the apology conferred to this blogs readership is to cover the 'temporal inconsistency' in the following weeks (?). As there has been many notable changes in my life, I will be blogging about the present, as well as trying to 'catch up' with the gone days of 2011. So, please. be patient as we try and achieve this.



Thanks,

The management.

The first thing that is noteworthy is my change in employment. I no longer am employed by the colleges of applied sciences in Nizwa. I now work for the 'Flagship' university in Oman, Sultan Qaboos University. In the short time I have been here, it has already been a total pleasure. The University is just that, with all the facilities and resources one would come to expect from such an institution. Needless to say, it is a drastic improvement over the other locations in which I have previously been employed.



With the change in job, came the necessity to relocate. I now live in Muscat, the capital of Oman. My flat, which is pretty nifty, is located in a section of Muscat called Althaiba (pronounced Azaiba). I'm about a 195 second walk to the beach and pretty central to the city on the shore-side (It's right by the B on the map. It's pretty sweet not having to drive an hour-and-a-half each way to get cheese and coffee. It's a bit of a hike to work (25 min), but i think it's well worth it.


View Larger Map I've been here about a 10 days now, and am still in the 'settling in' period. I have loads to do with my new job and new flat. So, if you all will be so kind as to let me get on with that. And as I stated before, please accept my apologies for the 'temporally displaced' posts that will follow

Spice plantations, Elephants, and Temples

The events described in this post took place on or about Dec 25th-31st, 2010 in Goa, located on the NW side of the sub-continent of India.  For those of you viewing this through Facebook 'Notes', the original post is available on www.henrickatlarge.blogspot.com. It will enable you access to photo galleries and other multi-media material which don't transfer into 'Notes'



Well now I really know why you should 'strike while the iron is hot'. I can honestly say that 'retro-writing' my blog is getting to be a pain in the but, and the more time elapses between the event and the post makes it all the more annoying and arduous a task. So please forgive me in advance for the brevity of the following posts as I try to catch up to the present.

When we last left hour intrepid adventurers, they were in Goa having a great time. In the midst of having a blast on Baga and Anjuna beach, they journeyed out to Panjim to look at the churches of old Goa...

During that time, our two eager world travellers took a perilous journey from Panjim to Ponda. They delved into the verdant depths of the lush Goan jungle to see what was to be seen. 'What did they find'? you ask. Well, they discovered the origin of the source of all the 'Hullabaloo' about India. It was there in the Sahakari plantation that they discovered... SPICE!!!

We ended up going to a spice-farm in the 'hinterland' of Goa. It was really great to experience the point of origin of all these great spices that I have been cooking with and tasting since arriving here. Learned a lot about spices and nuts as well. Saw a guy climb straight up a coconut tree and play 'Tarzan' about 20 meters in the air jumping from tree to tree. The only thing I really regret was not trying some of the Fenny. Feni is an alcoholic beverage made from either Cahews or Coconut. They had some of this on the plantation, seeing as they grew both of the aforementioned fruit on premises. I also got to fulfill a life-long goal, as well as check something off my bucket list . I RODE AN ELEPHANT!!!! Yes, totally did that!!! This took place right outside the spice plantation. It was completely frightening... but AWESOME. For a brief moment I felt like Hannibal. It was totally too cool. The Elephant was so awesome. Her name was 'Lucky' and she was a very sweet girl. It was one of the things I will remember the rest of life... One of the really great things was that they had the elephants trained to curl their trunks up in a kind of salute. This was really pretty impressive and cool. The handlers have them trained to do it in response to a hand command. This makes for great photo opportunities for the tourist... which I couldn't have been happier about! Great time all around!

On the way out of town, we managed to swing by some hidu temples. They were pretty great. My favorite was one that had a black statue of Hanuman in fromt of it. The people in and around the shrines were really nice as well. I actually left my Iphone in one of the temples by accident. I realized it and ran back inside, they had grabbed it and returned it to me. I was really pleased. Those of you who know how cut-throat India can be in terms of possessions and money can appreciate what I'm saying. But all worked out well in the end. After a great day, we returned back to Baga! A great day-trip indeed!