Spring-break (Amazing race style)

In the Haynie house, all the women love the TV show the Amazing Race.  There have many a night huddled around the laptop catching up on the latest episode, followed by discussions of longed for globe trotting adventures.  Well, this most recent Spring-break, we had as close of an Amazing Race as we will ever have (minus the traveling gnome).  Our pack of travelers covered 5 countries and 8 ports of call.

EGYPT
Our first stop was Cairo, Egypt and man was it amazing.  We had prearranged for a tour guide to meet us there,  her name was Maha, and she was fantastic.  In fact, she was so committed to our experience that she showed up to take us around even though she was getting married the next day.  

As a back drop, tourism is down close to 90% due to the recent revolution that dislodged Mubarek from power.  Egypt is really feeling the pinch as tourism is the #1 industry and everyone is struggling.  We arrived on a Friday, which was fortuitous because the normally horrendous traffic was at a minimum.  Couple that with the fact that there were no crowds to speak of at the major sites, thus resulting in a great time to see a lot of history in a short amount of time.

So pay attention, because I'm going to share with you where we went in rapid fire succession.

First Site:  Mohammed Ali's Mosque.  He was a very influential leader a century ago who built up the Cairo area and furthered the education and quality of life for the Egyptians  

Second site: City of the Dead.  This is a cemetery that has now become a dwelling place for the homeless

Third Site:  Nile River

 

Fourth site:  The city of Saqqara.  Here we saw donkey drawn wagons, carpetry schools, date palms, road side vendors and the first pyramid in Egypt (with its amazing court yard)

       

 

 

Fifth Site was the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx.  I had to keep telling myself that these are the real artifacts and not some LasVegas Hotel's re-creation.  The feeling is overwhelming to look at these monuments to the past.  It really made me wonder about who built them and especially how. 

  

Final site was the National Museum.  Unfortunately, we could not take any pictures of the inside.  Again, I was struck with the feeling of awe as I came within mere centimeters with King Tuts Mask, caskets and all the other remnants of his tomb.  There were countless other priceless and ageless handy works of the antiquities.  50' statues, burial tombs, mummies, King Ramsies exhibits and every other hand carved stone product you can imagine.  

We were able to take in 1000's of years of history in 7 hours.  We also got a taste of modern history in the making as we taxied by Tahrir square - the birth place of the revolution.  On our way back, we got enveloped into a rally for one of the dozen presidential hopefuls.

 

This is a most fascinating time for Egypt.  History was being written as we were there, but it also promises more in the very near future.

BARCELONA
Next our travels took us to Barcelona Spain.  On the plane flight over, I read a newspaper that detailed a strike that just occurred a day earlier.  The issue at hand was the government's recent austerity measures that just passed.  The people were not happy about it and decided to demonstrate their frustrations.  We were a bit apprehensive about any possible aftermath, but theses concerns were soon forgotten as we saw how calm things were.  

Despite Krishna's best efforts, our accommodations were a bit out of the way.  At first we were a little annoyed, but in the end it was a blessing as it forced us to become expert on the rail system - which we did in no time.

Our first night in, we metro'd into the city and exited on to the  Plaza Cataluyn.  Unbeknownst to me, the primary language of Barcelona is Cataluyn, not Spanish.  Although Spanish is spoken often, it is a necessity for the citizens to speak Cataluyn too.  


We opted to purchase a hop on/hop off bus ticket to familiarize ourselves with the city.  Barcelona is so big, so diverse and so rich in history that any other option to explore did not seem feasible.  We bought a 2 day ticket and rode the orange route first, and then we rode the red line the following day.

Rather than attempt to give a travel log of all the sites we saw in Barcelona, I've included a couple of my favorite pics and encourage you to go online and see what else you can find.  Suffice it to say that this city literally has a little bit of everything in it - from architecture, to sculptures, to monuments, to sporting venues (bull fighting rings/Olympic stadium), to food, not to mention a true melting pot of peoples.

Overall we had a great time in Barcelona, and felt very energized and safe.  Emri is convinced that she wants to do a study abroad program here - I don't blame her.




TUNISIA
After a full day of sight seeing, we boarded the MSC - Magnifica to our first stop - Tunisia.    This was our first trip to Africa and we were very excited and curious as to what it had to offer.  Recent political events of another leader being replaced had made us a bit tentative, but we figured that if MSC is still willing to stop there it must be safe enough.


In our attempt to see the popular sights (which meant watching hours of taped advertisements for ideas) without paying the outrageous excursion prices on board, we bartered with a local taxi driver (Fazi) to take us around.

First stop was a famous souk area whose anchor store was the previous home of the king  many years ago.  After walking through a maze of allies we arrived at cramped indoor walk of stores vending every imaginable item.  We had essences, handicrafts and fine silks pushed on us by the proprietors all trying to make a sale.  


Jayci had a goal to purchase a bracelet at every city we visited, and it didn't take her long to find the perfect one.  After this initial shopping was done, Fazi showed us the Kings house, whereupon we were whisked to the top of the building for a fascinating view of the Tunis.  There were some great art-deco walls and once impressive arched ensconces located there, but unfortunately time and foot traffic had taken away most of the luster.

After snapping some pictures, we went downstairs and was treated to a full blown sells presentation of Tunisia's finest carpets.  They were amazing works of art, crafted by local women.  The experience was all the more enjoyable due to an adorable little man who did the heavy lifting while the main sales guy made his pitch.  In the end we opted not to buy a rug, but it made for a great memory.

 We next traveled to Sidi Busaid  This is probably the most photographed site in Tunis because it strikes a defining image of the traditional Tunisian villages.  Here we saw houses with white washed walls accented with their traditional Blue doors and shutters.

It was now late in the day, and our boat was ready to launch so we told Fazi to take us back to port.  It was now time to head to Malta.


MALTA
One of the great things about our cabin was that it came with a fantastic view.  Kris was able to score a balcony at a very reasonable price.  This amenity afforded some amazing views and pics that we would have otherwise missed.


The Malta harbor was extremely interesting and we were immediately struck by the ancient and historic feel.  






Once we docked, we shot down the gang plank and started auditioning the local taxi driver contingent for our budget tour guide.  We settled on Charlie (the kids said he reminded them of G-pa Harry).  The short and sweet of it is that he took us to the following destinations:


1)  Local fishing village popular with the locals.  It is a real working harbor where catches of the day happen daily on these brightly colored wooden skiffs.  We hung out here a short while to soak  up the local ambiance and purchase a few trinkets.  

2)  Blue Grotto.  This is a very scenic spot on the island that attracts many visitors.  It strikes an impressive pose that lends to some good pictures.

3) Hagar Qim  and MnajdraTemples.  These are the oldest known temples in the Mediterranean.  They are thought to be over 3000 years old.

4)  Rabat.  This is a small city made famous for the St Pauls Grotto church.  It was here that Paul, after being shipwrecked, hid from the Romans for many months in a small cave. Unfortunately, the Romans found him and brought him back to Rome to be executed.  The church sits directly on top of the caves/grotto, hence the name.  There have been several popes that have come to visit this site in recent years.

 

5)  Medina.  This is truly a unique and historical site.  It is a completely walled in city built originally by the Maltese, but conquered several times by the Romans and then the British. It had amazing cathedrals, Roman architecture and cool alley ways.  It's definitely worthy googling to learn more about.

6) Valleta.  This was our last stop.  This city consists of a main street replete with shopping of all kinds.  High fashion all the way down to nickle and dime stores.  We grabbed a pizza here to sustains us for a few hours of window shopping and exploring.  There are a couple of important Cathedrals as well as very ornate and historical gardens (Barrakka).

ITALY 
(Sicily- Messina)


As I mentioned before, pulling into these ports was absolutely spectacular.  As you can see, the Madonna was waiting to welcome us to Sicily.  Once we disembarked, we choose to go it alone by foot.  It felt nice to just walk around and not have to worry about trying to be in the right spot at the right time.
  
Highlights included:


1)  The great astronomical clock of Messina.  This tower was built in 1933 and is the biggest and the most complex mechanical and astronomical clock in the world.  At exactly 12noon, a lion begins to roar, then a rooster crows, which then triggers a three tiered procession of statues parlancing through the open windows of the tower.

2)  The girls found a window display that positioned shoes in rather unique places.

3)  We found a great bakery with to die for bread.  We purchased some and had a simple lunch on the run.

4)  Santuario Montalto.  This was built as a sanctuary for the church members.

5)  Cristo Rey.  The most visible and famous church on the Island.  It was at one time a Roman castle.

We enjoyed our time in Messina, it certainly is doable on foot, but make sure you have good walking shoes and bottled water.




VOLCANO at sea.


As noted above, we really enjoyed having a balcony on this cruise.  Another big reason for it was that we were treated to a big unexpected surprise - a birds eye view of a smoke emitting volcano in the middle of the sea.  We were just cat napping after a full day of site seeing, when out of now where appeared this huge rock that shoveled a steady stream of smoke into the air. It was COOL! 

ROME


It was now time for the crown jewel of our cruise - Rome.  Kris did a great job researching the best path to travel to see Rome in a day.  So, with this map in hand we charged of the boat and secured seats on a chartered bus.  It is a 1 hour drive from the port to the city, but it was great to see the Italian country side up close.  It was green and offered vistas of farm land, shoreline, rolling hills and good sized mountain slopes.  


Here is the path we followed once we arrived.


Site 1)  Basilica.  This is an awesome plaza that gives a great view of the church from which the Pope address the masses.  We were there during holy week, so we got to see a lot of the church faithful.  Unfortunately, the line for the Sistine chapel and Vatican was very large, so we decided to pass on it so that we could see all the other sites.

Site 2)  Bridge over Tiber River

Site 3)  ???????????Square.  The fountain here was amazing!  We also saw a real Pigeon lady.

Site 4)  Pantheon.

Site 5)  Trevi Fountain.

Site 6)  Pizza and Gelato  (AWESOME)




Site 7)  Saint Ignazio Chapel

Site 8)  Spanish Stairs

Site 9)  Colosseum  (Make sure you get here early because it closes by 2:30)

Site 10)  Forum

Site 11)  Federal Building

GENOA -ITALY


This was our last stop of the tour.  It's biggest claim to fame is that it's the birth place of Colombus.  We took the double decker tour bus to get a quick look at the city and then walked back to places of interest.  


It's not the most scenic place in Italy, rather it has more of an industrial feel.  The Roman influence is readily apparent, but there are many other styles of architecture on display.  




The alley ways are very narrow and extremely unique.  This is where you find all types of commerce, stores and cafes.




Highlights:


1)  Ducale Center square with a huge fountain

2)  Funny shop  (After hearing some of Emri's jokes, I told her to spend a few dollars here)

3)  A lot of the building had very old frescoes painted on the exterior.

4)  Arch and Gardens dedicated to Columbus.

5)  World famous Aquarium

6)  Columbus house

7)  A great lion statue on the Palazzo San Lorenzo.

There is so much more to share, mainly small vignettes that are best told face to face.  We look forward to telling a few face to face with you in the near future.
































































Site 4)  

(Pics and more of the trip to come)

A Loss to Remember

We just came back from an amazing basketball tournament in which Jayci and her team from Ras Tanura competed for the Kingdom wide "National Championship".  This is the closest thing we have to March Madness over here.  This band of over achieving girls already took the national championship in Volleyball and were gunning  for another banner in basketball.

It was a two day event that required them to play 6 games.  Long story short, they won their first five (two of which were against high school teams) which propelled them into the championship game against Dharhan.  RT had already beaten them twice, and now faced them for a third time.

This final game will forever be special and very memorable, but not for the reason you might be thinking.  Rather than me recount it, I'd like to share an e-mail our family received from a parent in the crowd (from the other team).

--------------------------

Folks,

I attended the SAIK Girls Basketball Tournament in Riyadh this last weekend and saw something sports purists almost never get the chance to see these days. I wish I had video evidence, but, hopefully, you’ll accept a first-hand eye-witness account, and proceed accordingly from there.
(In the interest of not continuing to misspell Ms Haynie/Haylie’s name, I’ll just call her Ms H.)

It was down to about the last two minutes of the girls SAIK basketball championship game between Dhahran (DH) Middle School, in White, and Ras Tanura (RT) Middle School, in Blue, and the game was tied. Both teams had met before. Both teams felt the pressure. Both teams knew what was on the line – championship bragging rights for a whole year, not just in all Aramco, but in the whole of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

On a fast-break play by DH, a DH player passed the ball to another DH player down court.
RT team-leader Ms H. was rushing down court as well in an attempt to disrupt the fast-break play.
The DH pass sailed out of bounds underneath the White (DH) basket.
The referee called the ball and indicated the direction of throw-in.

Ms H. calmly and quietly informed the referee he made the wrong call, and quietly insisted the ball should go the other way.
It would have been perfectly acceptable to let the ref make the call and continue to play, since we all teach players to accept the call, even the “bad ones”, that those are the breaks of the game, to forget the call and continue to play. Yet Ms. H insisted, very calmly and quietly, with the referee that he was wrong and to reverse the call. Almost nobody heard her speak. I heard her voice but could not hear her words; but I saw what occurred prior to the call, and I saw her body language as she ever-so-softly contested the call.

Ms H.  insisted the referee reverse the call, originally in favor of Blue (RT), to go the other way, that the ball should go instead to the White (DH) team. You see, what the referee and many players missed, but not Ms. H, and not this eye-witness, was that Ms. H ever-so-slightly deflected the pass prior to it going out. In short, we’d say “the ball was out, on her.”

You might stop here and think, “now that was good of her, she’s a sweetheart, she just didn’t know.”
I would state you are wrong to think that. Why?

I fully believe Ms. H knew the consequences of her actions: the White team would receive the inbound pass under their own basket, and very likely be able to break the tie in their favor in the final two minutes of a championship game. Why do I believe this, that Ms. H knew the consequences of her actions?

Because of her composure during the whole game, because of her composure after the call was reversed, and because of her composure after DH/White did, in fact, inbound the pass, make the tie-breaking shot, and two-minutes later win the game. Her composure was calm, yet determined. She cared, very much so, about winning, but I think she cared more about winning true than winning cheap.

How can I express in words the simplest, truest form of pure sportswomanship-in-action, especially in today’s world of self-serving sports persona, and the uber-competitiveness that pushes most to take advantage of every mistake, even a referee’s bad call?

We as parents and educators try to teach “Be fair. Be polite. Don’t show off.” Even kids who have the best manners at the dinner table might forget these rules of good sportsmanship in the heat of a championship game.

Ms H’ deserves special recognition, a) for herself, and although I bet she might be a little embarrassed by it, I think she’d accept the responsibility of being awarded such recognition in order to b) serve as a role model for others, if this was explained to her. But I think she’d already know this without it needing to be explained. She was already a team leader before this, so I’m sure she’ll continue that role in other endeavors as well.

If the Aramco school system already has a category to award any kind of recognition to a student who exhibits the epitome of good sportsmanship & fair-play, then I nominate Ms. H for her exemplary leadership and sense of honor during the 2012 SAIK Girls Basketball Tournament championship game.

If the Aramco school system doesn’t already have such a category to award, then it should create one, and perhaps consider naming the award in Ms H’s honor: the Name I. (middle initial) Haynie award, not to be awarded annually, but only to be awarded when similar situations of selfless good sportsmanship occur… “for demonstrated superior qualities of sportsmanship, leadership, a commitment to teamwork and a desire to excel in the highest and most honorable of traditions.”…etc.

At the very least, get the story in the Aramco Sun.

I hope this message is enough to get the “ball headed in the right direction.”

Regards,
James

----

Thanks Jayci for showing what true champions are made of!

Christmas 2011 in UAE

The magic of Christmas came to Saudi Arabia!  On Dec 23 Alex and Makena boarded a plane to the middle East lugging overstuffed suitcases and a plenty of cheer.  For the most part their flight was uneventful, just how we prayed for.

They arrived on Christmas eve around 11:30p local time (KSA) and we were all in good spirits once we could actually grab and hug them.  It's been over 4 months since we've seen each other and it really felt great to be together again.

By the time we went to bed that night it was pretty late, we half debated just to stay up and have an early AM Christmas, but cooler heads prevailed and we went to bed.  The next morning we picked up where we left off as far as smiles, giggles and group hugs.  We quickly turned our attention to the suit case they brought that contained all the goodies.  We'd like to thank all those who contributed to the "Santa Bag", there were many wonderful and thoughtful gifts and we appreciated the effort and love with which they were sent.  Krishna's favorite was the family picture that Alex had made, it now sits prominently in our dining room.

On Dec 26 we boarded a plane to Dubai.  Alex had been planning this trip for months and it was now time to execute the plan.  She was able to find a great hotel very near the metro, so we had great access to all the favorite spots in Dubai.  We saw the Mall of Dubai with the Ski Dubai resort inside.  It is amazing what they do in malls over here.  There really are like little cities complete with food, clothing, entertainment and everything else you would expect to see in a fully developed city - they are huge!

While there, we also went to the mall of the Emirates that had the world's largest aquarium and dancing fountains like the ones in Vegas.  This mall sits right next to the World's Tallest Building – Birj Kalifa.  Unfortunately, the tickets were sold out to go up the building, but we figured it gives us a good reason to come back.  So as a consolation prize, we decided to go see the new Tom Cruise movie MI 3 that was filmed in Dubai and spotlighted the Birj.

We also went to the Atlantis Water park.  It had some awesome waterslide great beaches and enough things to do to keep us busy for awhile.  What also made this park unique was the location.  It was built in the Palm Jameera district.  This is a man made geographical layout that sculptured land mass to represent a palm tree.  Each branch of the tree was converted into prime residential and commercial real estate.  Please google it to get an aerial shot, it's really amazing.

After 2 days in Dubai, we moved on to Abu Dabi  This meant we took a 2 hour drive in a chartered bus.  The ride was OK, but it made for a great sight seeing opportunity.  That's the nice thing living in this part of the world, everything we do is new and full of wonder so even Mundane things are exciting.

Alex did a great job hooking us up with a hotel we were bumped up to a suite and life was pretty sweet.  We kept really busy here.  The front desk gave us some sites to see.  These included the World's Largest Mosque, the Emirates palace, the Marina Mall, and the Heritage Center.  The biggest challenge for us was that the Abu Dabi only had 4 passenger taxi's so it became a little pricey to travel using the.  The girls were good sports by agreeing to walk when we could.  The good news is that we got our exercise in so I didn't feel to guilty eating a few sweets along the way.  The malls there were nice, but not quite the size as the ones in Dubai.

There were two big highlights in A-D:
First was our Safari/Dune bashing.  This was a lot of fun not only because of the high energy activities, but also because of the variety of events.  We started out on a 10 minute bashing excursion that took us to a camel farm.  The girls got some great pics.  Then we were off again climbing up and sliding down more dunes to our next stop; a falconry exhibition.  After that, more bashing to arrive at our final destination – a tent compound where we ate traditional Arabic BBQ, took some novelty pics, and watched a Moroccan belly dancer.  Fun was had by all.

The second event was unplanned, but very fortuitous.  There was a tennis tournament/exhibition being held at the King Fahad sports complex that was close to our hotel.  It was an exclusive event whereby the top 6 players in the world would compete against each other.  We decided to check things out, and before we knew it we were watching Tsonga mixing it up with Monfils and on the other court Nadal was going against Ferer.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see Djokovic and Federer play but the girls got some great pics of them as the left the club house.  As Makena said, "This was the highlight of the trip!"

So all in all it was a great trip, many thanks to Alex!  It was sad to put Alex and Makena on the plane, but we all felt grateful for the time together and we certainly made some lifelong memories

Thanksgiving in Bahrain

One of the greatest things about living here is that we are consistently having first and last (and some times both) experiences.  Our latest is our trip across the border to Bahrain for Thanksgiving with the Chandlers. 

We chose to go for several reasons, first our district conference was being held there and we felt it would be important to meet more members face to face.  It took place at their international school, which was a very modern and impressive structure.  We listened to talks from President Price as well as Elder Piper (whom we had seen before several years ago in Burley). 

Afterwards we took a field trip to find the Tree of Life (you must google this subject to get a picture and full history).  The unique things about it is that it is over 400 years old, there is no water in the vicinity - thus begging the question how does it survive, and finally some believe it to be the original garden of Eden.

As far as Thanksgiving, our day was spent at the souks where David found a shop that sold old currencies.  Emri bought a 10 dollar bill from Iraq with Saddam Hussein's picture on it.  The ladies needed to visit the mall of course where they purchased some long sought after C-mas decorations and then we ended up at a restaurant named Rics for a traditional thanksgiving meal.  It was delicious to the tongue, but the heart felt a bit empty due to not having the usual group of suspects sitting around the table - we missed our family!  What we did appreciate was the company of the Chandlers and their gracious and humble influence in our lives.  In between bites of turkey and HAM (yes, they had it there) we all shared 3 things we are grateful for. It was very satisfying to hear what everyone said.

All in all a great trip where we were fed both spiritually and physically.

Whirl wind tour

Hello again!  Sorry for the prolonged absence, but we've been caught up in the routine things of life here in the kingdom for the past month or so.  There really wasn't much to report, but then all of a sudden it became fast and furious.  Now that we have a breather, it's time to capture the highlights.

VOLLEYBALL
First: Jayci's volleyball team had a great season.  Their amazing coach (Krishna) was tasked with taking 20 girls of varying abilities and create 3 teams.  The idea was to give all those who tried out an opportunity to play.  She did a masterful job of organizing teams where the girls were matched up by ability thus creating a fun and competitive experience.  There was an end of season tourney where only the "A" team would compete against 16 other teams from all over Saudi Arabia.  Also, these teams had older and bigger girls on them. Our team's tallest girl was Jayci and collectively the 7 players were so scrawny that a good breeze would have knocked them all over.  Needless to say, when they entered the gym, not only were the other teams not impressed, but they wanted to buy them lunch to help fill them out a little.

Long story short, the girls played amazing on the final day of the tournament and ended up winning it.  So in a way, they are national champions and should feel very good about their performance.  It is the first time that a team from Ras Tanura has won this title and people are very proud of them.

Emri also played on the Dhahran International high school team.  They had two strong players, her and a Megan Johnston.  They boarded a plan to a place on the red sea called Kaust.  She and Danielle (her best friend) stayed with a host family and became good friends with their daughter, Megan Harris - from South Africa.  After 2 days of competition, it became quite clear that Emri's team was the class of the field and had little problem with their matches.  In the end they took home the gold.  So, we have three national champions in the Haynie house.  Once again, dad is looking like dead weight.

TRIPS:

SHAYBA

On 10/27/11 we were fortunate enough to be picked (through a lottery) as a family to go to Shayba KSA.  This is a company sponsored trip whereby they commissioned a company plane to take 100 people on a field trip.  This is a very sought after experience because it is located in the empty quarter near the Oman border.  SAco has several wells located there as well as a very nice compound for it's employees.  The reason why people want to go is because of the indescribable sand dunes.  These are the steep and massive mountain ranges of red dunes that you see on documentaries.  They have to be experienced first hand to begin to fathom just how impressive these dunes are.  We were treated to a great lunch and tutorial about Shayba and then spirited off to an incredible vantage point called the upper tent.  From there we went sand surfing and trekking to explore one of the natural wonders of the world.  After our foray into the endless sea of red sand, we came back to an incredible buffet.  We sat on carpet and pillows, gorged on shrimp and heard amazing stories all while sitting under the vast Arabian sky.

YANBU & JEDDAH

10/27/11 Kris and I headed to the West Coast.  We were fortunate enough to hitch a ride on the company jet for a double dip excursion to Yanbu and Jeddah.

People had told us that the Red Sea is the world's best diving area and that Yanbu held some spectacular dives.  Kris and I are not certified, so we opted to snorkel instead.  After some creative planning and a little luck, we were able to visit a spot that had been closed to the general public for several years (thanks to a very nice coast guard officer who made an exception for us). 

Words cannot describe how beautiful the underwater scenery was.  Between countless numbers and varieties of fish, coupled with a true victory garden of coral it really was mind blowing to try and assimilate all the sea life we saw.  It truly was a world class snorkelingexperience!  We had the whole ocean to ourselves and I felt like I was experiencing the red sea just as inhabitants had 1000s of years ago.  The most exhilarating moment was when I came face to face with a moray eel.  I swear it had the head of a pit bull and chuck full of teeth that compared to any shark mouth around.  I quietly swam away and wished him well.

The next day we did some quick sight seeing and then boarded the second leg of our journey to Jeddah.  It was the best and worst time to be there.  I say that because we happened to be arriving at the same time around 3 million of the Islamic faithful were too.  It was great to see Jeddah come alive with the Hajj (pilgrimage in full swing).  We saw the dedicated Hajj terminal along with several Pilgrims dressed in their white robes.

On our first full day there we hitched a ride with a flight crew from Turkey airlines and stowed away on a private beach.  It was nice, it had tiki huts and refreshment shacks So, when we weren't snorkeling around the perimeter, we kicked back on a lounge chair and cat napped.  The snorkeling was good, but because we had been spoiled in Yanbu, it didn't have quite the same thrill factor.

Day 2 we hired a driver to take us around the city and we see saw a lot of very interesting places.  Old town (balad) had some great original buildings and souks that kept us busy.  We saw a fish market with every kind imaginable species still flopping around.  The turn abouts had some really cools statues, including a 75 foot tall bicycle.  We saw the famous floating mosque as well as a monument dedicated to Eve.  I tried to get in and take pictures but the keepers wouldn't let me stay because I wasn't Muslim.

All in all it was a great trip and very affordable due to the generosity of Aramco and their private fleet.

OMAN  11/4/11

The Haynie family has become good friends with the Decoopmans, mainly due to Emri's pal-ing around with Danielle.  They are a great family and we felt lucky that they chose to go to Oman with us.  We originally got the idea travel there from Randy M.  He showed us some pictures of the country one night and we were hooked.  He loaned us a book and we spent many weeks planning out our agenda.  There is so much you can do there and it takes many trips to see all the different sides of it.  Luckily it is just a short flight away, so we expect to visit it often.



 Upon arriving in Muscat, we noticed right away how clean and organized the city appeared.  There was a real feeling of "pride of ownership".  Our hotel was called the Tiger house and it was something you would see in a kid's Disney movie.  There were tiger statues everywhere and the walls were painted in tiger orange.  It is a converted apartment building, so it was functional and affordable, but certainly wouldn't make the 5 star rating.  Day 1 we tanked up on Crepes at a local seaside eating locale and then headed to Muttrah (old Muscat) for some souk shopping and sight seeing.  The ladies found their favorite vendors and purchased some souvenirs.  Robert and his GPS brought us to different points of interest like the corniche, the kings home, and other unique nooks and crannies.

Day 2 we headed south to see some turtles in Ras al Jinz.  We had plenty of time to make the journey, so we had planned to see some wadis (river beds that wind down from the mountains and deposit in the sea). They are very popular for the locals to go and relax.  Unfortunately, it was Eid and all the country was celebrating, so it was very crowded.  WE attempted to go to Wadi Sudayh, but as we travel up it in a land cruiser, it become impassable do to a rain storm that had hit the week before, so as we were trying to figure out what to do next, a tour guide offered to let us follow her to the next attraction - the Sink Hole by Tiwi. 

This place is is just what it says it is, a big hole with fresh water in the bottom.  We snapped a few photos and then followed our adopted guide to the next stop - Fins Beach.  Here we snorkeled along the rocks and saw a fair variety of fish, although we had to be real careful of the sea urchins.  After a few hours it was time to head further south to turtle land.  We drove to the city of Sur and enjoyed a nice meal at the hotel where the Decoopmans stayed.  Then we headed to our spot called Turtle island resort.  Don't let the name fool you, a resort it wasn't.  Our accommodations were a 4 walled, dirt floor bamboo hut with 3 bunk beds.  After having a good laugh, we secured a local guide to take us to the turtles.  We did this because the regular expedition was full and we needed a plan B.

They took us out at 9pm and we were able to see 1 mother turtle making her way back to sea after she had buried her eggs.  The guide had a bucket of little turtles that he released and we got to watch them follow the moonlight out to the ocean.  We felt a little cheated due to only seeing one turtle, but the guide said that the full moon makes the turtles hesitant to come ashore.  I wasn't convinced about his story until the next morning when a overheard someone saying that they went to the "official" site and they didn't see any.

The next morning we headed back to Sur and visited the boat building factory.  It was amazing to see these large fishing boat being built by hand the same way it's been done over the centuries.  Rumour has it that this exact location played a part in Lehi's voyage.

On our way back north we stopped off at Wadi Sadwa.  It was absolutely amazing!  It was an hour hike filled with adventure at every turn.  We saw palm oasis', standing pools of fresh water as well as grotto with a waterfall (you had to swim underwater to reach it).  It was definitely the scenic high point of the trip.  After several hours there, we returned back to the Tiger house for a good night sleep.

Our final (half) day there was spent exploring different sections of Muscat.  We saw Shangri-la resort (VERY NICE), tried to go dolphin watching but it didn't work out, and of course visited the local mall (we didn't need a GPS for that, the ladies seemed to sniff it out by themselves).

All in all a great trip.  The people were very friendly and positive.  The country had a nice energy, immaculate surroundings and abayas were not necessary.  We look forward to coming back soon.