January 19, 2011 Kay's Journal Day trip to Dam and Wadi Shab

Up and off on a road trip. First we went to Wadi Dayqah Dam  at Al Mazari which was quite an impressive dam founded within the narrow limestone gorge through which the wadi flows. Had picnic lunch there then on down the coast road continuing south towards Sur.

Wadi Dayqah Dam

Walking through Wadi Shab



An old Falaj system in Wadi Shab



Wadi Shab is an interesting piece of outstanding natural beauty and peace. It is approached by a road that has been cemented because of the steepness of the descent & ascent from the cliffs. The wadi itself is not drainable. Walk into the wadi is calm, serene and beautiful through the steep ravines, past pools, waterfalls and lush plantations of date trees. Several villages along the hillside are only accessibly by foot. We did not attempt to visit these. “Piece de Resistance” is the mountain pool at the end of the walk, here you can swim through a tight neck-width gap & narrow tunnel, which opens up into a cavernous mountain pool area. At “Tiwi”, which almost runs into Shab Village, we drove into but then drove back to wadi Shab. Vegetation consists of Alfalfa, groves of banana, mango and fig trees, very lush and the water flows all year round. These groves follow the path of the original “falaj” (water irrigation system) and as I mentioned earlier, these channels are still used to irrigate the oasis today.



Bibi Mariam's tomb



Qalhat is where the “House of Mary”, BiBi Mariam Tomb is located. Bait Mariam. In the 14th century many of the major buildings were destroyed by a major earthquake. The Portuguese came in the 15th century ransacked Muscat and Qalhat, slaughtering the villagers and destroying the complete area. The Tomb of Mariam somehow remained in fairly good shape and is one of the only structures left standing. This area, like so many others in Oman, is a major archaeology site. We tread lightly thru the rubble seeing many pieces of pottery with huge signs saying “do not trespass” under the Sultan’s law. Just to hard to resist, temptation was to great seeing all the pieces of sherds (pottery), shards (glass)..I’m learning hear from our own private team.. Fascinating and intriguing as to a look back in time in how these people lived. Incredibly hard lives by our standards - but then it was perfectly normal!