The H3rmits Blog

Category: The Nomads

Misfat Al Abriyeen, Bahla Fort and Al Hamra Village

Oman is full of ancient cultural and historical sites to see. For this weekend, we went on a trip to Nizwa to meet a friend and to explore some of the interesting sites around the city. We have been to Nizwa three years ago where we explored Nizwa Fort and Nizwa Souq. This time, we went to the outskirts of the city and we visited Bahla Fort, Al Hamra Village and Misfat Al Abriyeen.

Early Morning Trip to Nizwa

It’s a cool morning when we left our hometown of Ibra. We went northward via Route 23 where we bought our breakfast of sandwiches, kubos, and tea. We exited the highway and took Route 17 that took us to Izki via Route 17 and then we took Route 15 to meet our friend Grace who happened to be living near this beautiful and holy Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Nizwa.

Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Nizwa

After meeting with Grace, whom we met for the first time, we went on our way to our first destination: Bahla Fort.

Bahla Fort

To reach the fort, we went thru this elegant gate to the city of Bahla.

A few minutes more and we reached Bahla Fort. We headed to the entrance after parking the car to explore this historic fort. The fort is included in the UNESCO’s heritage list in 1987. It is believed to be built around the 12th and 15th century by the Banu Nabhan tribe.

After having our fill of taking in the relaxing and calming spirit of the Fort, we took our brunch in a restaurant nearby and then we searched the way to another famous tourist spot: Al Hamra Village.

You can view the video of our tour of Bahla Fort in YouTube on this link.

Al Hamra Village

From the restored fortress of Bahla, we went to the almost untouched Al Hamra village. The site is composed of abandoned old houses believed to be built about 500 years ago. There is no entrance gate so anyone can come and explore as desired. A word of caution: the buildings are so old and may possibly collapse so please explore carefully.

The buildings in Al Hamra, some of which were built up to four storeys are made of mudbricks, and dates trees and fronds. It is believed to have been built following the old style of houses from Yemen. The village is built by the Al Abri tribe.

At the foot of the old village, you can see the route of the falaj (irrigation channel) where crystal clears waters flow to give life to the plants and the farms nearby.

Another notable thing in the village is the alley ways which is made of smooth solid rock. Our theory is the whole village is built on a single slab of rock.

People can also check out Bait Al Safah which has exhibits that portray the old way of living in Oman.

You can view the video of our tour of Bahla Fort in YouTube on this link.

Misfta Al Abriyeen

Moving further north, we arrived at our final stop for the day: Misfat Al Abriyeen. Located 1000m above sea level, the village is another famous tourist attraction in Oman. The entrance to the village by itself is simply amazing. There is this breath taking rock formation.

And then there is this house that is literally built on a rock.

Roaming around the alleyways, you can find old buildings and you can also see a part of the falaj that is literally roaring with the abundance of water. This falaj is the reason why the place is so green and that the farms are thriving.

On one end of the village is a deep gorge where you can see a huge solid part of the bedrock that might have risen to the surface a long time ago.

There is also a museum, which is unfortunately closed during our time of visit. It could have been better for us to see the relics that they may have inside.

Before heading out of the village, you may check out the shop near the entrance where they sell various items from souvenir bags, hats, as well as honey and frankincense.

You can view the video of our tour of Bahla Fort in YouTube on this link.

All Things Come to an End. Even the Good Ones…

We ended our trip in Nizwa by taking Grace back to her home. We, The Nomads as we are, however did not go home but we went to Muscat for some other business. The trip and adventure to Nizwa and those three tourist spots are great. We definitely plan on coming back for more.

December 23, 2019
Utoy’s Qalhat Beach Party and Fishing Fun
For the past 4 years, Utoy celebrated his birthdays at our homes in Ibra. “Homes”, because we have been moving from one house to another since we arrived here in Oman. For this year though, Utoy requested to have his birthday celebration on the beach. And so who are we to deny his request? Here is our story:

Preparations
- September 5 – videoke session at Tim and Paula’s. Tribe members are requested to reserve October 3-5 for Utoy’s birthday celebration.
- September 12 – we headed to a travel and adventure shop in Safalat to buy some camping gears: CR tent, cooking wind screen, LED lamp, kahwa maker. On the way home, we made plans to test these gears in the wild the next day.
- September 13 – slight problem when Mommy Nomad noticed that it is a Friday, Friday the 13th. After a minor level of debate, we decided to put this issue to a vote. Utoy and I voted “GO” and Mommy Nomad voted for “NO GO”. So, off to the shores of Oman we went. We headed right to Al Shaomookh Guest House, the place where we intend to hold Utoy’s birthday celebration. There is nobody in the office so we called the owner. He came by and because we were previous customers, we were able to reserve the place at a very reasonable price. After closing the reservation deal, we went to do some rock fishing and Utoy got his first hook up using a lure – a grouper. We take this as a sign of good things to come.
- October 1 – final planning for the trip held at The Runway. This is where we planned about the schedule of arrivals as well as the food that will be sponsored by each of our friends.
Day Zero

The Solanos and The Nomads decided to act as the advanced party for this trip. We left Ibra around 3:30 pm and headed south to Sur. The Solanos had to buy something from City Center Sur so it’s just us, The Nomads who went straight to Qalhat. But not to the Al Shaomookh Guest House. We camped on the beach right down in front of the guest house. Our reservation will start the next day.

We had grilled fish and chicken adobo for the night. The kids went playing in the sand under the light of the stars. Utoy trid to fish using fresh bait but there is no strike. The fishes might be asleep.

The Solanos pitched their tent where they slept and The Nomads slept with Alex.

Day One

I got up at about 5:00am and I roused Utoy too. We fixed our gear and I headed to the shore. Utoy got left near the camp site while he is still fixing his gear. With my red head lure on the line, I caught one trevally on my first cast. I called out to the birthday boy, but I guess he is still sleepy. I hooked another trevaly and then Utoy came. But I guess, by that time, the school of fish went away. A few more casts later, I caught one lizard fish. Sorry for Utoy, he caught nothing.

A few meters away from us, I saw one local hauling a big catch. His rod is bent and I saw him having a hard time reeling the fish in. He got one big spotted trevaly. I came to him and checked his fishing gear. I also asked for his Instagram account because I saw him posting his catch. He is using metal jigs. I went back to our spot and cast a few more but there was no bite anymore.

Then the local then came to me, his name is Issa. He gave me one fishing lure as a gift and he even gave me some tips on how to fish. I also met his brother, Ahmed, who also gave me a lure, snaps, and even his catch for the day: 3 queens fishes and one black spotted snapper. My friend, Wally, was proven right once again; the Omanis and really friendly Arabs.

We had our breakfast of hotdogs and eggs. After about half an hour of rest I went back fishing. This time, I used metal jigs. While going to my fishing spot I came across a tourist from Sweden who is also fishing. I caught one fish on my first cast. I saw the guy run and got his gears. He came back to me and he asked for advice on which among the gears can he use to catch fish too. There is nothing good in his gear so I just gave him one lure.

In about ten minutes for this session, I hooked four fishes. The sun is starting to impose his power on me so I decided to take a rest and just prepare and wait for our guest house to become available.

At about 11:00am, the owner informed me that the resort is ready so we packed our things and checked in to our comfortable guest house.

The other guest came just shortly after we checked in: Sir Darwin, Sir Erick, Sir Rudy, Mam Nancy and Mam Dolor.

Tim, Paula, Chennie, Art and Emil came later.

Narz, Sir Balai and Mam Elsie also came and the entourage is complete. We are ready to celebrate Utoy’s 11th birthday — the way he wants it.

After having our lunch, we went fishing again. We are now a full crew of fishermen. David got his first chance to join the fishing expedition.

We went to a new spot by this time and so it took us some time before we were able to find a good spot. At the end of the session, I hooked five groupers and freed a couple of small trevaly. Sir Erick got a big one. And Narz got one too.

Utoy and David have no luck, though. The others who will not be named didn’t have their luck either.

The dinner and birthday party is a feast.

Mam Nancy sponsored this cool sailfish cake.

The Nomads sponsored only the rice. Everything else is prepared with love by our guests.

Shisha, chitchat, story-telling, a homily delivered by Father Donie and a lot of funny, corny, and all kinds of stories shared before we called it a night… or morning since it is 3:00am.

Day Two

My alarm is set to go off at 5:00am but I woke up at 5:10am so I hurriedly went out to check if the guys have gone fishing. I saw the fishing rods still lying around which means we are not late for the party yet. Sir Balai and Narz are still in the kitchen, laying out the finishing touches for our favorite breakfast – cold cuts sandwiches. I woke Utoy up, gave him some sandwich and we headed to the shore to start our fishing session.

Today is Utoy’s real birthday, October 5 and as a birthday courtesy, I allowed him to be the first to pick the lure from our collection. He chose the pink metal jig that I used the day before.

The fishes started to strike early. All of us fishermen who are awake catched some. The ones who are sleeping will not be named. But best of all, the fishing gods gifted Utoy with his own catch: one trevaly and two black spotted snapper. Sir Balai, Narz and myself caught a combination of trevaly, queen fishes, and snappers. It was really a productive fishing session.

After catching his third fish, Utoy got his lure snagged on a rock. We are very lucky though that my new friend, Issa is just nearby. When he saw us in that situation, he came and offered to save Utoy’s lure by diving for it. He is a professional diver, I believe and so he managed to save the lure. Another gift for the birthday boy.

We went back to the guest house after the session and grabbed a bite of the sandwiches. And then we went fishing for one last time before we call it a day and retreat to the mountains.

While on the site, a sandstorm hit our area and the seas went rough. Sir Erick hooked one, Sir Balai also got one. But the birthday boy proved he is the man of the day. He got not one… not two… but three!!! Narz and I got nothing but dust.

The weather did not improve so we headed back to the resort early. Art prepared our early lunch before we broke camp. Just before 12:00nn, we left the city of Qalhat. The mission of giving Utoy the birthday celebration that he wished for, accomplished.

The day did not end there, though. That night, we cooked and feasted on some of the fish that we caught on our usual meeting place – The Runway. Fresh fish, starlight, cool weather, nice friends. What a way to celebrate the eleventh birthday of the youngest member of The Nomads.
October 8, 2019
A Visit to Al Fath Village in Al Mudhaybi
This trip is like no other trip that we have experienced here in Oman. The before, during and after is just full of different emotions that invoked a lot of different thoughts in me.

In the Beginning…

We were on a fishing and camping trip in Al Khaluf with our friends from Ibra on the tail end of the Middle Eastern summer. Summer here means temperatures peaking at 48 degrees Celsius and strong rip tides on the beach. It was about 9:00am and we have been fishing (I am with Balai and Narz) for about an hour with no desirable catch at all when we heard our companions calling us. I thought that they were calling for breakfast but when I saw my wife and everyone else waving their hands and running to us, I thought something might have happened.

I reeled my line quickly, picked up my stuff and went to the direction of our camp. The first one I met is Utoy who really can’t tell me what is actually happening. What he just knew is they need me. The second I met is Lance who told me to just drop my stuff and head to camp. So I did just that and I started running. It was when I met my and I asked her what is happening that she told me there were two Omanis in the water who need our help.

My instincts told me that I might have to go swimming so I removed my watch and started running toward the sandy beach area. By the beach there is the father who is looking out in the water and there are two young girls crying. On the sea among the waves is a woman who is treading water. She looked exhausted but when I approached her, I saw she was an adult and I thought about those stories of not touching the girls here. So I removed my shirt and let her hold on to that. As I was pulling her into shore, I heard her say: “My daughter. Please save my daughter.”

I was shocked by this because I thought the two that my wife was referring to is the husband and wife. Turns out there is another one on the water, but I can’t find where she is because the waves are so big. I told my wife to point me on the direction of the other one. My heart is beating so fast. The waves are big, the water is murky. If she happened to sink under the water, finding her will be very difficult.

But then I saw her among the rolling waves. More exhausted than her mother but she is still fighting. I pulled her down to the shallow waters and I asked her if she can walk, but she looks too tired to respond. I gestured if she would allow me to carry her and she nodded in agreement. As we were getting near the shore, it felt like she is getting heavier so I put her down and the others helped me take her to shore.

Having two persons in distress, Narz and I took them to a nearby clinic. Fortunately, it is open and a nurse attended to them while the doctor is coming. The father, who is still exhausted and tired, and the two children came later. We left our phone number to the mother so she can call us in case they need any other help and we went back to camp.

We spent one more night on the beach and went home. On the following day, I received a message from the mother telling us that her daughter, as well as her, are doing fine.

One month later, I received a call from the father of that family who expressed his gratitude for what our group has done for her wife and daughter. He invited us to come and visit their place in Al Mudhaybi. To make the story short, we agreed to meet each other on the 12th of October.

This is the Day…

The night before this day, I informed the Ablians that we will be going to Al Mudhaybi to meet the family. They said yes and I also informed Narz about the plan. He also agreed to come with us. So the plan is we will go in two cars. The only thing uncertain is the time of departure but the estimated time is before lunch.

It is about 10:00am and we cannot contact the Ablians. The only ones confirmed at the time is Narz, and of course us, The Nomads. We had an experience before that visitors of Omani family get separated by gender when meeting the host family. So, to have someone to go with my wife, we invited Mam Elsie and Sir Erick to come with us. Anyway, by 10:20, Lance contacted me and said that they will be able to make it in time.

The two cars left Ibra at about 11:00 by going on different routes. We are following the directions that the father sent to us thru WhatApp which is remarkably accurate. About 1km from the house, we received a call from the other group. We forgot to take something with us to share with the family. It was decided that we will just buy from any store that we may find along the way. Five more minutes of going around the village and we found the car used by the family when we met them in Al Khaluf. The other group also came after about a minute. There is one store nearby so we felt we are lucky we could buy some stuff before going to the house.

As we were about to cross the street, the father came out and greeted us. The store is actually their own. And so, we met them empty handed which is a bit of a shame. Possibly a bigger shame if he happened to see us buying our intended gifts from their own store.

The whole family greeted us, and as we anticipated, we were separated by gender. The girls from our group met with all the women in the family and us boys met the men in the majilis.

We talked with the father and his brothers. After a few minutes of talking and knowing each others, our hosts left us to pray. The girls’ group joined us in the majilis and later the mother and the daughter served us fruits. It is customary for the Omanis to serve fruits and tea to guests before the major meal.

We discovered that there are lots of professionals in the family. The mother is a teacher, the father and his brothers are engineers. One of the brothers is a soldier. The kids and the whole family speak good English because they are living in Muscat and the kids are studying in private schools where English is the main language of instruction.

Then this time came to talk about the incident by the beach. We came to know that the daughter had to stay in the hospital for a week because she cannot walk. The family is traumatized that they avoid talking about that incident. The daughter had to take an exam where she has to write the word “ocean” as the answer, and she did not write it.

Our group told them that they should come to the sea again as soon as possible. It is just a memory now. The lesson is important but the emotions must be forgotten. We even told them that we are willing to join them once they have the courage to face the ocean once again.

Lunch is served and we found out that their house helpers were mostly from the Philippines. The family left us to feast on the food and so we had our fill.

After the meal, we were served with tea and coffe again. The daughter came to the room and gave us tokens of appreciation. I got a nice wrist watch, The Ablians and Narz were given a wall clock each.

It was about 2:30pm and I don’t know if we have to go because they might want to rest so I courageously asked if we would be allowed to leave. They said it is still hot outside and by 4:00pm we will be going around the family farms.

We continued sharing our own stories and when it is time to go to the farms, we were given some dates to take home. The plan is we will head home right after our tour of the farms. We said goodbye to the other members of the family and we thanked the helpers.

They took us to two of their farms where we saw some dates and even some tropical plants as well. I got my first taste of fresh fig, plucked from the tree in the farm. We saw some farm animals that they are raising. We also saw their falaj system and they told us some interesting facts about it.
- The falaj is a very old system of irrigation for the fields in Oman
- Farm owners get a time share of the falaj. That is, you have an alloted time where you can tap the water from the system and that time can be any hour from the 24 hours of the day.
- The time and farm land can be sold or rented between farmers if they want to. So there are some farmers who may own the land but not the water. Others have water but without the land. Lucky are those who have both.
After the tour of the farms, we went back to the village and took a picture of this old gate along the way. They said that it used to be an entrance to a walled village about 400 years ago.

We said our goodbyes to the family as we came back to where our cars are. We thanked them for a very wonderful day and all the experiences, friendship, hospitality, food and gifts that we received from them.

The Aftermath…

I had these thoughts as we were driving back home
- The Incident. Our trip to Al Khaluf on that day is a last minute decision. The actual plan is to go to Al Ashkarah. There really is someone out there who is making a grander and better plan for all of us.
- The Rescue. This is a bit funny. I took my shirt off for the mother to hold on to as I was pulling her to shore. I guess I didn’t have much time to think about which is less ethically appropriate: holding a woman’s hand or removing my shirt in front of a woman.
- The Watch. I didn’t open the gift in front of them but I did so on our first stop which is about 500 meters from their home. It is a nice watch which will be of very high value to me. I just noticed that I have never bought a watch for myself. The one I currently have is a step tracker which is a gift from my sister-in-law. The best things in life are free…
- The Family. The house in Al Fath is the ancestral home. The clan, they say meet there at least once a month. In a stark contrast to this, I have not seen my mother for more than a year now. It is saddening how families can get divided in our search for money towards the good life. Yes, it is true that you cannot buy happiness with money. But money can be a tool to achieve happiness in life.
- The Watch, again. I don’t know if it is intentional that they gave us watches. But it reminds me how life is short and in that incident, life could have been snapped in just a split of a second. Life is short and our time on earth is limited. We must cherish every moment that we have.
- The Incident, again. I remembered my childhood days. I almost drowned three times when I was a child. I never stopped until I learned to swim.
- The Family, again. They told us that up to that day, they are still in trauma about the experience and I understand. But I hope that one day, they will overcome their fear and they see the ocean once again for its beauty.
There is a lot more thoughts that I had after this encounter with the family. To sum it all up, it is a day that is well spent. And a day that will be part of the history of The Nomads.
October 15, 2018
Just Another Day in Our Nomadic Life

It is one of those afternoons where we almost had nothing to do. The nearest shoreline is about two hours away so fishing or swimming is not a viable option to beat the summer heat.

We decided to take a drive along the hills near our place. We brought some food, a mat and our camera to snap some photos. I am planning to tackle the career of a travel photographer, by the way.

Utoy spotted this one hill that looks interesting to him so we parked on the foot of the hill and while I am preparing our stuff for the uphill climb, Utoy and Bossing started their ascent.

The breeze atop is refreshing and the sun stopped biting since it’s almost 5:30 in the afternoon. We snapped photos like crazy, enjoyed the view, ate our food and just relax at the “summit”.

While we are resting, we spotted one water truck heading our way. Bossing got anxious but I told her to relax and reminded her that this is Oman – home to the friendliest people of the Middle East. So we stayed foot while looking down at the water truck that parked at the foot of our hill.

The guy shouted to us “Kumusta Ka!”, the Filipino’s greeting that translates to “How are you?”. It was then that we realized that it is our water-delivery guy, Mr. Hilal. He climbed up the hill and told us to come to his home which is just nearby. He speaks in mixed Arabic and English. He said he has “jamal”, I think that’s camel; and “baaa—baaaa”, which could be goat or sheep. He also said he has chickens.

Utoy immediately got excited, but Bossing was apprehensive. I assured here that I got this one and so we went down the hill and followed Mr. Hilal’s water truck.

Mr. Hilal took us to his mini farm, which is just beside his home. He is Arabic, though, and I understand they have strict customs so we did not get to meet his family.

He showed us the goats and the fowls. Utoy had his time chasing some of the goats. We had this little one that is so friendly he comes to us like a cute puppy.

After some time, Mr. Hilal told us to come with him to his camel pen which is located a little farther from his home. The camels are in the wadi nearby. There’s two of them which I believe is a couple. We took some photos of the camels.

It was a little late in the afternoon so we bade goodbye and thanked Mr. Hilal for his hospitality.

Another day has passed. One day closer to our long-awaited vacation in the Philippines. But also another day spent with a friend and in the outdoors. Days that the Nomads like us really love.

April 2, 2017
The Nomads Tour of Bluroze Farms Parks and Wildlife in Lipa City

The Bluroze Farms of Lipa City is one of the most memorable places for us, The Nomads. You’ll know why in this Throwback Thursday edition of The Nomads travels.
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March 29, 2017
The Nomads Tour of Anawangin Cove in Zambales

It’s another Thursday and it means another Nomads throwback post. For this one, you’ll meet some members of our “tribe”. For today you’ll meet my one and only brother and my sister-in-law.
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March 22, 2017
Utoy’s Activity Day with Friends in Ibra, Oman

Utoy’s Circle of friends during their activity day. Left to right: Adin, David, Matt, Jacob, Utoy, Mariel, Angel. Photo credits to Sir Lance.

Living an expat life is a challenge. You have to make an adjustment to almost every aspect of your life: food, language, culture and tradition, religion and yes — education.
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March 19, 2017
The Nomads Tour of Baguio City

It is a Thursday and so let’s begin a series of Thursdays where I will be writing about our past trips as The Nomads. This one is about our getaway to the Philippine’s summer capital – Baguio City.
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March 16, 2017
Ras Al Madrakah Camping and Surf Fishing Adventure

We took our longest road trip ever to reach one of the famous camping and fishing areas here in Oman. They call this place Ras Al Madrakah.

It is a long weekend here in Oman in celebration of the 46th National Day and of course we took this as an opportunity to explore yet another interesting place here in the Middle East. Together with our group, The Fishermen and The Mermaids as we call it, we searched the internet for places to go. The name of our group tells something about itself. Our core values are fishing and swimming.

After hours of deliberation, we were able to have a short list of places for consideration: Al Sifah, Qantab, and Ras Al Madrakah. Most of us favored Ras Al Madrakah and so after persuading those who were against it, we got down to hatching a master plan for the trip.

The Plan

Kickoff is at 0600H from Ibra. We will go through the wilayat of Sinaw and head south to our destination.

We will have our breakfast along the way and then we will have our lunch in Ras Al Madrakah. Google Maps said that travel time is a little less than five hours so we will arrive at the beach at about 1200H.

Fishing and swimming will commence after lunch. Our ice boxes are on standby. Since we know that Ras Al Madrakah is a fishing village, we know that ice will be available to preserve our catch.

We will have dinner once the sun sets and the fishermen will go fishing again and the mermaids will chat endlessly into the night.

On the next day, we will take our breakfast and then fish and swim again. We will leave the area after our lunch and then head back home to Ibra.

The Reality

We missed our kickoff time by about half an hour. Five minutes into our trip, we made a wrong turn. However, all is well and fine. We finally found our way and so our journey to Ras Al Madrakah officially started.

We had our breakfast at Lulu Hypermarket in Sinaw but not before doing a little shopping inside.

Google Maps is good enough to know that we are in Oman but it failed to consider that we are not Omanis. Maybe it made a mistake of calculating our travel time and used the Omani average driving speed of 160km per hour. And so by 1200H, supposedly our lunch time at Ras Al Madrakah Beach, we were still on the road.

We reached Duqum at around 1300H and we stopped by a Shell station to refill our tanks. The staff there told us that we are not so far from our destination. We are almost there as a matter of fact. We just have to drive for another 90km. And with that piece of information we decided to take lunch there at the station.

It took us another hour after taking off from Shell Duqum before we finally saw a signboard that points to Ras Al Madrakah Beach. At around 1430H, we set foot on the white sandy beach of Ras Al Madrakah. Let us call this Ras Al Madrakah Beach 1.

Ras Al Madrakah Beach 1

There is a slight problem by the way. This is not the exact place that we saw in YouTube and so we decided to look for that spot. We were able to locate that place, let us call it Ras Al Madrakah Beach 2, in just a matter of minutes. And so everything is back in order.

By 1500H, we started pitching our tents on the soft sands of the beach. There are other campers who came ahead of us but the beach is not so crowded so we were able to choose a nice spot.

Tents up… preparing for the big catch

Fishing started immediately after we finished setting the tents up. The sea is not that smooth and we had to stand of the rocks to be able to cast our lines. We fished and fished until dark and so when the night came in, one of our ice boxes is filled with four pieces of fish :). We cooked them right away so we can enjoy its freshness.

A sumptuous dinner followed under the star lights and LED lights as well. By 2200H, we started to feel the fatigue of the day’s ride and we drifted into sleep.

I got up by 0500H and saw Sir Darwin already on the beach. By 0530H, all the fishermen are up. We cast our lines and almost at the same time as the dawn approaches, the fishes started to tackle our lines. All of us fishermen enjoyed the catch. Even our Utoy who is nursing a slight fever got his own too.

Utoy and his first catch.

The mermaids prepared our breakfast so we stopped fishing for a while to feast on boiled eggs, coffee and cheese-honey-stuffed bread. We fished again and again but with more fish comes the problem with ice. So we went to the village searching for ice. Along the way, we met one expat who is friendly but cannot speak much English and we don’t know the Arabic word for ice. Luckily we have some cubes left in our box so we showed it to the guy. He gestured us toward the direction of the building where we bought ice for our fishes.

But We Were Still a Bit Disappointed

Yes, we caught a lot of fish but not the ones that we expected, at least in size. One of the main reasons we came here is because of the YouTube videos that show large breams being caught from the shore of Ras Al Madrakah. This led us to make a decision to take a quick lunch, break camp, and head back to Ras Al Madrakah Beach 1 and try our luck there before finally driving home.

Beach 1 is almost empty when we came which as a good thing. We cast our lines immediately but to no avail. Maybe it is because of the tide or maybe it is because of the season. Those huge breams that we are looking for are not there. We gave up after about an hour of fishing.

The mermaids, however, were able to get some mussels from the rocks so we left Beach 1 not so empty handed at all.

The Long Way Back Home

A couple of minutes of rest and by 1500H hours we started the long drive going home. We made three stops along the way. Twice to refill our tanks. Once to take our dinner in Sinaw. For dinner, we had chicken and beef biryani from a local restaurant.

We reached home just past midnight. Tired, happy and very much willing to go back.

November 28, 2016
The Nomads Got a Wagon

I got my Oman driving license on the 4th of July, 2016 — two days before we went to the Philippines for our yearly vacation. We came back on the 26th of August, itching to buy a car that can take us to all of our adventures here in Oman.
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September 7, 2016