David's first semester of teaching ended in January, and we took advantage of our 2-week break with a road trip north to Musandam and then over to Dubai. Musandam is an exclave of Oman, separated from the rest of the country by the eastern section of UAE (thus, we had to cross two border posts to arrive back on Omani soil). Musandam has been called the "Norway of Arabia" because of its many fjords. I've never been to Norway, but the drive in reminded me of the Seward Highway in Anchorage. Don't you think the name Musandam sounds like some fantastical kingdom from a children's novel?
We spent the night in Khasab, then went on a morning dhow cruise in the Gulf of Hormuz. Control of this waterway is shared between Oman and Iran, and is strategically important for transport of 90% of the Gulf region's oil exports. We could not actually see as far as the coasts of Iran, but we did see plenty of speedboats which smuggle American cigarettes and electronics into Iran in exchange for goats. (How come they never feature goats in the spy movies?)
The kids loved the dhow cruise! There were only 5 other passengers and 2 crewmen on the boat with us.
Dolphins!
David's family (siblings+children) has roughly the same population as this remote village.
On the way out of town, we stopped by an old village to see prehistoric rock carvings:
Camels!
