A river in the desert-A long drive to Mahdah, Oman

16th October 2009

A river in the desert-A long drive to Mahdah, Oman

My latest trip back home. ( I have finally convinced myself to call that place ‘My Second Home’ because, in many ways, it is.) So, it’s Diwali and I would do anything to escape the noise that inadvertently Diwali brings along with it. One phone call to my Dad and my ticket’s booked and before I know it I am on my way. This was one of my best trips till date (touchwood) provided I overlook the air sickness that I experience on every flight.

Thankfully on this week long trip, I had one weekend on which my whole family would be home. And I hoped it would be spent exploring UAE instead of visiting relatives and smiling at them all day. Hence, you can imagine my surprise when Dad announced that we would be going to this place called Mahdah which was just across the border in Oman. Since I now have a residence visa I can go into Oman without any hassles. So, Friday, early morning (10 am, which is extremely early for my family) we set out in my brother’s car with our equipment of making a barbeque in the middle of the desert as well as with a tent (although I don’t know why we got that along) and some buns for a quick burger in case the barbeque took too long.

It was a long, long, long drive although I didn’t remember to note down the distance.(Lesson learnt- so won’t forget it next time.) We stopped on our way at a masjid for Friday prayers and, at the same time, dad managed to inspect it since he had done its waterproofing work sometime ago. After the males in the family had thanked God for a million things, we were back on track. At the border checkpoint, the officer asked for a National ID card or a passport but didn’t bother to check it. All he checked was whether the car’s insurance was valid in Oman. Good thing we didn’t get dad’s car since he was getting his car insurance renewed. With that done, we went on looking for Mahadah, a place dad had only heard about, where there was supposed to be a river running.

After a long and winding drive we came across a few Pakistanis walking along with big plastic water containers, looking for water to fill. I don’t think they really understood the place that we were looking for. One of them simply made an action, where he raised his hand to his mouth, indicating food, and then pointed in a particular direction which we took to mean that “If you are looking to have food, head that way.” Well, it was past lunchtime so we took his directions and went along. Somewhere along the way, we found cars parked here and there, scattered away. We found a spot where a group of Pakistanis were having a barbecue. We parked near their spot and set out to look for a place where we could set up our barbecue. While the others were getting out of the car, I walked ahead to find out what else the place had to offer.

Now, this place was kind of an oasis. It was right next to the road, had a clump of green trees to sit under, a hill beside it (actually a range of little of hills), water in certain places with fish swimming in it. Plus there was a pipe jutting out of the hill with a constant supply of water. On turning back, I found my brother holding barbecued chicken graciously offered by the Pakistani group. Well, we were starving and who could refuse such an offer. So, we devoured it and when my brother went back to return the stick on which we got the chicken, he came back with more! And when he returned that, he came back with Sweet Lime. It turned out that the Pakistanis had packed up a lot of extra food which I don’t think they wanted to take back. And that is how our marinated fish and the barbecue equipment traveled all the way to Oman and came back without seeing the light of day.

Now, that our tummies were almost full, it was time to move on. But my eyes wandered to the hill and I thought why not climb it and see what lies on top. May be that’s where the river is, maybe that’s where the water is coming from. The path didn’t seem difficult to climb. So all of us agreed to do it. But then we hit the first road block! Someone had thrown fish bones on the path and it was swarming with wasps. The detour was dangerous, to say the least. So, the others backed out. But I was blinded by a desire to prove myself (which in retrospect wasn’t a very good idea.) The hill consisted of extremely loose rocks and one slip and I would be looking at a fracture. Well, those ideas didn’t come to me when I started climbing up and somehow I made it with my heart beating faster than ever. And on top I found, “Flat Land!!!” There was no sign of any water. By this time, I had realized how screwed I was and what an impossible task lay ahead of me of climbing down. And then my heart beat even faster! I couldn’t see my family and I didn’t know what to do. Somehow I managed to keep calm and find my way down. It was scary to say the least but I couldn’t show fear especially in front of my family who already doesn’t understand my love of trekking. So, with my heart in my mouth I went down with no problem at all. I guess my dad guessed I was a bit scared but I am thankful he didn’t make a show of it.

Even after getting down, I was shaking with nervousness which hopefully not many noticed. The Pakistani group was shocked to say the least on seeing that I had disappeared. At least Dad said they were, and when they expressed that shock to my Dad he just shrugged(with pride). Well, I had proved my point! Although I have to admit that was the most least thought of stunt that I have pulled in my life. And I survived (touchwood). I know it seems like I am making a big deal out of climbing a tiny little hill but that hill had such loose rocks which I could easily pull out and, the other thing, I forgot to mention was that it was around 40 degree Celsius out there and the rocks were burning! And so did my palms when I held on to those rocks. So that’s all about my little adventure.

Moving on, we clambered into the car and decided to go further ahead and see if there was anything else to explore and, sure enough, there was. We found the underground river which surfaced only for a short distance. And there were people already bathing in it and most of them were Keralites. (For those who don’t know, UAE has a lot of Keralites) Well, the water was down in a hole sort of a thing and the place was already crowded, so, we didn’t go down. I did find a poor, dead water snake probably killed by a scared human being. (Well, I am sure the snake would have been just as scared as the human when they encountered each other.) The same species of wasps I had encountered earlier were feasting on him. Got a video and then got back in the car. On mutual agreement, we turned back. My sis-in-law made us some burgers since our tummies were beginning to growl again. And, then, we headed back. On the way back, I did spot a Lapwing but I couldn’t manage to get a good look. And that was it. And I forgot to mention the bit of motion sickness I experienced. (I hope to find a cure some day.) Motion sickness is something I have grappled with almost all my life. I love to travel and this seems to be the only hindrance. One day, I hope to be rid of it.

As for the drive to Mahdah, it was great. I am not exactly sure as to whether we ended up in the right place because when I googled Mahdah, I got pictures of a lot of water and boats sailing in it. I didn’t really do much research on it as I thought I am just going to tell you about the place that I visited, no matter what it was called(plus I was too bored to find out more.) It was definitely a trip to remember.