Carl and I then did a late dive from a boat. It was a great dive although the visibility was not the best. We really loved seeing the octopus. After the dive we enjoyed some grilled camel meat from a vendor by the boats.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A day in the water
We spent a whole day in the water. We hung out at the hotel during the morning and afternoon having a great time at the beach and in the pool. Carl loves body surfing and the girls had a great time finding snails in the sand.
Carl and I then did a late dive from a boat. It was a great dive although the visibility was not the best. We really loved seeing the octopus. After the dive we enjoyed some grilled camel meat from a vendor by the boats.
Carl and I then did a late dive from a boat. It was a great dive although the visibility was not the best. We really loved seeing the octopus. After the dive we enjoyed some grilled camel meat from a vendor by the boats.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Camels camels everywhere
We decided to drive up the mountains to see Job's tomb and thought a good way to entertain the kids was to offer a prize for the first person to spot a camel. Carl ended up being the first one. We then went on to see many, many camels. For the rest of the trip we continued to see camels everywhere. They put on their hazards when the camels are on the road and stop traffic. It happens a lot.
On the way up to Jobs tomb we saw some baby camels on the side of the road and of course not realizing we would be seeing many, many more had to get pictures. There were some guys in a car and I could not figure out what they were doing on the side of the road watching the camels since they were locals. We then realized they were herding the camels from their car, just sitting there talking on their cell phone and drinking sodas. I'm not kidding they were following the camels in their car and if the camels got into the road they would get out and urge them off with a stick.
We then saw more camels off the side later and wanted pictures with them. As we were posing the kids for pictures some women in the distance started yelling at us so I figure they were the camels keepers and we were bothering them so off we went again.
We finally made it to Job's tomb. Inside the mausoleum is a big square on the ground covered by cloth which is where he lies. On the wall were different pages from the koran. Through a window we could see his praying grounds. At the entrance was a box where you took off the top and inside are the impressions of his footprint. He had very large feet.
We had to do a car switch (our rental decided that it did not need to go into any specific gear) and then we were on our way again. The blowholes are by caves that aren't really caves but an over hang, it was fun and we saw a sea turtle swimming in the bay. Since we were not in the Karif season (which is in the summer) it was dry and there was just a little mist coming out the blowholes. The best part was the beach in that area. It was really beautiful We had fun body surfing since there were better waves than at the hotel beach. Carl and I kept going out a little further to get the best rush on the wave. We got caught up by a big wave which flipped me arround and I hit my head and shoulder (the skin on my shoulder is just now starting to look a little normal and is still a little painful to touch. The first thing I thought was "Crap I better not be hurt and mess up diving." I was fine, just banged up and we went back to the hotel soon after.
On the way up to Jobs tomb we saw some baby camels on the side of the road and of course not realizing we would be seeing many, many more had to get pictures. There were some guys in a car and I could not figure out what they were doing on the side of the road watching the camels since they were locals. We then realized they were herding the camels from their car, just sitting there talking on their cell phone and drinking sodas. I'm not kidding they were following the camels in their car and if the camels got into the road they would get out and urge them off with a stick.
We then saw more camels off the side later and wanted pictures with them. As we were posing the kids for pictures some women in the distance started yelling at us so I figure they were the camels keepers and we were bothering them so off we went again.
We finally made it to Job's tomb. Inside the mausoleum is a big square on the ground covered by cloth which is where he lies. On the wall were different pages from the koran. Through a window we could see his praying grounds. At the entrance was a box where you took off the top and inside are the impressions of his footprint. He had very large feet.
We had to do a car switch (our rental decided that it did not need to go into any specific gear) and then we were on our way again. The blowholes are by caves that aren't really caves but an over hang, it was fun and we saw a sea turtle swimming in the bay. Since we were not in the Karif season (which is in the summer) it was dry and there was just a little mist coming out the blowholes. The best part was the beach in that area. It was really beautiful We had fun body surfing since there were better waves than at the hotel beach. Carl and I kept going out a little further to get the best rush on the wave. We got caught up by a big wave which flipped me arround and I hit my head and shoulder (the skin on my shoulder is just now starting to look a little normal and is still a little painful to touch. The first thing I thought was "Crap I better not be hurt and mess up diving." I was fine, just banged up and we went back to the hotel soon after.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Salalah
On our way.....
We had been looking forward to this trip for so long, and now we were finally going. At airports here they make us wrap the carseat and they did such an excessivly thorough job we had to take a picture.
We arrived in Salalah in the afternoon. It was really lovely. Here is the view from our rooms, I love the coconut palms. This first day we hung out at the hotel with the kids, played at the beautiful beach and enjoyed the slide at the pool. After the kids went to bed we drove arround a little and were surprised at the number of Chinese restraunts in the area. If there are that many maybe one of them would be good (we really miss good chinese food).
We had been looking forward to this trip for so long, and now we were finally going. At airports here they make us wrap the carseat and they did such an excessivly thorough job we had to take a picture.
We arrived in Salalah in the afternoon. It was really lovely. Here is the view from our rooms, I love the coconut palms. This first day we hung out at the hotel with the kids, played at the beautiful beach and enjoyed the slide at the pool. After the kids went to bed we drove arround a little and were surprised at the number of Chinese restraunts in the area. If there are that many maybe one of them would be good (we really miss good chinese food).
Sunday, April 13, 2008
We had the most fun........
I know many of you just had your spring breaks and vacations but the Agrens feel confident in declaring that we had the most fun of anyone on any vacation. In fact, our trip to Oman was so incredible that instead of giving one huge blog I will break it up into several blogs. We just got home tonight so once I get the pictures off the camera I will add them to the posts, please be patient, I will probably overshare but I want to get all the info down before I lose the details in memory.
Our first day was our flight to Sharjah(UAE), followed by a six hour layover.
We then flew to Muscat(Oman). The first thing we noticed were the mountains, we have really missed mountains in Bahrain. At night they light up some of them with colored lights whichs goes along with the arabic tendency to bedazzle everything, really, seriously. We then went to the hotel that we had booked sight unseen, there is a reason there were no pictures of the rooms on the internet.
Yes it really was that bad, even little Carl made comments about it as being a junkyard (our kids are really spoiled with hotels). But since we were just sleeping there that night then getting up in the morning and going to Salalah it worked fine. (To be continued)
Our first day was our flight to Sharjah(UAE), followed by a six hour layover.
We then flew to Muscat(Oman). The first thing we noticed were the mountains, we have really missed mountains in Bahrain. At night they light up some of them with colored lights whichs goes along with the arabic tendency to bedazzle everything, really, seriously. We then went to the hotel that we had booked sight unseen, there is a reason there were no pictures of the rooms on the internet.
Yes it really was that bad, even little Carl made comments about it as being a junkyard (our kids are really spoiled with hotels). But since we were just sleeping there that night then getting up in the morning and going to Salalah it worked fine. (To be continued)
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