Mughsayl, Oman

Just a quick update on a trip we took Friday.  We went west (toward Yemen) and went to Mughsayl, Oman.  It is one of the most visited places in all of Oman, you can see why in just a bit.  After that we went up (& down & around) the jebal (mountains) to a secluded set of beaches.  Brian & I got to practice our rally driving on the road up from the beaches--it was sandy & curvy and fun. Well I'm not sure it was fun for Deanna who, when I'd look at her face in the rear view mirror, might have been something close to terror--so they don't have guard rails on these roads… we were fine. ;-)

Mughsayl is famous for the naturally made blowholes that have formed by the ocean cutting into the cliffs.  It looks like you are on another planet, it is amazing what water does to rock.  It is also a nice beach where people come for vacation during the high seasons.  Right now they are gearing up for Ramadan & Kheeref (monsoon) festivities so tents are set up & there was a carnival (but it wasn't open while we were there--bummer!)

There is also a little cafe, which is pictured here.

Krista & I got to visit this site several years ago (we won't say how many) when we were first in Oman.  I have some amazing pictures of HUGE manta ray's swimming around but I don't have the picture with me.  When we were there it was all open and you could wander as you please.  Now, for safety, and to help preserve the area they have put up fences and trash cans & signage.  It had to be done since they get so many tourists.

That's Devin taking the same picture I was.

Again the rocks here are amazing--like something from another world.

The above two photos were taken on the same day about the same time--the first is looking west, the second is looking east.

If you follow any of us on Facebook you have probably seen some of these photos but they are just too good to pass up showing again. 

So, there are these blow holes, they are actually covered up with metal grating now so that no one tries to climb around in or on them but they are still open enough for water to come splashing through.

Sue & Devin standing on the grate of the largest blowhole--looking confident.

Not looking so confident now.

Now they just look wet.

Brian & I wandered over to the west side of the area to a smallish cove where the water was calmer...

And we were rewarded by seeing two sea turtles swimming around.  One was larger but she was elusive, this little guy kept popping up.

After a bit more exploring around this area we headed through the mountains looking for a secluded beach that Krista remembered from a previous visit.

This is a seriously twisty, sharp-curved road but it was 2 or 3 lanes across in most places so it really wasn't too bad.  There were a lot of almost 90 degree angles and what looked like U-turns up and down.  About halfway through we saw people flashing their lights at us, which was weird… then we turn the corner & someone was waving us down… and then we saw this:

Apparently these guys (more likely girls) had to get to market and to do that they had to walk down the "highway".  They were being herded by some guys walking and at least the Land Curser pickups--ah the modern world.

There are camel wandering everywhere here, there are watch for camel signs just like watch for elk or deer in the states and they really are everywhere.  You have to stop on the highway all the time for them but it is flat and you can see them coming down there--here, turn the corner and bam 100 camel!

These camels took their sweet time we were probably waiting for a good 15-20 min while they sorted themselves out and made the corner.

See the babies!

We finally made it to a lovely, secluded beach.  We hung out long enough to almost see the sunset & play in the surf.

I stole this photo from Deanna--an awesome shot of the path, I mean road, to the secluded beach.

All in all it was about 2-2.5 hours from the time we had to stop for the camels until we headed back up the mountain for home.  Guess what we ran into on the way down… in the dark… on the curvy mountain road.  Yep, those same camels.  We had to squeeze our way through and pass them.  They were still just meandering down the mountain. 

An Ode to Dirt

You have probably never really thought about dirt... but you should.  One thing all archaeologists have in common is a love of getting dirty.  We can’t resist sticking our hands in it, checking out the texture & sometimes even the smell. (Occasionally, the taste but those people really are weird.)

Dirt comes in all kinds of textures... the obvious ones like sand and clay but, have you ever heard of loam or peat? Most people have.  There are about seven kinds of dirt (& by dirt I mean soil): Clay, Silty, Loamy, Sandy, Peaty, Saline, and Chalky.  When you say it like that it doesn’t sound all that exciting but stick your hands in each of those & you will see vast differences.  Those of you in the Mid-West know all about dirt with Clay in it and everyone knows that Peat helps to give Scotch it’s weird (I mean good) taste.

Let’s talk about Sandy for a second since that is what we are currently surrounded by.  Here in our little area alone there are many kinds of sand.  There is the typical beach sand (since the ocean is about 50 feet from our front door) but there is also hard packed sand that has been wet & dry a thousand times and is like concrete.  We literally use pick-axes to get it out.  Not 20 feet away from that is a substance so soft it’s like walking on flour (but a brown color).  I mean come on that’s fascinating!  What makes it do that?  Why are there so many different types & how do they form?  [Those are rhetorical questions, I know we know but it’s fun to think about how we know--did you follow that?]

This is the flour-like stuff, it makes little puffs when you walk.

There is actually a book of dirt colors called the Munsell Soil Chart.  We are so obsessed with dirt we like to know EXACTLY what the color is.  For those of you in the print world it’s sort of like Pantone colors.  There is a corresponding number for each color, so in 20 years you can go back to your notes & be like “Oh yes, it was 10YR 6/3 at Al-Baleed, I remember it fondly.”

This page is weird, who has blue dirt? 

You can pull out the page in your handy Munsell chart and match the dirt.  I had Sue & Brian show you how this works.  

So what do you think?  What color is this dirt?  This isn't on the site, it's near the house.

Now those of you who are really archaeologists don’t have a cow looking at the pictures.  I know you don’t have to put the pages in the dirt, but I was trying to let the readers/viewers see how the color charts work.  (Don’t tell Krista I used her book for this experiment.)  Typically, you hold some dirt on your trowel then hold it up to the book to match and everything stays clean.  (But where is the fun in that?)

Yes that is my trowel, yes it's rusty--I spend most of my time in the lab, give me a break.

I’ve also included some nerdy graphs for those of you who want to know how this dirt matching thing works.  (I stole these from the interwebs but I think they give you an idea of where the ranges of colors are and what the numbers mean.)

This is actually from a site in York, England but it gives you a good idea of the variety of soil colors.

Your assignment now is to go play in the dirt!  Actually look at it, stick your hands in it, give it a sniff... tasting is optional.

NOTE: I was just informed that, apparently, people who garden understand & obsess about soil almost as much as archaeologists--I wouldn’t know, I have a black thumb instead of green.