As you take the road from Al Ain in the Emirates down into Oman the road skirts the Empty Quarter and sand dunes roll up to the road. Only the strangely elegent wirey tress break up the smooth curves. On the other side of the road the spine of Hajar mountains guide you further into this fantasic scenery.
Yesterday I brought you as far a glimpse of the the village above Wadi Bani Habib. On the climb down you heard the drone of bees and the strange contrast of the cherry blossom with the large boulders on the wadi bed. Looking up you see these wonderful slightly crumbling structures. There missing roofs and walls creating beautiful cutouts with the too blue sky. However it was the surprise of the beautifully decorated interiors that take your breath away.
We left the village reluctantly even after the thigh breaking climb back to the car. From there we drove across the plateau tempted by glimpses of villages in the w
adi but only turned off the road when we caught a glimpse of this.
Road trips with the Fenwicks entail a great deal of photography - that includes the kids and forces our guests in the same. Here is the artist Paul Wadsworthfilming the gorge with DH in the distance.
Not far from here we stopped for lunch and the Paul ran an inpromtu painting class with the kids over looking this view.
Did I mention the fossil hunting? Well DH is a geologist by degree so he quickly spotted and pointed out the fossil in the roacks we were blithely trecking over. Its hard to look down when you have such stunning scenery but we did and were rewarded with finding sea shell fossils in the rocks below are feet.
Tommorw I will blog about remote village of Ar Rus and its friendly kids and our final day driving over the mountains on perilous switchbacks........
6 comments:
OMG. So beautiful. Yes, you should definitely be on commission for this; I want to visit.
JJx
Liz, I LOVE you for this blog. I'm mid desert in my current wip. Sheikh hero - as you do! I have nicked all your photos and have them pinned up on my board.
The colours of that interior are quite sublime.
Stunning photos Liz:-)
How magnificent it all looks and must be so inspirational too.
Gosh, I didn't expect such beauty - fascinating photos, Liz.
JJ do come :-)
Natasha there will be more today and if you sand dunes and stuff go DH's web site fotofenwick.com and email me if need any info :-)
The interiors really took me by surprise Lane....
Debs, I can't say it's inspirational on a writing front but I will confess to having dug the old paints out!
Thanks Chrish - it is incredibly beautiful in a strange way....
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