Salalah Trip...Part 9

Posted: Thursday, September 11, 2008 by Stained in Labels: ,
18

Monday, 4th of August

Part 2 of Day 6

1) Al Marnif cave. I was expecting a real proper uncharted cave but like every other cave marked on the map it was kinda disappointing. This place was a huge tourist (local and international) attraction with at least a thousand people lingering around it. It's known for its blow holes (pictured later).
On speaking to a friend who had gone to Salalah last year, she remembers this area as a deserted tourist spot. But that was one rare situation as people were advised to stay away from the coast due to Cyclone Gonu. My friend hadn't heard about the warnings so hadn't bothered staying away. I really wish I could have experienced something similar. Too many people is sometimes a pain!!!
2) A boundary was erected around the whole area to prevent people from plunging to a not so painful death (hopefully).
3) A view of the area around the blow holes and the scenic background. This was taken as we made our way down from the cave to the blow holes.
4) Water draining off the cliffs after a wave crashed into it.
5) A wave crashing into the rocks.
6) View of Al Marnif cave from the other side.
7) One of the Blowholes. Bascially the sea water crashes into the cliff, flows into caves beneath and gushes out from holes in the ground. It was fun dodging them. I think the caves beneath were the real caves though it was close to impossible to go there.
8) I took this one cause to me it seemed like the rock was perfectly balanced on the edge though I doubt if it really was on the edge... though it does seem like that from this angle.
9) I just love the way that mountain looks.
10) Wave crashes against the cliff. Next to the green patch on the rock lies a cave that you can't see but it was quite obvious one existed. Basically after ever wave crashed into the cliff, water used to flow off the cliff. Near the green patch, water flowing out would go on for a much longer time in comparison .11) The force created by the waves bouncing back off the cliff created its own flow of movement back towards the sea making the water near the cliff shallow. So basically after every wave, the water near the cliff was shallower in comparison to the rest of the sea. Something I have surely not seen here.
Also evident from this picture is what I stated earlier about the existence of a cave. As you can see the amount of water flowing out at the lower part of the picture is much more in comparison. That is where the cave is.
12) Water draining off the cliffs after a wave crashed into it.
13) There was a huge 'U' in the cliff further ahead. Watching the water flow past us was pretty cool as you watch the wave lose its power as the water gets shallower.
14) Not really a cave but I'll still call it one.
15) These men were busy posing for pictures when a big wave hit the cliff. Luckily the guy holding the camera was not drenched nor did anyone else tumble with surprise/fear or due to the force of the water though the guy on the left (yellow shirt) would surely not need to take a bath for the rest of the day...
16) Cotton candy anyone???
17) View of the Al Mughsayl Bay Beach.
18) A view of the mountain (picture in #9) from the above.
19) Bird eye view of the Al Marnif Cave and the blow holes.

18 comments:

  1. Anonymous says:

    One look at these pics and u know wat came to mind?!.....TREASURE ISLAND....i'm sure there r pots of gold jus lyin around....it seems in olden days, pirates used to use blowholes and the areas around them as hiding spots..........cumin treasure huntin....ne1?!

  1. The Ego says:

    You probably know I'm partial to most shots with water in it ... so this series was possibly my favourite post coz I absolutely loved the shots of the waves crashing into the rocks and then flowing back out ... superb!

    Zanzi ... I had the same thought! Probably coz I saw a treasure hunt movie recently... hehe...

  1. Stained says:

    Zanzibar....treasure hunting there...no thank you. Did you see the size of those waves????

    d...err...I didn't know you were partial to shots with water in it....hmm....thanks

  1. Anonymous says:

    I think all the trasure will be rust by now - so many BIG waves

  1. Anonymous says:

    stained... the info. abt. smaller spare tires and the run flat ones really helped...so totally clueless about cars...and thanx 4 droppin by...
    ynotoman....gold does not rust!

  1. Neelofer says:

    Number 16 aaaaaall the way! I just gasped when I saw that...I hadn't read the caption when I went 'cotton candy?!'. You know I'm such a sucker for cotton candy.
    Btw, I specifically came here to ask you if you were part of the Ibda'a Awards?

  1. Abid says:

    Good series again!

    How long were you in Oman for? In other words, this is part 9 of how many?

  1. Stained says:

    ynotoman...I think such big waves are only found during the monsoon season....but I might be wrong...

    Zanzi....you're welcome.... :)

    neel....I had cotton candy just once during the whole trip...I used to be a sucker for cotton candy too as a kid. Not any more though I indulge myself once in a blue moon....

    Ibda award's....aaahhh...I forgot about that. But wasn't it a student only thing and I ain't one any more...

    abid...Thanks....I was there for 9 days. But as you can see quite of those days are broken up into pieces. Plus I did take 3200 pictures, so it becomes quite hard for me to not post soo many pictures here. Though I guess I've dragged this a little too long...

  1. part 9 and all these pictures are amazing..i am thinking to go to salalah after Eid..

    good luck and all the best ..you really have some nice pictures..i like them a lot. :)

  1. salam, the pictures put up are seriously very beautiful, and so is salalah, there is something about that place and i love.. i think it is more raw at this moment that many places now'a'days.... ohh and as for gonu we survived it alhamdullilah...

    I hope you do come to visit other parts of Oman :-)

    ps even though i love salalah all yr round the best time to visit is mid june to mid september ;-)

  1. Susan says:

    Shot #14 is now on my desktop. FANTASTIC colour contrast in all of these! How did you become a follower of my blog, and how do I do the same for your blog?

  1. Abid says:

    If you'd release a larger version for use as a desktop background for a couple of these, that'd be awesome *sigh* :)

  1. Stained says:

    Email me which ones you want...and I'll send them out to you without any watermark and big enough for a desktop background (2100*1400)...

  1. Neelofer says:

    Atleast you got to eat it once. I have been cotton candy deprived for a verrrry long time. And Ibda'a- yes it's for students. But you haven't graduated yet, have you? Then technically, you'd still be a student. So SIGN UP!

  1. Abid says:

    Just a very random question; do you know how much it costs to watch a Hollywood movie at a theater in Dubai?

  1. The Ego says:

    Erm okayyy... Dhs 30/- for any movie... some cinemas go at 25/- but they usually don't show English movies.

  1. Harsha says:

    This was one breathtaking place

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