Changing Lanes

Saturday, 2nd of August

Second part of Day 4

1) After getting off the rock/mountain near Khawr Rawri we headed back into the town of Taqah where we spotted a graveyard. According to the book my sister had, Taqah castle was next to the graveyard. On looking around we spotted it and made our way towards it. I didn't count the number of steps that were there as I didn't care. My Niece was on my back and all I cared about was getting up there without dropping her. I couldn't do it in one go; had to take a short break in between (she's quite heavy).
2) There was this huge crow on the tree next to the Taqah Castle. The view was very cool though I didn't have the camera (my brother was still the photographer) so I can't show you any pictures of the view cause unfortunately there aren't any. On walking behind the Castle we realised there was a road coming up to the Castle and my effort to carry my Niece was a total waste of energy. Aaaaahhhh!!!!!
3) We had spotted another fort at sea level next to the Castle. This fort ended up being the REAL Taqah Castle and the one on the top of the hill being an extension of this (like a watch tower or something). We didn't go in because we all were tired and hungry.
4) Finding a restaurant that was open in Taqah was close to impossible. In the end we found this one that had only one dish on its menu for lunch. That was Chicken Biryani which was basically full grilled chicken placed on a plate full of biryani rice served with some chutney (liquid pickle like thing). It was in fact quite tasty.
5) We stopped over to this huge and, by the looks of it, a new mosque for our usual toilet/prayer process, though as usual I didn't go (too dirty for me even in this new mosque). I did see a few other mosques with similar dome designs.
6) On our way to Town of Mirbat.
7) A random tree shot near the supposed anti Gravity road (see next picture).
8) According to a 2 year old map there is supposedly an anti gravity road where a car will roll upwards in neutral instead of going down. According to the newer map that we got later it's just an optical illusion. Many people still do come here thinking it's an anti gravity road but it takes a little bit of logic to figure it out. My brother being the smartest of us siblings figured it out and explained it to us. The logic is basically when you stand on a path that has a downward slope of 50 degrees and look down the path that has a downward slope of 10 degrees, it may seem that the path with the 10 degree slope is not going down but up due to the angle of view from where we stand.
9) A view of the road leading off the anti gravity road 10) Camels and Cows have entry to any place in Salalah. Here you can see Camels strolling around in a graveyard. With regard to this picture (with some post processing), I tried to give it a little different look compared to my other pictures. I hope it looks nice...
11) The Bin Ali mausoleum. This is the only mausoleum I entered. Check out the headstones you can see in this picture. Some of them have cool designs on them.
12) I wonder what the tiny rope around the camel's body signifies. Anyway another shot of the camel in the graveyard.
13) A ruin by the looks of it though it might not be as old as it may seem. This is on entering Mirbad through the small internal streets.
14) If you are superstitious about the whole concept of a black cat cutting your path then you should not visit Salalah. There are just too many of them all over the place. I've got one at home so any number of black cats don't bother me.
This cat has a different structure than the ones I've seen here. Notice the paws, they are broader.
15) This is near the Mirbat fishing area. Notice the rocks here in contrast to the brown sand in the background. Near the coastline also you'll see your surroundings change from a wonderful beach to rocks to sand dunes to cliffs in just a few kilometres.
16) The breakwater at Mirbat.
17) Waves crashing into the breakwater. If you stand on top of the breakwater, you'll be sprayed with constant sea water as it crashes against the rocks but beware of the slippery rocks.
18) Some crabs were enjoying getting wet on the rocks..
19) You'll see small children walking around bare feet in Mirbat. Reminded me of the old Satwa that used to exist in Dubai. These kids were happy to pose for my Brother.
20) The last time my sister had come, Mirbat Castle was a tourist destination that you could enter and take pictures of the old interior design and furnishing. Now it is just a ruin. It seems like a part of it just collapsed and now a bunch of wooden sticks were holding the rest from falling apart also.
21) An old cannon lying next to the Castle...
22) I used my polariser with this shot to give the water this silky look to it and did some post processing to give the whole picture a more contrasted different look.
23) The sky was grey and so was the water. These three boats were just floating there that completed a perfect grey typical boat shot.
24) A view of the winding road up the mountains from the main Mirbat-Salalah road.
25) Usually near the coast, the clouds are not as thick and sometimes you can see the sun peeping through them.
26) This is Ayn Razat springs and Cave. The Cave was boring as usual though the water was interesting. Basically unlike the other places, the water here was very clean and clear that enabled us to see what was beneath
27) The reflections created were also pretty nice and made some good shots.
28) An almost perfect reflection shot...just needed more light to expose the green more properly.
Sorry for the long delays between posts but I'm being a little lazy....