Day 8: Radiant Morning @Sur Turtle Beach

Someone patted on my head, “get up, put your shoes on…get up, we are about to abscond”. I left my indolent slumber and was prompt on my legs. The clock showed me 0200 hours  I rubbed my blow and went in the territory where I was expecting huge traffic ie. in the wash room but to my surprise and good fortune, I discovered it vacant. “In approaching 15 minutes, the two wash rooms will be in great demand”, though no one heard, my mind said to me. I was the one who took the chequered flag. Manju mausi told me to wake her daughter up and I knew I have to summon up great muscular power to wake her damn heavy body  Somehow I managed her, to her legs. Though no one extolled me but I praised myself for that muscular task but there was Guddu who needed more power to disturb his slumber. He was lying on the sofa. I badgered him but failed  My future prediction came true and other members of my family wished for vacant washroom

One by one we came out of the hotel. Urmila mausi showed her anger and concern as her spouse was not present but soon her anger got abated, Pratap mausa was the last person to exit. We inaugurated that day early to sojourn the turtle beach. If you are planning to visit the same then make sure about the timings. We knew that the entry to the turtle beach will get closed by 0400 hours and that was the only reason we inaugurated that day before sur birds made their inauguration. We, haplessly took a wrong turn and after a damp squib we were finally at our desired destination. Navigator in Yukon and in Ambu’s phone helped us in our endeavour. I saw many other turtle fans waiting there and after making a surrender of 3 OMR per person we too joined them.

Then came an Omani men wearing anklelength, collarless white gown with long sleeves and a resplendent turban on his head. He was the guide who enlightened us and took the responsibility to carry us to the beach where a fortunate encounter with the turtles was awaiting us. We were allowed to capture photos but the camera or mobile flash should not spark. That caught my attention,”digital cameras won’t get success without indispensable flash”, my mind commented, personally again  Then we did dandi march with an Omani Gandhi  Surprised….In dilemma I’ll elaborate for you. Actually, “dandi march with an Omani Gandhi” was my assume which my mind developed during that crawl from reception of turtle beach to the turtle beach. Our Omani guide made me feel him, Gandhi. At that time he was our leader and we did as he ordered. Mechanically, by our respective legs, we made the inception of our march to the beach where we were expected by some turtles. Omani men, with a small torch in his hand was leading us and we all followed. It was still dark and I even couldn’t see the nearby environment or surroundings but could feel the noises of the tides. Initially, during that march no one spoke anything to each other. “Itni raat ko turtle dekh ne ke liye 2 baje jag gaye aur khas baat, koi chu tak nahi kar raha, Anshu tak chup hai  “, my mind commented to me, personally   My eyes caught a sight of a water bottle and that developed a thirsty sensation in my Adam’s apple. I took it from bunty and satisfied my thirst. Guddu’s Adam’s apple also got the thirsty sensation and he took the bottle from my hand and began to carry it after satisfying his thirst. I said to Guddu,”give this bottle to someone else, give it to Ashie amma”. He said, “why ?”. I said, “it is not giving the proper feeling…this bottle is giving birth to many other dirty thoughts”. He bursted into laughter ( Here,Indians will comprehend better, the reason why Guddu laughed  ) He, quite intelligently passed the bottle to Ashie amma and did not took it again and soon that water bottle became a problem  The national dress of Omani men was the only visible object that I could see from far behind. We followed him just as the followers of Gandhi followed Mahatma Gandhi in his world famous historical Dandi march, without much questioning. So, that march was termed by me as “Dandi march by an Omani Gandhi”.

We reached near sea shore and he (Omani man)  showed us a turtle. We remained astonished to see the massive dimension of the turtle. People took their respective cameras and looking that, the Omani mam proclaimed,”no flash please”.”It is  dangerous for the eyes of the turtle, don’t use flash”, was the reason given behind not using the camera on flash mode by that same Omani man. We then visited another turtle and captured it in our cameras. Photos, obviously were not coming clear and for the same reason some people started clicking with flash and for the same they were punished, their cameras were taken by the turtle beach authority. I  was also among them but it was an accident and not a deliberate endeavour. The turtle began its departure by crawling towards sea and I wished him bon voyage. The sun was gaining supremacy and within no time we saw the vast sky and the deep blue sea. Urmila mausi updated me with the best time for visiting the turtle beach ie. September and you should also make a mental note, if you wish to explore the turtle beach in Oman. After clicking several pics we egressed the turtle beach. We came to the hotel again to gain some slumber and after succeeding we made the final checkout.

After gain some energy and sleep we visited a beach (can’t recall the name now  ) The most notable feature of that beach was it’s fabulous blue water. We then reached Wadi Tiwi and statistically speaking, we captured zillions of pics. We did not enter water as we did in Wadi Shab (see Day: 2) but Ambu luxuriated in water  . Now it was time for us to leave for Muscat, and we did.

In Muscat, an Indian Naval ship was halted and we came to know about the same. INS Viraat and it’s importance got feathers  when we came to know that it was the same ship in which our nucleus, Pratap Mausaji used to work when he was serving the Indian Navy. ” An ex- INS Virrat fellow”, my mind commented, again personally. We glimpsed it from far and saw some planes, helicopters and many crew members on INS Viraat. A unique kind of glow embellished Pratap Mausa’s face. We then, took help of some Ice creams to beat the scorching heat of the sun.

We entered Bait Muscat and in the the evening, after church we went to have dinner outside. Bahadur uncle joined us too. End.

Day 7: Charlatan 1000 Nights Camp’s people :(

Afternoon, 1400 hours, everyone inside Bait Muscat was running hither and thither. “Take your gaugles, caps or hats and other heat resistant stuffs, we’ll sojourn the vast desert today”, second banana, Urmila mausi announced. Everyone got assembled in Guddu’s room to say a small invocation and after getting spiritually recharged we were all equipped to sojourn the land golden sand dunes. 1000 Nights Camp was verbally booked for 190 Rials for eight elder people including me and Bunty. Yukon, a 6.2 cc  monstrous car and Envoy was at are service. Pratap mausaji, the nucleus with his spouse, their children, Ashie, Anshu, Bunty and me captured Yukon for our journey, while the remaining, including Ambu, again making our group, a bakers dozen preferred Envoy. After covering a distance of  200 Km. we reached Bidiya and at Bidiya petrol pump, we satisfied our respective bellies by taking lunch.

The surface area between the tyres and the desert sand was augmented by abating the air pressure from the tyres of both cars. Soon we began to sail in the desert sand tides. It was really an indelible drive for, my eyes explored the hot desert sun but my body was experiencing the cold of AC, as is was in Yukon  My brother and I kept our cameras on video mode to jail the journey. With the help of a map, which we downloaded from 1000 nights camp website, we finally reached the spot. Traditional kawa, coffee and dates were served to us by 1000 Nights people. Happiness were to be seen on our faces. We were as excited as if a financial bill before the legislative assembly in New Delhi  And my post of desert will be incomplete if I do not mention the ship of the desert, we saw camels chewing and preferred to have pics with them. Urmila mausi, Tunnu, Guddu, Anshu and I went far inside the camp to explore. But it really saddens me, when we came, we heard a verbal skirmish between 1000 Nights’s people and Pratap Mausa. Actually, they cheated us  Despite of proper verbal communication and booking they made no systematized arrangements and moreover they demanded extra Rials for sand bashing and many other desert activities, which they initially approved within 190 OMR !!! As far as the power of my sub conscious mind is considered, I remember that person was charging 25 OMR for sand bashing per person or per 4 members  Pratap Mausaji, my father, Anand Mausaji and Ambu were skirmishing with that bastard wretched idiotic character but he was rigid to loot us. “190 Rials for only dinner and one night accommodation”, Urmila Mausi scolded. While skirmishing was on zenith my mind said,”a bit of India in Oman” personally to me. At that time, Urmila Mausi’s perspicaciousness was highly extolled by all other family members. She said directly to that imbecile, “adjust all in 190 Rials or we’ll abscond”. I crawled towards Manju Mausi and whispered in her ears, “have we paid the currency to this bastard ? “. To my amelioration, she said, ‘NO”. I sighed. We were 200 Kms. away from Muscat and won’t return, keeping this is his mind he did not gave up the loot endeavour. But thankx to sagacious Urmila Mausi for her sagacious and instant verdict, we began our departure. Interestingly, that spineless worm followed us and while jotting the number of our cars said that we had done wrong to him. Now, I’m damn agitated to curse 1000 Nights Camp more….so If you are planning to visit the camp do learn lesson from our visit  I’m not saying that that camp was zilch but would like to add that the place was perfect to enjoy the desert life but the management was pathetic. We, without hesitatingly activated our journey again. I kept looking 1000 Nights camp and within seconds it melted in darkness, dust and heat. Sitting inside the Yukon, we took turns to criticize him  Bunty said, “chalo kum se kum kawa, coffee aur dates to free mei mil gaye”  “Bhai, free nahi petrol to laga hai apna”, Pratap Mausaji retorted.  Envoy and Yukon were freezed for sometime so that we capture images with the vast desert and sun.

The sun began his departure and now it was again our turn to again make a sagacious verdict. Returning 200 Kms., without visiting zilch would become abominable and it was then decided that we’ll stay in a hotel tonight and in the morning we’ll explore turtle beach in Sur. We took a break to have shawarma(s) and finally marched to Sur, 70 Kms. from Bidiya. It took some time to find a good accommodation but our patience was rewarded in form of a good hotel. And after bargaining, we hired an apartment with two big rooms, two bathrooms and one kitchen for 28 OMR. I forgot the title of the hotel, so can’t mention it  While taking dinner, it was proclaimed that we all have to leave the room early morning  by 0200 hours as entry for turtle beach will close vaguely by 0400 hours. And that was the end. “One thing is impeccable, the coming 24 hours will be adventurous”, my mind commented to me, personally.

Day 6: In Muscat, Oman

In the evening, we went to explore Lulu mall, just 5 minutes in distance from Bait Muscat. There was nothing unique there but one thing which captured my attention was “The Prayer Room”. Don’t get astonished if you see a door with a name plate,”The Prayer Room” anywhere in Oman. Oman is a Muslim eclipse piece of land in the world and in Holy Quran they are said to offer respect to Allah five times a day and that was a sublime indication to  me. “Highly sophisticated people, never take their religion for granted” was my savoir-faire for the Omanis, my mind comment to me, personally. My phone rang, Urmila mausi asked me if I would like to go for swimming with my cousins. I, without giving it a thought said, “Yes”. Making the payments we egressed the mall. Urmila mausi escorted us and we were there in the pool. All the little ones, including me  luxuriated the blue pool water. Tunnu got a fortune to show his ingenuity, for he is a splendid swimmer. The foursome, including me, Bunty, Guddu and naturally, Tunnu went deep in the water. Guddu guided me in the improvement of my swimming stance. Ashie amma and little Anshu preferred to luxuriate in one corner of the swimming pole where water was not a risky business to them. The pool people charged 1/2 Rial per candidate, which Urmila mausi initially paid. While we were in the water, the three sisters went somewhere in the near by area where some lemon trees were planted. They plucked green lemons and when I came to know about the “lemon anecdote” on the next day, “Indians will continue as Indians, no matted where they land,Oman, Russia or America”  , my psche ruminated.  After getting exhausted and a proclamation from the pool manager we exited the deep water.  My mother gave me one Rial note to hand it over to Mausi. I did as instructed. I saw Anand Mausa giving Urmila mausi a payment of 1 Rial, I followed him to do the same. She accepted the bank note from him but did not approved my payment. I increased my insist but she was firm and said, “rak rak Bittu, mummy ko mat batana, tere kaam ayange, keep it on my behalf”. I was overwhelmed into plethora of kindest emotions. And that became an anecdote for me  which I’ll capture for long time