Muscat->Mudaibi->Mahoot->Masirah

  We left for Masirah Island from Muscat at about 5:30am.  It is a 4.5-5 hour drive at a distance of around 460 kms.  This pic is near Ma-ed-en (spelling?) on the way to Masirah.  If you zoom in, you can see a construction crane on the top of that cliff!  Along the highway near Mudaibi, one school (Dhafrat School for Basic Education) put up these Proverbs which I think is pretty neat.  This one reads, “A book is a pupil’s friend“.  Most schools in Oman have colorful, artistic gates like this one (in “Abdullah bin Abubaker school”) in the village of “Maeedan”.  The Arabic above the gate reads, “Show respect to a teacher because a teacher is like a prophet.” (Hey, I LOVE that one!  🙂 )  “Don’t delay today’s work till tomorrow.”  This is known by the locals as “Camel continent/island” as it resembles a camel.  What makes it even more interesting is that there is a camel racing track just behind this “hill”.  “Smiling is a social duty.”  Alright, then… 🙂  “Maeden Mountain” where locals used to be (and are still?!) afraid to approach as it has been known as “the mountain of Jinns” with many scary stories being told about this place.  “Respect yourself and others will respect you.”  Bedu walking their camels, which is something that needs to be done daily to get them ready for the next camel race!  “Camels in training”  Click here for video  “Cooperation is strength.”  Painting on the outer wall of school in the village of Hij  “Work hard and you will harvest what you sow.”  Another painting at the school in Hij  “Respecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility.”  A spooky looking tree in the middle of nowhere by itself.  Sulaiman called this tree, “The Devil’s Hand Tree“.  “The teacher is like a second father.” (Again, I gotta agree with this one!  :-))  Another look at the “Devil’s Hand Tree” (1 km from the A’Seel turn off)  “If my home is clean, my school is clean.”  Madar Mountain (wrinkled mountain that looks like a raisin!) “al Madar” is the Arabic word for a special kind of mud which most of the forts in Oman are made of! (Those who lived in mud-brick houses were called “ahi al-madar” or “settlers”, whereas those who lived in tents of camels hair were knows as “ahl al-wabar“, or “wanders”.)  “Camel Beauty without shyness is like a flower without fruit.” (“Camel” in Arabic, “Gamel“, sounds a lot like the word for “Beauty“, “Jamel“)  The person painting the sign made a funny slip up in Arabic making the proverb hard to read at first! (So I was told.)  A beautiful camel (“Jamel Gamel”) in the desert  “The hand of God is with those who cooperate.”  Goats adding charm to the landscape  “Work together for a clean school.”  I had no idea that the harbour where we needed to catch the ferry to Masirah island was even called Shannah!  Another good reason to travel with a local!  These are the salt flats that I wrote about in more detail in a previous post, just a stone’s throw from Shannah Harbour.  Shannah Harbour is the best way to get to Masirah Island.  The ferries carry about 16 cars each trip to the island which is 15 kms off the coast of Oman.