It doesnt rain very often here in sunny Oman just a few days a year and we are currently experiencing one of those rain events right now. Due to the lack of wet weather they dont really bother building drainage systems on secondary roads or in suburban areas they just depend on causeways or wadis to cope with the flash flooding that comes from the nearby mountains. Lots of roads end up under water in a very short time and you never risk driving across a wadi that is flooded. People have absolutely no idea how to adjust to driving in wet conditions and being out on the road can be extremely hazardous. In a lot of the arab countries the floors, walkways or ramps into the shopping malls, hotels, houses etc are paved in highly polished granite or some similar type of tile or stone so you can imagine what walking on that is like when its wet. I sometimes slip even when its dry due to the fine talcum like dust that blows around the place.
The traditional architecture in this part of the Middle East is amazing the buildings are ornate and built on a grand scale especially some of the mosques like the grand mosque in Muscat. This is a part of the world that up until now I have always avoided mainly due to all that I saw or heard in the media. I am really enjoying the experience and look forward to my wife joining me in February for the last 5 weeks of the project. We plan on exploring more of the Sultanate of Oman and the neighboring UAE but I will need to upgrade my hire car from a Yaris to a 4wd in order to gain access to some of the more remote places in the mountains.
Great photos BB and like others you are showing us things we never knew - questions= where do they get their potable water from and is their only fertile soil in old riverbeds?
Thanks Hako up until the 70s it was all ground water now the majority comes from desalination plants that the goverment built when supply outstripped demand. Lot of scrubby acacia type trees and date palms grow naturally especially in the wadis (valleys) The villages in the mountains have built waterways which have probably been there for thousands of years to channel water for irrigation. Whatever they plant and add water to seems to do ok so the soil must have some nutrients in it although it looks pretty sandy to me.
