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Day 6, 13 February 2014
Everyone went to bed quite late after the long sharing session last night. As soon as I touched my sleeping bed, i went straight to dreamland but the dreamland that i entered was a scary one, the one that full of zombies, killing and shedding blood. The moment I opened my eyes, I thought I saw a zombie waiting to attack me and I was ready to fight for my life but as soon as I regained my consciousness, I realized it was only my zombie-like sleepy looking tent mate...
I was welcomed by the blue sky day as I got out from my cozy tent in the morning. "Another good fine day to trek in the desert!"I thought. The day started with a yoga session conducted by our very own yoga master, "Jamilah". It was really a refreshing experience to be able to practice yoga in the arms of nature. The morning cooling breeze blew towards us as we hold still for yoga poses. The sun rays slowly shine upon us and from far ,the galloping sound of camels could be heard. The world became so silent that the only sound we heard was silence itself which brought the peaceful feeling from within, how true the quote that Iskandar shared today: "Plant your own flowers and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for people to bring you flowers".
The morning's problem-solving activity was another team-work challenge imposed on us. The transporting of a golf ball using modified pipe-like tools was fun. Initially, we were not very certain the impact of the role played by differently designed tools and the importance of their position in the process of transporting the golf ball. After we failed for more than 5 times to get the ball to the first check point, we finally knew how to work with the different-sized tools to our advantage. The second check point of it was a bit tricky but we managed to complete the task after 4 tries. The last check point of it was a success at first try even though it was set downhill, beneath a steep slope. Well done! The following teamwork challenge was to balance a pole on every team members' fingers while lowering it down. It was not easy but as usual we managed to conquer every challenge given as a team. Thumbs up to my team members there.
We started trekking around 12pm. This time we only need to trek for 5.4 kilometers because we had covered half of today's trekking distance yesterday. The team was getting stronger each day and it only took us one-and-a-half hour to complete the journey. The campsite directed by the GPS was not an ideal place to camp so today's team manager, Grace decided we walked to another more suitable area 500 meters away from where we were standing. The dark clouds were fast approaching and the rain drops started pouring while we were enjoying our lunch. Joyce was excited and asking us to get ready the sandstorm shelter because she finally could use it after so many days of trekking. While half of the team was busy covering themselves up using the orange-colored shelter, the other half of the team was just standing nearby to watch all the action taking place, perhaps due to the small drizzle as compared to the pelting rain back home. It must be a very funny scene to watch.
The long awaited Eddie (aka Mohamed our OB Oman instructor) and his land cruiser finally arrived, which meant we could pitch our tent before the heavy rain caught us. The team put in their best effort to put up the tents as fast as possible because no one wish to work in the rain especially when you could not take a hot shower after that. For the first time we were allowed to have our afternoon nap. It felt so right to be sleeping while listening to the rain drops. Just when I was about to doze off, I heard Eddie shouted:" is everyone sleeping? The camels are here!" "Oh, the camels! But I shall see you all in my dream..."
I was awaken by the noise of conversation. I took a look at my watch, it was almost time for us to walk to a nearby local Bedouin house because we were invited to have dinner there. It was not a long walk especially without our heavy backpacks. We arrived at the house around 6:30pm We were greeted by the man of the house and were served with fresh fruits and hot coffee/tea. We sat around the fireplace and wondered when dinner would be served. As I was told by one the team mates, the dinner would only be served when the big piece of wood in the fireplace would have finished burning. I took it as a joke because if that was real, we might be eating supper instead of dinner!
The young women in the family were wearing colorful traditional dresses. It was so much different from the usual all-black dress I had seen before in the capital. The Henna painting service was offered by the local ladies and Xingyi was their first customer of the day. The Henna-painting was done in a room behind the fireplace and was well-sheltered. I was more than happy to accompany my dear tentmate to do her hand-painting because the temperature dropped rapidly outside in the open area. I was quite certain that the local ladies were Henna-painting part-timer artists because they were discussing non-stop and using another lady's hand as reference before started painting on Xingyi's hand. I was shocked to see one of the ladies took out her Blackberry touch-screen smartphone out and used it as a torch light for the painting. Though they choose to live their lives in a traditional way, they do welcome modern technology and inventions into their world for their conveniences.
While Xingyi was served by 2 ladies and I was then the 'human torch-stand', holding up the phone / torch light for her, I heard a man's voice singing a song in an upbeat rhythm and then followed by a woman's voice and hand-clapping. I peeped out from the entrance and saw many guests had arrived to enjoy the evening with us. The singing man was now playing the drum while singing and to my amazement, an older woman in the group started dancing and soon after, she was joined by the Majulah dancing team. They circled around the fireplace , clapping hands and tapping feet, including Isky. Well, it seemed like a very good physical exercise to fight the freezing temperature!
The singing and dancing session went on and on, until a point when we started to wonder when dinner will be ready. I looked at the still-burning wood and beginning to finally believe what was being told to me might be real and we might be getting supper. At last around 9:30pm, some of the younger women in the group walked into a place which we assumed was the kitchen, and the man stopped singing and women stopped dancing. "Yes! Dinner will be out anytime soon." My guess was right and we saw a tray full of rice together with a dish similar to our curry chicken brought to us. Everyone was so hungry and trying to put as much food as possibly down their throat into the stomach. The rice was very fragrant that I could eat it just like that. 5 of us shared a tray of rice and we could only finish half of the serving. The other group did much better by finishing 2/3 of the serving portion. Oh, I didn't know they were that hungry.
The night was getting colder and it was almost 11pm when we were leaving the house of our friendly host. Thanks to their hospitality, which makes it really possible for us to understand their culture better. To know a place, is to know the people living there and the dinner arrangement provides us a chance to get up close and personal with the local Omani Bedouins. Through this opportunity, we have a better insight of the friendly Omanis and I will always remember Oman because of its people, besides the foggy mountain and desert that rains much when we are here!
-Leong Yuh Fun, aka "Salwa"
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