Category: travels

wahiba sands in oman

some people like to take pictures like this at the beach. i prefer the desert in eastern oman. here we are experiencing a sunset, surrounded by martian landscapes, the wind erasing our footsteps as we walk around and take countless pictures, everything so vast and sovereign, humans small, and frail, and completely dependent on cosmic systems beyond their control… thinking of ‘desert notebooks: a road map for the end of time’ by ben ehrenreich:

“…time took a different shape. the desert enforces its own perspective. it shrinks you and puts eternity in the foreground. if you’re open to it, and don’t mind a diminished role in this drama, it insists, quietly, on the surging beauty of all things and non-things living and dead and not-formally-alive.”

in oman

we arrived in muscat yesterday and mostly just took it easy at our hotel. but today… we met our driver and guide, adil, at 830am and he drove us to bimmah sink hole first, in arabic hawiyyat najm or falling star. so much more poetic, no? legend has it that the sinkhole was created when an asteroid struck the arid plain that separates the ocean from the craggy peaks of the al hajar mountains. gorgeous. we then drove to fins white beach. again, the blue green water is sublime. next, wadi shab, a canyon which is home to crystal clear blue water pools. we started with a boat that took us across the river, walked past small farms and irrigation channels, and then… an hour long, arduous hike! we climbed over pristine white boulders and extremely slippery and narrow canyon walls. it’s the month of february, thank god, but still, middle eastern afternoons are hot. this was one of the most physically challenging things i’ve done in a while. but the views, and the pools at the end – nothing short of magical! we had lunch in wadi tiwi, drove around sur, learned how dhows are made, and more, before arriving at our eco lodge – sama ras al jinz. dinner and a walk, in the middle of nowhere. the sky is full of stars. and oman is so very special.

alserkal avenue in dubai

i found my groove in dubai today. it’s called alserkal avenue. located in al quoz, halfway between old and new dubai, this contemporary art hub was created in 2008 by housing art spaces, galleries, internet cafes, and artist studios in existing warehouses and factory buildings. incidentally, i started with an exhibition that purports to lift the voices of kashmiri women thru photography and testimonies. it was awful. from the get-go. more about that later.

i want to share what i loved first: ‘for you mother’ by palestinian artist rula halawani. based on conversations with her mother about palestine and her words, “even when we die and leave this world, our spirits remain, floating in the skies of our country,” halawani has produced these beautifully haunted and haunting, large-scale photomontages, a “marriage between archival images of palestinian families before the 1948 mass diaspora and palestinian landscapes captured thru her lens.”
halawani is also interested in examining how palestinian landscapes have changed — the people and natural environment that disappeared and are still disappearing.

old dubai

today started with a big breakfast at karak house (famous for its karak chai – serious masala chai, not for the faint hearted) and then a tour of old dubai (established as a fishing village in the early 18th century). took a boat ride across dubai creek in the al seef neighborhood and visited some of the souks with our guide, hamza, who happens to be algerian. only 8% of the population is considered local (with access to citizenship, free healthcare, free education and much else), the remaining 92% are foreigners who can never become citizens or enjoy the same benefits. yet they seem to be running this country…