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The “7 minute” boat trip

It had been a long day. The four of us had walked, clambered, scaled and trudged over, around, through and over rocks, rivers, seas and sand! And now we were at the end of our tether. Mohammed had started out at a run and was now trailing behind with Salim who had developed a limp. Suhail’s lack of fitness had got the better of him and he was looking forward to the journey’s end!

….

How did we come to venture on this expedition in the first place? We decided to walk the 20 km or so from Hadbeen to Hasik before the road went through and the old ways forever forgotten. The team of friends who had gone with me on my previous expedition unfortunately at the last moment were not free to join me on this new one.

I decided to press on alone, hoping to find some new soul mates to accompany me. I dropped in on another friend, Suhail Said Al-Amri of Jufa, 8 km inland from the old frankincense export port of Sadh. Strangely, Jufa is just a few kilometres away from Sawb which was the terminus of my last, almost abortive, trip along the top of Jebel Samhan, down the cliff following the old camel trails, ending up in the village of Sawb, where Suhail taught geography in the local primary school.

This time I was determined to make it a successful trip in every way so I made a point of walking long distances around Salalah whenever I could. I didn’t want to be left behind by being unfit. And that part of my preparation did pay off!

Salim, Suhail, Mohammed, Ross

Suhail enthusiastically decided to join the team, even though at short notice. We continued on to Hadbeen where we met up with one of his friends, Salem Al-Araimi, a fisherman. Word soon got around, and before long a fourth person volunteered to come, Mohammad Zu’amri Al-Mahri, a former student of mine at the College of Education (now the College of Applied Sciences) in Salalah.

Late in the day we started to gather together the supplies we would need for an early start the following day. We hoped that we would be able to complete the route from Hadbeen to Hasik with just one night’s stop somewhere along the way. But things didn’t work out that way!

….

Earlier in the day I had tried to negotiate with my fellow-travellers to camp out somewhere along the way. Unfortunately some were adamant that we not camp out. One reason given was that (at that time) ‘dangerous’ Somali fugitives were known to be using the coast as a road north to Dubai and ultimate freedom. So as the day was coming to an end we tried, unsuccessfully, to flag down numbers of passing motorboats. We were getting exhausted by this time. To cap things off the sun was almost set. What to do?

Nearing Ras Hasik

Clambering around a couple more rocky bays, we suddenly came across a couple of motorboats tied to some rocks. Signs of civilisation at last!

A few more steps and we spotted numbers of camels browsing in the next bay. We had arrived at Wadi Samhan! It was 6.15 p.m. and the sun had just set. What a relief it was!

It was Mohammed’s uncle with their camels! We were ushered into a tent made from tree branches covered with plastic sheeting. There in the light of a kerosene lantern, we slaked our thirst on cool water, warm camel’s milk and hot sweet tea, in that order.

I thought we were going to stay the night there but I was outnumbered – Salim and the others wanted to press on to Hasik! For a moment I had forgotten that Salem was a fisherman, and that there was a motorboat in the next bay!

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“Seven minutes!” answered Salim.

Salim as a fisherman had done that trip many times before so his estimate should have been accurate. However, other factors came into play.

We headed out into the unknown with a 20 to 30 knot head wind, a 1 to 2 metre swell. It was pitch dark with only a sliver of a moon; and we were 50 metres from a very rocky coastline. I was feeling rather scared, to put it mildly!

We were making heavy work of the journey, travelling through a big swell with the wind whipping up white caps, when all of a sudden the motor stopped. The boat swung broadside to the waves. They started to break into the boat. There we were with no life jackets, no spare outboard motor, and not even one oar. We were certainly at the mercy of God and the elements.

Coastal road near Natif, Hasik, Dhofar, Oman

I fumbled for my torch. Shining it over the stern we saw a very large plastic bag entangling the prop. Within two minutes we were on our way again. Phew!

How wonderful it was then when we finally saw the welcoming lights of Hasik looming through the gloom. It would be half an hour more before we reached it. But still it was reassuring to see those lights! And so the 7 minute journey became 85!

Posted in Hasik

Dhofar Frankincense Trade

Apr 10

Posted by KiwiOman

Dhofar in southern Oman has had a long association with the frankincense trade. The most active period was from the first century BC to the fourth century.

Frankincense trees (Dhofar)

AD. During this period the Roman Empire had a great demand for the precious gum. Classical authors say that there was a gold drain on their economy in the eastern empire such was the demand for it. Strabo says that sometimes there were caravans of 2000 camels at one time although it is not known whether such large caravans travelled from Dhofar or from present-day Yemen (1).

Wendell Phillips wrote about frankincense in the 1950s and 60s: ”The ancient kings of Hadramaut had to secure Andhur Oasis to control the vital frankincense trade; the fortress on the ridge was designed to accomplish this objective. Even today (1960) camel trails can be seen leading out to the north-west in the direction of Shisr; another route leads west-south-west to the post of Hanun, where the frankincense collection centre described above was partially cleared… Mirbat is only 40 miles due south of Andhur Oasis, but a direct route is rendered impossible by the precipitous southern face of the intervening Jabal Samhan…” (2). Some Mahra interviewed by him stated that it took 3 or 4 days’ camel journey to reach Salalah from Andhur.

I dispute Philips saying that there was no direct route down Jebel Samhan to Mirbat. In 1999 three Dhofari friends and I walked along the top of the escarpment east of Mirbat until we reached Wadi Kharis (about 1700 m.). This deep valley runs north south and eventually leads to Wadi Andhur 40 km to the north. However, we descended the cliff face along an old narrow camel track and came out at Sawb on the plains near Jufa. This is one of the few places where it’s possible to come down the cliff between Mirbat and Hadbeen.

Traditional Dhofari culture - burning frankincense

Frankincense was exported from ports along the Dhofar coast up until the 1950s. Of course frankincense is still exported today although in much smaller quantities. Frankincense harvested from the eastern Dhofar mountains — that is the mountains above Mirbat, also known as Solot — was transported by camel to Mirbat and further to the north-east, Hasik. In December 1894 Theodore Bent and his travelling party journeyed from Mirbat to Al-Haffa by baggala – an Arab sailing ship – which was carrying a ‘large cargo’ of frankincense for Bombay. The 40 mile journey from Mirbat to Al-Haffa took them two days because of opposing winds. However Bent comments that one of the songs the sailors sang was about frankincense (3).

References

^{(1) Nigel Broom, “}^{Frankincense and Myrrh”}^.

(2) Wendell Phillips, “Unknown Oman”, p.201

^{(3) Theodore Bent, “}^{Exploration of the Frankincense country of southern Arabia”}^{(1900), p.233}

Posted in Frankincense

Kaffirs Rock (Ras Nus)

Jul 30

Posted by KiwiOman

© Ross Hayden. Kaffirs Rock, Hadbeen, Dhofar, Oman

Local Dhofaris tell the story of shipwrecked European sailors who, many years ago, took refuge atop this large rock shaped like a stack of pancakes. Because their clothes were in tatters after their swim ashore, a local man thought from their white appearance that they were jinn and ran away! Even today it is a very well-known traveller’s landmark. [Note: kaffir = unbeliever = European; jinn = spirits]