Oman Part 2

Next stop: Qalhat, ruins of an ancient city travelers such as Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo stopped at. The most notable structure still standing is the mausoleum of Bibi Miriam, the female Muslim ruler of the city.

Up in the mountains, overlooking the ocean, we didn't have much company - just some adventuresome goats.

Ken and the kids were excited to try and find ancient pottery shards, and there were rocks everywhere, so plenty of "treasures" to look for.

 Hailey outside the mausoleum

View of the inside of the mausoleum

I thought it was especially neat they had built the structures using coral and shells from the nearby ocean. Good building material, since it is still standing!

Family! It is nice to have other people around, because then we can all be in the picture :)

A view of the ocean on one side, and a small modern day city on the other.

Racing to be first back down to the car.

Adventure hats - never leave home without them!

Next, Wadi Tiwi: These wadis are amazing - you'll be driving through mountain passes with nothing but rocks and scrub brush on the side, then suddenly, almost out of nowhere, you stumble into a wadi full of water and lush green palm trees. It's magical.

Each little person had an adult to help them across boulders and deeper water. It was fun to watch these three help each other out, and scout out the best ways through.

Tyler even carried Hailey across the parts that were too deep for her. 

The water was clear and beautiful, with lots of little fish. If you stood still long enough, say maybe taking pictures of your family, the fish were literally biting you. Its a pretty disconcerting feeling.

Hooray for grandpa, willing to entertain in the shallow end. Owen just wanted to pick rocks up and throw them back into the water over and over again.

Some of these beautiful clouds rolled in and gave us some relief from the heat!

It was deep enough for everyone to jump in!

Hailey and Genevieve - she was a trooper to help us so much with the kids.

One thing never changes: we're always changing diapers in one crazy place or another. I hear this ends at some point - I have yet to see proof!

My number one : )

Walking across without tripping is serious business!

After our trek, we had a couple questions for some Omanis we saw in the parking lot. One thing led to another, and before you knew it they were chatting with us, sharing food and trying to get Owen to pose for pictures with their little girl.