Bodhi Bum

So it's been more than a while since I last posted an entry here. When I first started reading all the other blogs around, and got excited to try and resuscitate my old travel blog that I've been keeping off and on for five plus years now. Except that my travel blog was exactly that, a blog based on my travels, or at least using my travels as a means to relate the new places I saw and the new experiences I encountered. This other kind of blogging that has sprung up, which essentially the blog becomes the end in itself, where you develop an audience and feel compelled to continue generating subject matter or content to keep that audience entertained. And this is a whole other thing from blogging for yourself as a means to document your life, a diary per say, a kind of public diary. But in the end, still mostly for yourself than for others.

So my lackluster attempt to convert my travel blog into a mainstream blog king of hit a snag after the first few posts. For a few reasons I guess. One, I only tend to blog when something interesting happens. And two, which is somehow related to one, I'm not traveling at the moment. So not much interesting has been happening. I could write about how my usual weekend sees me waking up early with my cup of coffee and spending the morning reading my list of favourite blogs. But who wants to blog about reading blogs? Or maybe how it's so hot outside now that summer has hit the Gulf region, that I've somehow sadly found myself morphed into that most pathetic and lowly of creatures known as a "mallwalker". Hey, when it's 45 degrees outside and you need exercise, there's not a lot of other options. Sure I would rather be hiking up a mountain somewhere, or running along a beach. But instead I power walk through Ikea and Carrefour, and try to avoid eye contact with the mall walkers club members. At least I didn't join the club. I still have my dignity.

So what's changed that's made me want to post once again after two plus months hiatus. What else. I travelled. Not far mind you. Not even out of the country. Just across the UAE to the East Coast, to a little seaside town called Fujairah. It's only about a four hour drive from Abu Dhabi, but it's a world away from the hustle and bustle of the capital, and Dubai. It's a tiny little place, with not a lot of white faces. Which woudn't normally make for much of a trip. But the thing this place has going for it is the beaches. The beaches here are amazing, and completely empty. Dubai is full of European sun seekers crowding the beaches. Here you have the Indians who flood the beach every Friday afternoon, but the local Emirates don't like the sun or the beach, so they're deserted the rest of the time. Except for me. And my little beach chair.

Friday I was planning on going scuba diving out to Musandam, Oman. So I woke up early and hit the road. But I kinda got lost, and couldn't find the dive shop, so by the time I found where I was going, the boat was already gone. So instead of diving, I just headed on down the road towards Oman.




I decided that I had to at least do Oman one time, at least to say I've been there and add it to the list of countries I've frequented. So I went in search of Oman, and funny enough didn't even realize I had found it until I was already far into it.




Stupid me, I assumed that you need to show your passport to pass from one country to the next. Apparently this basic rule of travel is disregarded when it comes to the UAE and Oman. I guess they must be on exceedingly good terms, since all you have to do is wave at the guy in the booth as your driving by and that suffices for a border check. Strange. So it wasn't until I started noticing banks with the word Oman in it, that I realized that indeed I was in Oman, and that it was pretty much anti-climactic.




So I continued on, and tried to follow a highway up through the mountains, but after the first awe inspiring mountain pass, the ash fault abruptly ended and it was dirt road after that. And since my Toyota Yaris hatchback is the antithesis of a four by four, I turned back as well.



So other than seeing a few goats, and a few more mountains, I'd say that Oman is a whole lot like the UAE, just about 15 or so years in the past. So I headed back my hotel in Fujairah for a quiet night in.



But stopped on the way home to take some pictures of a boat and some dead fish.




This morning I was again up bright and early, and after doing domestic stuff I headed over to Khor Fakan to chill out on their stunning beach in my new favourite spot under my new favourite tree. Again, the beach was all to myself. So I made the most of it, with my new favourite book. The Glass Palace, by Amitav Ghosh. Amazing book. It's a story set in Burma, when the British invaded, and follows the Burmese royal family which is moved by the British to India, and how their lives turn out throughout India, Burma and Malaysia, during the rise and fall of the British Empire. Amazing story, and it's great to get a sense of the history of the countries surrounding Thailand, which I haven't had any experience before. Anyways, good book to pass the afternoon on the beach.






So I'm here in Fujairah until Tuesday, when I head back to Abu Dhabi to get packed up, as I'm heading home for my summer holiday on Wednesday night. Three weeks off, and only a few more days to go. Man this coming work week is gonna go so slow.