A weekend in Muscat- (Part 2) A chance meeting with Donkey from Shrek at Al-Twairaah Wadi.

Our next stop (after Nakhal Fort ) was Al- Tawairaah Wadi. Before I continue, I must mention that the photo credit for some of the photos in this post goes to Danielle and Ruchita (my friends with cameras.)

The gurgling water looked extremely enticing as we stepped out of the cool air-conditioned car into the hot mid-day sun.

I had to step in. BE WARNED- the pebbles are extremely slippery, but the cool water was delicious. There were fish, too. I couldn't get a good shot but a few came over to nibble at my feet:)

We continued our hopping-walking- hobbling- avoiding slippery pebbles- finding dry rocks waddle through this clear stream. Luckily, there weren't too many people there - just a few families dotted around. 

This bunch of children eating mangoes (cooled in the stream) took me back to my childhood picnics in Sahastradhara(Sulphur Springs), Dehradun.

The peaceful afternoon had a soft beat to it- a group of local lads created impromptu melodies with their drums.

Further down the stream was the hot spring. This a rectangular pool filled with 'men' and 'boys', but the water overflows and cascades down back into the stream.

On the river bank

We found a nice spot under a tree where we sat down. These lads were sitting across from us. 

A house by the river bank

And that's where I spotted Donkey!

Isn't he gorgeous?

We had a great time relaxing in this stream while we waited for our driver to finish his Friday prayers. In fact, we ended up playing Antakshari (a singing game based on Indian film songs) with a few contributions from Danielle, too.

I would recommend that you go there earlier in the day (especially on weekends) before the place starts getting crowded. As we were making our way back to the car, the crowds had started pouring in. And pack a picnic- nothing like eating in the outdoors.