Hidden Oasis
Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Al Waha
From far up the rocky mountainous peak, we travelled down towards the glittering sea, stopping for a moment at the quaint Qantab village to admire an old Arabian boat perched gracefully on a roundabout. We marvelled at the boat stitched together intricately with rope, which had once traversed the seas from Muscat to China in the wake of the legendary Sindbad the Sailor. Then, continuing on our way, we hugged the coastline all the way to Muscat City and to a most striking architectural achievement — a fort-like wonder of thick sandstone walls and small intricate openings, our home for the next few nights, the Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, Al Waha.
A young Omani porter, with eyes as soft as his face, greeted us with a most disarming smile. He led us cordially to our suite, and along the way, I could not help but notice a most soothing collection of photographs portraying the more simple beauties of desert life — mountain villages, camel trails and vast sandy dunes — that seemed to settle me from deep within. That night in the full shimmer of moonlight, the beach was surreal with what looked like clusters of incandescent ping-pong balls hiding in the sand. We stared at them curiously, as if waiting for something magical to happen, and we were not disappointed. For all of a sudden, the balls, which were in fact turtle eggs, began to hatch one by one.
Dozens of tiny heart-shaped hatchlings began to emerge, falling out of their shells and heading towards the ocean. Perhaps it was the sound of the waves or the moonlight reflecting off the water that attracted them, but there was one thing for sure, they knew exactly what they were doing. We watched into the night until every last hatchling made it to the water, and feeling immensely blessed to have witnessed the miracle of life, we returned to the warm embrace of the hotel where we dreamt of swimming freely in the ocean with the beautiful green turtles by our side.
As we drifted along the lusciously cool waters of the Lazy River, snaking all the way around the resort from one pool to the next, who would have known that not far away were vast plains of sweltering desert. For there in the water, with a clarity and a sparkle that was almost effervescent, we felt incredibly cool and refreshed and could not foresee leaving its respite any time soon. Later that afternoon, I found myself up on the headland gazing out at the mysterious Sea of Oman. My mind wandered back to some thousands of years ago when the first settlers roamed along the gulf’s sandy shores, but thankfully, before I became too lost in that mind-boggling thought, the shrill sounds of children playing at the nearby water park brought me back to the present day, and with not a single cloud in the dazzling blue sky above, what a glorious day it was.
From our table at bait al bahr, perfectly fronded palm trees provided a most appropriate picture-frame for the sky ablaze with a brilliant scarlet red. The sun was setting steadily over the gulf again, and just like every night we had dined there, we watched the sky intently, watching and waiting for that faintest hissing sound just as the sun hit the horizon.
That night at the restaurant we felt genuinely happy and carefree. We enjoyed the company of our waiter; his hearty laugh made us feel at ease, and somehow, maybe because of his smile or his genuinely caring demeanour, he felt more like a friend than a waiter. When he arrived with our seafood platter still redolent of flames from the grill, we felt compelled to ask him to join us, but of course he declined. Still, he remained chatty throughout the evening, letting us in on intriguing little Omani secrets one would never find in a travel book.
