A Desert Rose The desert gives rise to people who are tough and resourceful. This beautiful Al Wahiba girl is part of a large family of semi-nomadic Bedu living in the Sharqiya Sands Desert.
The desert is a magically beautiful place.
It is also unforgiving. You have to be tough to forge a life in these hostile, barren expanses where almost no precipitation falls.
Bedouin or “desert people” – from the Arabicbadawī – have made the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East their home for thousands of years. Even today, many still follow a traditional nomadic lifestyle, roaming their tribal territories with their herds of camels and goats.
As early as 6000 B.C., agricultural and pastoral people were living along the southern edge of the arid Syrian steppes. They acquired domesticated camels around 1,100 B.C. By about 850 B.C., they had established a network of oasis settlements and pastoralist camps, and were known as the A’raab. The Bedouin are the nomadic desert descendants of these people, and are considered by many to be “ideal” Arabs – in contrast with their ḥāḍir, or sedentary, city-dwelling cousins.
There are a number of Bedouin tribes, many tracing back to a single paternal ancestor. In Oman, the numerous Al Wahiba tribe are the predominant residents, making their home across the Sharqiya Sands desert.
This desert stretches about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north to south and 80 kilometres east to west, running between Oman’sEastern Hajar Mountains and the Arabian Sea. There are no paved roads, and the only permanent camps are those resorts that have been build for tourists. The roughly 3,000 Bedouin who live here follow a traditional nomadic lifestyle, building temporary camps among the shifting dunes.
Lunch with a Bedouin family was a highlight of my Omani itinerary. The trick, of course, when setting a date with nomadic people, is finding them! It took my guide (with NTT Tours) a number of phone calls to establish when and where we would be welcome. On Fridays, these tribal families gather in larger groups to share news and deal with problems or organisational issues – so we re-arranged our schedule, allowing a camp visit on a Thursday instead.
Once there, we were warmly welcomed, and the food was wonderful! Come meet the family:
Dawn on the Sharqiya Sands The desert is a sensually seductive place, with the sands ebbing and flowing over the dunes into the distance (see: Sand Songs and Desert Dreams). But, don’t be fooled! Once that sun rises over the horizon, the temperatures will skyrocket – with no water in sight!
Bedouin Settlement Barely visible tracks criss-cross a desert punctuated with both portable and semi-fixed Bedouin settlements. We catch sight of several from the car …
Camels in the Desert … before parking next to the camels belonging to our lunch hosts.
Bedouin Siblings This family has six children. They were initially timid, hiding behind their mother’s heavy black robes. Fortunately, I had an Instax mini-camera with me.
Bedouin Boy Once I took one child’s picture, they all wanted a turn – and when I ran out of Instax film, I was able to get some individual portraits.
Bedouin Woman Even mum got in on the fun, agreeing to have her photo taken properly once she too had her instant photo in hand. Before I made any photos, she put on her traditional Omanibattoulah: a special mask which she said protected her from the sand.
Young Bedouin Child Once they got over their shyness, the children were full of life and curiosity.
Bedouin Girl These children have beauty, strength, and intelligence.
Whale Bone The desert and the ocean are linked by metaphor: “ships of the desert’ and “seas of sand”. It’s more than that, though: the dunes of the Sharqiya Sands Desert stretch to the Arabian Sea. Like abstract sculptures, giant segments of whale bone decorate this family homestead.
Child in a Net
Camel at the Camp The Bedouin call camels a “gift from God”, and they serve a number of cultural and functional uses.
Grass in the Sand The vegetation is sparse – how the animals find anything to eat amazes me.
Life in the Sands As unappetising as they look, Vachellia tortilis (Acacia tortilis) – or “Umbrella thorn” trees – are essential to Omani desert dwellers. The wood is used for furniture, cart wheels, and even charcoal. Their leaves are important fodder and their deep roots help fix the drifting sands. They are homes to all manner of animals and insects, and provide some shade from the sun and protection from the winds.
Camels at the Camp Tourist accommodation in the desert is much more substantial than the portable Bedouin camps. Here at the 1000 Nights Sharqiya Sands Camp, located in the heart of the desert, camels wait for customers.
Arabian Oryx In spite of the harshness of the desert, a number of animal species have adapted themselves to the conditions. Unfortunately, the Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) couldn’t survive human predation, and the last wild one was poached in 1972. This small domestic herd was in a compound at our resort.
Arabian Oryx – (Oryx leucoryx) The national animal of Oman (and other countries on the Arabian Peninsula), this beautiful animal is gradually being reintroduced into the wild.
Arabian Gazelles Another pen houses dainty Arabian gazelles (Gazella arabica). Appreciated for their grace and associated with female beauty in Arabic literature, these animals are also rated as extinct in the wild.
Camels at the Ready The camels, on the other hand, are ubiquitous; you’d be forgiven for thinking the country has plenty. However, when people found out I was from Australia, one of the first thing they’d say was: “Send us some camels!” In Australia, the 1,000,000+ feral camels – originally introduced into the country in the 1840’s to help with inland exploration – are a pest, here in the sands of the Arabian Peninsula, you can never have too many!
And that’s how it is, isn’t it? One man’s riches is another man’s pest!
I always reflect on these differences in values more when I meet the bright and engaging children in these remote places; youngsters who are perfectly suited to their environments, but who may have limited understand of, and access to, other options.
I can’t help but wonder how they will bridge that gap between their traditional lifestyle and the changing modern world – and I hope they manage it well.
Like Zombies Walking With their bodies painted in white clay and ash, Chimbu Skeleton Men of the Bugamo Tribe in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea face their own fear of ghosts while terrifying their superstitious foes.
What better way to conquer your fears than by facing and embodying them?
The Bugamo Tribe – one of the more than a thousand cultural groups that exist in Papua New Guinea – live in Chimbu (Simbu) Province, high in the mountainous central highlands. Completely unknown to outsiders until the mid-1900s, elders tell stories about their first sighting of European missionaries – and thinking they were ancestor spirits. For generations, tribal groups fought with their neighbours over lands or imagined insults, and families still pay tribute to lost members. People lived traditional lives, looking after their pigs and crops, and traded with pigs, pig tusks, kina shells, stone axes, and feathers.
Most Highland tribal groups were/are Animist, believing that spirits inhabit the land, animals, inanimate objects, plants, and rocks all around them. They worship their ancestors, and believe in masalai, or evil spirits, and the practice of puripuri (sorcery). So, according to other stories, an added bonus of the skeleton body paint is that it terrifies superstitious enemies!
Today, Bugamo dancers paint bones and skulls on their bodies to prepare for a sing sing – a festival of culture, music and dance – rather than for tribal war, and one of the silent story-dances they enact tells the tale of the brave hunters who rescued their children from the ghost, and performed a magic spell to scare it away.
I was travelling in Papua New Guinea with photographer Karl Grobl from Jim Cline Photo Toursand a small group of photography enthusiasts. We arrived in Paiya Village a day before their annual sing sing for a private session with three Asaro Mudmen (see: Asaro Mudmen), three Huli Wigmen (see: Huli Wigmen), and three Chimbu Skeleton Men. We watched and photographed as they applied their traditional face- and body-paint.
These three tribal groups couldn’t have been more different: unlike the formidable and glowering Huli and the quiet, retiring Asaro, the Skeleton men we worked with were a lot of fun. Two of them spoke a little English, making interactions with them easier. When they aren’t entertaining curious tourists, these men grow and market Highland coffee in their rugged, but fertile province.
Come watch as they get ready:
The Shave The Bugamo men need a clean canvas for their skull-painting, so step one is a head shave.
Preparatory Shaving That was a bare razor blade, so I made sure I didn’t distract them!
Portrait: A Smiling Blank Canvas Clean-shaven and ready!
White Clay Paint Traditionally, the white “paint” was sourced from clay; today it is more likely to be acrylic, bought from the local markets. The “brush” is a soft twig with one end chewed.
Building a Loin-Guard The only piece of costume the Bugamo men wear, outside of their body paint, …
Building a Loin-Guard … is a brief loin guard which they craft from the leaves and grasses in the surrounding jungle.
Face Paint The whole process of getting ready took about two hours, …
Painting Skeletons … but the men had fun with it.
Painting Skeletons The bone structure starts to take form!
Black and White Once the black ash (or acrylic) is introduced, the skeletons really start to take shape …
Portrait of a Skeleton Man … and it is easy to see the men as frightening rather than friendly.
Skeletons on the Green This tribal tradition pre-dates any contact with the outside world, …
Soulless Skeletons … so their vacant faces and lumbering postures owe nothing to our Hallowe’en costumes or Hollywood depictions of zombies.
Skeleton Hands
Skeletons in a Doorway It is hot and dark in the surrounding jungle, …
Skeletons in Character … we move to a traditional hut …
Skeleton in a Window … to use it as a backdrop.
Like Zombies Walking The Skeleton Men move silently …
Like Walking Dead … like soulless zombies.
Lumbering Skeletons It is easy to see how these creatures could strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.
Crossing Cultures As a nod to the “modern world”, one of our Skeleton Men borrows and models a set of sunglasses.
Skeleton on the Run But, tribal tensions are still very real. One of our models hides himself in a hooded jacket before heading through the potentially hostile territory of town.
Seeing us Off The local children follow us back to our transport and wave us off.
I find it fascinating that a culture that was isolated for so long, and that in most ways is so different from ours, has nevertheless come up with symbolism we recognise immediately. Some archetypes are, indeed, universal.
Another awesome recap with fantastic images, it’s so much fun to see and read your blog entries, thanks for taking the time to do all the research, write it all up and cap it off with great shots to illustrate it all! Bravo Ursula!ReplyCancel
Searching for Beauty The tropical sunsets over the palms and waters are unbeatable in Florida, even when you are in the built-up areas full of ugly, concrete buildings. (iPhone4S)
My predominant memory of Florida is of miles of asphalt and concrete, overlooked by garish neon signs for noisy bars, and gaudy billboards promoting guns and gambling, escort clubs, the bible and ‘pro life’; a landscape punctuated with plastic theme parks and lined with strip malls, drive-throughs, and featureless clumps of condominiums gathered around kitsch swimming pools.
But, there is another Florida: if you look past the tacky souvenir shops and fast-food outlets, you can find National Parks, Indian Reservations, StateReserves, and privately bequeathed lands that are protected green spaces and a breath of fresh air.
We had made use of one of those indistinguishable timeshares, rubbing shoulders with families from all over the mainland USA looking for a vacation with their children. We even took advantage of our free Universal Studios Florida tickets. But for me, the ‘real’ places – like the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral (see: To Infinity and Beyond!), the out-of-the-way places (see: Key West) – and the preserved natural places (e.g.: Flamingo Gardens; Kissimmee Lake; and Crane Point) – were far more enjoyable.
Come dip your toes in Universal Studios Florida and the Everglades, and decide for yourself!
The Universal Globe When in Florida, you really have to take in at least one theme park!
Universal Entry School holidays haven’t started yet, and rain is in the forecast, so the entry is not too crowded when we arrive.
Emmys for Lucy All five of comedienne Lucille Ball’s Emmy Awards were on display in a case in the Lucy: A Tribute exhibit. This walk-through museum has closed since our visit.
Marlene and the Old Cameras
Cars in the Lot Who doesn’t remember American Graffiti? Those wonderful cars from 1958 and earlier still sit outside Mel’s Drive-In. We admired the classic vehicles, but didn’t stop to eat.
Jack the Clown I’m not a fan of horror movies, but Universal’s Horror Make-Up Show was on our path, so we checked it out. I could be forgiven for not knowing Jack the Clown, as he was invented for the Universal Halloween Horror Nights.
Hellboy I did know Hellboy, having seen Ron Perlman in the 2004 movie with my son, …
Lon Chaney … and horror fan or not, everybody knows Lon Chaney!
Curious George Car The sprinklers were going full-force, but there were no young children around to explore the Curious George Town. That was probably just as well, as we found a large sea snake in the paddling pool!
Raincoats in the Street As predicted, the rains came. Most of the shopfronts are restaurants and souvenir shops; they did a good trade in plastic raincoats! (iPhone4S)
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit In spite of the weather, there were plenty of takers for the various roller coaster rides.
Jimmy Buffet Plane We opted instead for a quiet lunch at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, and then watched a new-release move before leaving the park.
Riding the Everglades Airboat A week later, we were enjoying our second Florida airboat ride: this time on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation in the Everglades.
Miccosukee Indian Reservation There is a wealth of birdlife in the ‘River of Grass’, as the Everglades is called, but it is hard to take photos with the noisy vibrations of the airboat.
Spatterdock (Nuphar Luteum) Spatterdock, or cow lily, is a large aquatic plant native to Florida.
Spatterdock With its wonderfully showy seed pods, it is one of my favourite Everglade plants.
Miccosukee Village I chose this particular airboat ride (out of the many on offer) because I was interested in learning a bit about the Native American Miccosukee people who live here.
Water Hyacinth under the Bridge Getting off the airboat allowed us a closer look at some of the plant life.
Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia Crassipes) Beautiful though it might be, this imported plant, native to the Amazon basin in South America, is considered a major weed species in Florida. Considerable money and effort has been put into its control and management.
Everglades Airboat Although we get to look through old village buildings, I don’t feel as if I learned much from the static displays. Our Miccosukee driver is rather uncommunicative, and stays with the boat while we explore.
Everglade Grass The water is dead calm in the high overcast; there is not a whisper of wind in the grass.
Small Fish The fresh water around us is so crystal-clear that it looks as if the fish are floating in air.
Spatterdock (Nuphar luteum) It is going to rain. But for now, everything is hushed, calm, and luminous.
Crested Floating Heart – Nymphoides Cristata Introduced to the United States as a water garden plant, this pretty lily-like freshwater floating perennial from tropical Asia is another invasive pest in the Everglades.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea Herodias) Southwest Florida is home to the great blue heron, the Louisiana heron, the little blue heron, the great white heron, the little green heron, the Wurdemann’s heron, and to the yellow-crowned and the black-crowned night herons. I’m pretty sure this one is a great blue heron.
Rainy Roads As expected, the rains came. We ducked into the Miccosukee Restaurant for a late lunch and a last taste of the Everglades before battling the weather and driving west out of the grasslands. (iPhone4S)
It is certainly true that Florida has something for everyone.
I for one prefer the wild natural spaces over the concrete jungle and plastic theme parks.
“Desert Dreams” The lines and waves of the Sharqiya Sands Desert blur as the rising wind whips the sand up into the setting sun.
“The desert never leaves you.”
My driver, who had declared his love of the desert as we were driving into it, said this with awe in his voice.
I agree with him. I too, love the desert: there is something mystical about the way seas of sand drape and fold into the distance. The shimmering light is mesmerising; the dry heat wraps you in a blanket of support and warmth; and the soft sands and sensuously billowing dunes invite you to lie down in them. There is a poetry in this landscape which is both timeless and ever-changing. It gets into your bones – into your soul.
It also gets into your hair and your teeth and your eyes!
The winds had picked up, and even with my tightly-wrapped Bedouin headscarf, the sand was biting into my hands and eyes. “You’ll be finding bits of it, years from now!” my driver continued with a soft laugh.
We were in the Sharqiya Sands – also called the Wahiba Sands after the Bani Wahiba tribe who are the predominant Bedouin residents there. This desert stretches across 200 kilometres (125 miles) of loosely-populated space between Oman’sEastern Hajar Mountains and the Arabian Sea. The area is less than three hours from Muscat – the country’s capital – and is often referred to as “Oman’s adventure playground”.
On our way in, we stopped at the nearest town to have the tyre pressure reduced in our modern four-wheel drive before driving off the bitumen and into the uncharted sands.
I say ‘uncharted’ because it is: GoogleMaps is no help here. Our guide/driver from NTT Tours knew where he was going, but there were no roads, signposts, or markers. Just sand. Even the tread-marks of previous vehicles were not good indicators, as they could have been from campers who were heading into the wilds. We, however, were over-nighting at the evocatively-named 1000 Nights Sharqiya Sands Camp, which the driver somehow found. While it may sound as if I am being overly dramatic, a family who were self-driving chose wait until we were ready to leave the next day, and to follow us out of the desert and back to the closest town: they were concerned about getting lost or stranded!
The resort is in a magic location, nestled at the foot of a large dune. In the afternoon, we drove high into the hills to watch the sunset. The next morning, I set off well before sunrise to climb the soft sand behind the resort to wait for daybreak.
Join me for some desert landscapes:
Toyota Four-Wheel Drive With four-wheel drive and reduced tyre air pressure, a modern, air-conditioned and comfortable vehicle can take you almost anywhere! We drove high into the undulating dunes to wait for the sunset.
Afternoon Sands The waves and ripples of sand – amber-tinted by the afternoon sun – stretch out into the distance.
Waves and Dunes The dunes rise up to 100 meters (330 feet) high, …
Patterns in the Sand … with ripples and waves of sand running between them.
Curves and Waves The seductive curves stretch out before me …
Late Sun on the Sands … as the sun goes down.
Wind and Waves Afternoon light emphasises the shadows carved out of the sands …
Almost Abstract: Patterns in the Sand … by the rising winds.
Sunset Sands The sun drops further in the sky …
Almost Abstract: Parallel Waves … and all around me the patterns shift and flow.
Predawn Footprints on the Dunes I set my alarm very early the next morning, and set off with a head lamp and my cameras to climb the dune behind the resort. It wasn’t as dark as I’d expected, but I’d forgotten how hard it can be to climb through sand. On the steeper sections, I was on all fours like a bear, trying not to sink too deeply, and using my hands to keep from tumbling backwards. Finally, I reached the top and an undulating vista stretched out before (and behind!) me.
Rippled Dune Rising
Almost Abstract: Ripples and Waves
Constant Motion Wind whips at the edges of the dunes where they fall in corrugated stripes into the valleys between them.
Sunrise over the Sharqiyah Desert Finally, the sun creeps over the horizon.
Morning on the Desert It turns out I am not alone; …
Morning on the Dunes … a small group watches the morning break from a distant dune …
Footprints … and tracks all around me show where small creatures have been.
Sunrise over the Camp As the sun rises, I can see my resort below. It was time to head back and have breakfast – after I brush the sand out of my teeth!
Fortunately, sliding down the dunes in daylight is easier than climbing up them in the dark.
Unfortunately, the rising sun also shone light on a disappointing amount of litter, thoughtlessly dropped by travellers and tossed by the wind. I filled a chip bag I found half-submerged with refuse I collected on my walk back to camp.
[…] sensually seductive place, with the sands ebbing and flowing over the dunes into the distance (see: Sand Songs and Desert Dreams). But, don’t be fooled! Once that sun rises over the horizon, the temperatures will skyrocket […]ReplyCancel
[…] towards the green date palms after two days in the magical Sharqiya Sands Desert (see: Sand Songs and Desert Dreams and Life in the Desert), it was easy for me to conjure up romantic notions of starry nights, […]ReplyCancel
The Prayer-Flag Hanger For centuries, Boudhanath Stupa has been an important pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists. So, prayer flags hung there are particularly auspicious; but they don’t hang themselves!
Dancing on the wind, dispersing prayers, mantras, and general good will across the landscape, strings of prayer flags hang to the four corners of Boudhanath Stupa.
Somewhere, amongst them, were mine!
Prayer flags are said to date back to the battle flags used by the Gautama Buddha in the fight against the asuras – malevolent divine beings considered by Indian mythology to be enemies of the gods. Ubiquitous in the Tibetan Buddhist world (e.g.: Prayers on the Wind: Bhutan), prayer flags come in different styles and shapes, but the most commonly seen are the Lungta (wind horse) flags. These colourful squares of cloth are woodblock-printed with sacred images, sutras and mantras, and hung horizontally in sets of five. The five fabric colours represent the five elements and the Five Pure Lights: blue is for the sky and space, white stands for the air and wind, red is fire, green depicts water, and yellow symbolises earth. Keeping these five elements balanced is thought to produce health and harmony.
Prayer flags are believed to release peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom into the very air, bringing benefit to everyone. They can also include prayers for a long life of good fortune on behalf of the person who supplies them.
What could be more auspicious, then, than adding one’s prayers to all of those fluttering under the careful watch of the Buddha’s eyes at the Boudhanath Stupa in the heart of Kathmandu!
We then watched in fascination as the designated prayer-flag-hanger tied lengths of flags together, climbed to the top of the 36 metre (118 ft) dome, secured one end of the bundled flags to the gilded spire, let the bundles unravel to the lower landings, and then secured the other ends to the outer corners of the complex.
That accomplished, our prayers were free to mingle with all the other positive vibes dancing across the Kathmandu Valley and beyond, to all the pervading space in the six worldly realms.
Prayers Flags and the Eyes of the Buddha My accommodation was a short walk from the magnificent stupa, so I took every opportunity to visit it at different times of day. (iPhone6)
The Stupa One of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world, this iconic structure stands tall over the surrounding skyline. It was badly damaged by the horrific April 2015 Nepal Earthquake, but the site is of such importance that repairs (costing 230 million Nepalese Rupees – about $USD 2,000,000) were begun almost immediately.
Flags on Boudhanath The all-seeing eyes face in four directions, and – like the eyes in a painting – follow your progression around the temple.
Bundled Prayer Flags Flags come in numerous different sizes, but the order of the colours (blue, white, red, green and yellow) is invariable. Wooden block printing is the preferred means of printing the patterns, but some are now screen printed.
Plane over Boudhanath The thirteen tiers that form the pyramid at the top of the stupa symbolise the thirteen steps of initiation leading to enlightenment. The lacy gilded canopy atop the steps stands for the air, and the spire is the fifth element in Buddhist philosophy: space or “ether”. We are near a flight path, and regular jets use that space to fly over us and out of the valley.
Flags on the Landing Before anyone begins the long climb up the restricted area to the top of the stupa, the ends of each flag section have to be tied together.
Angfula and the Prayer Flags Our guide keeps an eye on the whole process.
Ang on the Landing Lime powder is mixed with water to make a lime wash, which is carried up to the top, and poured down over the dome periodically.
Flags Dropping Down Saffron water is then thrown over the whitewash by a worker skilled in making the arches, creating a decorative lotus petal pattern.
Unfurling Flags
Guiding the Flags The whole process of affixing the flags is quite labour-intensive; …
Flags on the Stupa … each string has to be guided across each landing ….
At the Edge of the Stupa … and out to the perimeters of the stupa …
Affixing the Flags … where they are carefully tied on.
Flags at the Corner
On the Landing With a diameter exceeding 100 metes (328 feet), the stupa is huge. Outside the base, the shops and restaurants are almost as fascinating as the stupa itself. The nine levels of the stupa represent the mythical Mt. Meru, centre of the Tibetan Buddhist cosmos.
Guiding the Prayer Flags The whole process of attaching the long strands is repeated, over and over, as fresh flags are continually added.
Flags on the Wind The wind horse, in picture or in words, is the central element of a Lungta flag.
Flags on the Wire The outside corners of the flag are guarded by symbols or drawings of the four great animals: Garuda, dragon, tiger, and snow lion, and the texts are usually a collection of mantras or a short sutra.
Flags to the Gilded Spire More than 30kg of gold were used to repair the badly-damaged golden spire.
Flags to the Spire of Boudhanath The Spring skies darken overhead, as the eyes of the stupa keep watch.
Boudhanath under Storm Clouds The crowds at the base thin, as people start to head home, …
Overloaded! … grabbing any public-transport they can find before the rains get serious.
The air was full of prayers and rain as I dodged rubble and puddles walking back to my hotel.
The beauty of staying so close was that I was able to visit repeatedly, checking out the different moods and activities happening at different times of day (e.g.: Light a Candle).
Each visit, I looked up – up to the flags fluttering overhead, sending good will into the atmosphere.
Auṃ Maṇi Bêmê Hūṃ – ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ – “The jewel is in the lotus.”
- Performing the Ganga Aarti from Dasaswamedh Ghat, Varanasi
- Buddha Head from Shwedagon Pagoda, Myanmar
- Harry Clarke Window from Dingle, Ireland
- Novice Monk Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, Myanmar
Packets of 10 for $AU50.
Or - pick any photo from my Flickr or Wanders blog photos.
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I can’t help but wonder how they will bridge that gap between their traditional lifestyle and the changing modern world – and I hope they manage it well.
