An excursion to A’Zaimi Wadi in Liwa, Oman

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain

Oman is a country filled with natural beauty and wonderful creations of nature. Among those significant creations of nature, Wadi takes a special place because, in a Wadi, one can see a stream of crystal clear water flowing slowly through a gorge towards a valley surrounded by a range of mountains. Wadi (Arabic: وادي‎ wādī) is the Arabic term traditionally refers to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only during the times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi).

       In Oman, there are a number of Wadis which are quite famous among local and expatriates who are fond of visiting them with families or friends during holidays. Most people would naturally like to visit quite famous Wadis which can be reached easily by a car or a four wheeler and avoid least famous ones. Wadi A’ Zaimi in Liwa (one of the provinces in Al Batinah North governorate) in Oman is such one which is not mostly visited by either local or expatriates in Oman since it is not accessible with ease. The main barrier which lies before any visitor to this particular Wadi is the paved road with bitumen. The paved road which runs from Liwa ends at a small hamlet called Rissa and from there a gravel road (a track) runs through the desert plain teemed with gravel.  By a normal car, you can go up to this village and then you need a four wheeler to reach A’Zaimi Wadi.

This is the end of the paved road which branches off Liwa from the main highway. From here to A’ Zaimi valley, the road goes through a semi-desert area.

During Ed holidays, on 6^th of October, 2014, a group of lecturers including me decided to visit Wadi A’ Zaimi as an expedition. Our group consisted of four lecturers and from the department of English at Shinas College of Technology, Oman. One of our lecturers’ son (Asnath) also joined us so all together our group comprised of 5 members. Mr. Asif, an English lecturer offered us a ride in his car. We started around 8.40 a. m from Aqr (is a small town situated in the region of Al Batinah) and drove along the highway up to Liwa and then tuned to right and continued our journey along the road until we came to a junction. We waited for some time until a car came and got directions to the place we wanted to get to.

https://www.google.com/maps/@24.8062966,56.4384468,2716m/data=!3m1!1e3

By accessing the above URL, you can locate Aqr in the map.

On either side of the road, well-grown date trees could be seen. However, the area we were passing through was found to be thinly populated and desolate. After driving a considerable amount of time, we came to a small restaurant where we stopped to refresh ourselves by drinking some water. In the hotels we found some Bangladeshis who were having breakfast. One of my friends, Mr. Basit who is also an English lecturer from our college, began a conversation with Bangladesh people and got to know all information such as the distance from there to the Wadi and how much time it might take to get there. While discussing, those Bangladesh people revealed that the road would end at Rissa and from there we need to go by a four wheeler since the road is not carpeted. Moreover, in the valley, they said that there is a very famous tree where people go to make wishes. “If you make wish by standing under that tree, you wish, whatever it is, will come true”

This is the junction where we stopped our car to ask someone for directions to Wadi A’ Zaimi

With this information, some of our colleagues became so interested to see this tree that we all decided to go and see this specific tree however much the journey was arduous.  Furthermore, those friendly people said that we would be able to hire a four wheeler because there are locals who are used to doing that. With renewed interest, we got into our car and started our journey along the road that was meandering through bare mountains and finally, we came to Rissa and began to look for someone who could take us there.
   

On either side of the road, what is visible is nothing except this kind of land formation.

This is the place from where you need to hire a four wheeler to get to Wadi A’ Zaimi. The sign board erected at the end of the carpeted road says A’ Zaimi is 14 Km. Asnath is inquiring from a local person if there is a possibility to hire a four wheeler from Rissa to Wadi.

Luckily, after a few minutes, we were able to contact a local person who agreed to take our group in his four-wheeler to Wadi A’ Zaimi. Once our journey stated, we were overjoyed at what we could see on our way. Gradually, the plan began to disappear and we found our vehicle was going up a very steep hill in a very narrow read. To one side, is a towering cliff and to the other is a steep precipice which reminded me the death road of Bolivia. In a video, I watched how drivers take risks in driving across the death road. But our local person was a seasoned driver and driving in such a gravel road was a simple thing for him. Once our climb to the apex of the hill was over, our vehicle began to descend slowly. While climbing down, although we pretended that we were not feeling afraid, it was later found that everybody in our group felt a sense of panic. After about 45 minutes’ travel, we were taken to the tree of wish (See photo below).

This is the tree where people go to make wishes.

The scars of the bark are the nail heads which have been driven into the tree by devotees.

These nail heads testify how many devotees have come here for making wishes up to date. We left the tree with the wish that should continue to grow bigger and taller so that it can accommodate more and more visitors and devotees to make their unending wishes in the years to come.

This tree has grown up to 30 to 40 feet in height and its circumference is nearly 15 feet. When we got closer to the tree, we found that its bark has been hit with various types of nails. Close scrutiny of the trunk of the tree revealed that people who come to make a wish at the tree are used to hitting nails. Some of our colleagues, who were able to find a nail that had been left by someone, could hit one or two nails into bark of the tree. I wonder whether they made any wish.  We spent nearly 30 or 40 minutes in and around the tree but no one came to the tree to make a vow or wish.  

According to Wikipedia, a wish tree is an individual tree, usually distinguished by species, position or appearance, which is used as an object of wishes and offerings. Such trees are identified as possessing a special religious or spiritual value. By tradition, believers make votive offerings in order to gain from that nature spirit, saint or goddess fulfilment of a wish. This introduction to a wish tree seems acceptable in several ways because the man’s association with the nature has a long history. This kind of practice among people is found in many countries irrespective of their geographical location. In many Asian countries, Banyan tree has become not only a wish tree among Buddhists and Hindus but also one of the most venerated trees in countries like India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Thailand.  It has the ability to survive and grow for centuries and is often compared to the shelter given by God to his devotees In Hindu mythology, the tree is called Kalpavriksha, the tree that provides fulfilment of wishes and other material gains. It symbolises Trimurti - Lord Vishnu is believed to be the bark, Lord Brahma the roots, and Lord Shiva the branches The Banyan tree is mentioned in many scriptures as a tree of immortality. Its aerial roots grow down into the soil forming additional trunks and are therefore called Bahupada, the one with several feet. It symbolizes longevity and represents the divine creator, Brahma (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Significance-of-the-Banyan/).

                                                        Another picture of the tree

We next explored the A’ Zaimi valley which extends a vast area with no human settlement. Only a few families do live there even though the most precious natural resource (water) is available in plenty the year round. A few vegetable farms are to be seen among the lush grown date groves in A’ Zaimi valley. On our way back from A’ Zaimi valley to Rissa, we came across a number of streams full of clean water that flow down irrigating the desert land. On our way back to Rissa, we had to travel up steep mountains which offer panoramic views of A’Zaimi valley. Our return journey from A’Zaimi valley to Rissa took less time than our trip from Rissa to A’Zaimi valley because on our return journey, we came from another track which the driver told us shorter. Around 1.30p.m, we could arrive at Rissa and bade good bye to our Omani friend and started back our journey from Rissa to Aqr in Asif’s car. All of us enjoyed the excursion as it was a thrilling and memorable experience we have had in our life.

                    

 

                            A pool-like formation- Mr. Asif, one of our lecturers, poses for a photo.

                                                      Another photo of a natural pool.

Well-grown vegetable plot in the valley

This picture shows a view of the A’ Zaimi valley. The photo was taken from a high elevation

                  Before we start our journey to A'Zaimi valley, we posed for a photo

Another photo with the sign board in our background (from left to right, Asif, Shakeeb, Basit and me

         Close and spectacular view of A'Zaimi valley. This photo was taken from a higher elevation

Re-visited my village

It is a common phenomenon that most people who now live in cities in many countries in the world have migrated from villages. We all have pleasant memories about the village where we were born, bread, shaped and educated (in a primary school) before we had moved to a city for other reasons. When we were studying in a primary class, we remember writing compositions about the topic of “My village”.  Our teachers often encouraged us to compose even poems about village life because village life is thought to be so simple, pleasant and entertaining that it keeps attracting people belonging to all walks of life all the year round. As we know, a great number of books on both prose and poetry that deal with every aspect of village life have been compiled by veteran writers and poets in their respective countries in the world. Even though there can be some differences in the patterns of life of villagers, one can see that all villages, irrespective of their geographical locations, share common features such as vocations, beliefs, customs, norms, social values, attitudes and interactional patterns among members of a given community.

Being a person from a village, I also experienced the vicissitudes of village life same as the other members did in my village. As far as my view is concerned in Sri Lankan context, it was Martin Wickramasinghe, one of the eminent scholars that Sri Lanka ever had, who wrote much about village life in my country both in Sinhala and English languages alike. Next to Martin Wickramsinghe, another name that comes to my mind is late J. Vijayatunga who could paint the vicissitudes of Sri Lankan village life through his prolific pen. He lived in England and wrote in English so that English readers got a chance to enjoy reading Sri Lankan village vignette as it was. The name of the book he wrote is Grass for my feet. I remember reading it with renewed interest for its simple language and the varied stories based on a typical village life set in the southern part of Sri Lanka.

                       

Martin Wickrmasinghe                                                            J. Vijayatunga

While searching the internet for information about J. Vijayatunga,  I came across a book review written by Richard Boyle about one of J. Vijayatunga’s books called Island Story with the topic of Fact and fiction  remind us of our richness. The extract below gives some information about Vijayatunga.

Jinidasa Vijayatunga (1903-89) is one of those authors who, though reasonably prolific, are mainly remembered for a single title. In Vijayatunga's case it is Grass for My Feet (1935), his childhood reminiscences of village life in Ceylon published in London. This book caused the Times Literary Supplement to declare, "Here one almost fancies is an eastern avatar of Mark Twain." Together with R. L. Spittel, Vijayatunga was one of the first Ceylonese  writers to convey the essence of the island to the world and helped forge the identity of Ceylonese  English literature.

Educated at Mahinda College, Galle, and across the Palk Straits at the University of Madrapalle, Vijayatunga then went back to India in the early 1920s and worked as editor of the magazine India & Ceylon and as a teacher at Tagore's Shantiniketan.  Afterwards he settled in England, only returning to Sri Lanka in 1989, the year of his death. While nothing else he wrote matched the evocative excellence of Grass for My Feet, there are several other works of his that deserve attention, in particular Island Story, which has the bonus of being handsomely illustrated by Ivan Peries.

(Extracted from http://www.sundaytimes.lk/041024/plus/books.html)

The preamble I have already provided to this account is no exhaustive about village or its life. The purpose of this account is to present the reader with a genuine picture of my village where I was born, bread and shaped around five decades ago. During the month of August, 2014, I revisited my village which I had left when I was 17 or 18. After that, from time to time, I made a few journeys there but I could not see a big change in my village in any of my visits as the one I made during this year. After completing my primary and secondary education, I left my village for good. Due to occupational reasons, I had to move to the capital of Sri Lanka and after spending a few years in Colombo, I left the country. After I had left the country, I got no chance to visit my village even though some of my relatives still live there.

Soon after returning from abroad, I resolved to pay a visit to my village so that I could meet my relatives, friends and acquaintances who used to be very near and dear in association. For this visit, I was accompanied by my son who is now nearly 14 years and he has never been to my village so he does not know any of my relatives. I wanted to show him my village and make him interact with my relatives so that he can get an idea about the life which villagers lead.

During the third week of August, we packed our clothes and other necessities and left Colombo in one morning. We travelled by three buses to get to my village which is situated in Galagedara Electorate in Kandy district. It is situated at the foot of Alagalla rock which stands majestically projecting a glamorous view to the naked eye of a casual viewer. My village is surrounded by mountains, rubber plantations and paddy fields. It still looks like a virgin forest.

                                                  Alagalla Rock seen from my village

Another view of Allagalla Rock

When I left my village, its condition was much better in terms of environment than it is today. There were no motorable  roads, no many houses with tiled roofs. The people were very humble and united. Many paddy fields and farms were a specific characteristic in my village. Most paddy fields were cultivated in both seasons. Buffaloes were mainly used not only to till the soil of paddy fields but also to thresh paddy. As I remember, when we were very young we loved to engaged in paddy threshing which was generally done in the evening. In the olden days, villagers used three or four buffaloes tied neck to neck with a rope to thresh paddy. The buffaloes thus tied together would walk round the stack of paddy spread evenly on the threshing floor. Once all the paddy seeds were separated from hey, the group of buffaloes are removed from the threshing floor and the people who have come to help the farmer whose paddy is being threshed will remove the hey from the floor with a wooden stick specifically made for this purpose. When paddy is threshed by a group of buffaloes, it is customary for a boy to go behind them with a stick in hand to drive them continuously (see the picture below). When the buffaloes become tired, they are given a rest for some time. Being children, we loved to do this. While going behind buffaloes, you have to take a dried areca nut leaf (the hard part which attaches to the tree, see the picture below) to collect cow dung. Moreover, the one who goes behind the buffaloes should recite loudly and rhythmically a folk poem meant for paddy threshing. Once the paddy threshing is over, food is provided to all those who attended the work. Our participation in paddy threshing in any farmer of the village mostly linked to the food because the food which is prepared for such an event tends to be more delicious than the food generally prepared for home consumption by villagers. I should say that there are specific words and terms associated with paddy cultivation related tasks in Sri Lanka. So the food which is specially prepared and taken to the threshing floor or to the paddy field in a basket woven from canes or coconut leaves is called “Ambula”.Being children, we loved to enjoy “Ambula”which comprised with four or five curries along with our elders. During the harvest season in our village, we used to come home at night. During the day time, the threshing floor became a play area where we used to play different types of games such as hide and seek or playing a game with a ball. Why we chose a threshing floor as a play area was that it provided us with comforts and safety. Once the paddy threshing is over, the farmer plies a huge stack of hey around the threshing floor making conducive place for the children to play.

                            

                                          Paddy threshing using buffaloes 

                       

                     The hard part of areca nut  leaves which attach to the tree

It is a pity to state that all of those I mentioned above pertains to paddy framing have now disappeared from my village leaving no trace. I came to know that now most paddy fields are not cultivated due to the shortage of water and those paddy fields have now become either barren or farm lands where some vegetables are grown for home consumption. Most paddy farmers have transformed into other manual jobs which help them earn their day-to-day living expenses. Traditional paddy cultivation as it used to be a few years ago no longer exist in my village. Most villagers are now dependent on the rice produced in other areas in the island. Condition such as this directly affects the rice production in the country. From the point of economic view, failure to produce to the required amount of a product as per the demand will normally result in increasing the price of it.

Even though the condition of framing in my village is not favourable in  terms of economy, there is one thing I found to be worth mentioning here. It is about the people who used to be very near and dear to me while I was a member of their community. They had not changed in their hospitality and humanity. They were the same as they used to be before a few decades ago. This is something I should appreciate highly because it is a common view that good qualities of most people disappear along with the changing society where most people nowadays give priority to money and status. The remarkable change I noticed with many of my village friends and relatives can be ascribed to only the physic. In attitude and manner, they are still the same.

The first night was spent with one of my old and close friends. He works as a manager of a rubber estate. We have been close friends since we were very young. He has gained a wealth of experience in relation to estate work. Since we had not met for such a long time, we spent many hours talking about our past and present activities and other matters related to our family and social life. The estate he works has a good bungalow where we spent the night. The bungalow consists of two bed room, a living room, a kitchen, a bathroom with a verandah. It has all the facilities as a modern house has.

This is the living room of the bungalow 

                                             Spacious bed room

               In order to prepare rubber sheets, this machine is used. It is quite fast and efficient

                                                        A view of the rubber estate

In the morning, we went round to see the rubber estate and it is well-kept and managed. After breakfast, we bade goodbye to my friend and left for my village again. But this time we went to see my uncle and aunt who live in another village a few kilo meters far from mine. It should be noted here that some infrastructure facilities have been developed in these areas which used to be sleepy hamlets in Hataraliyadda area, especially, the roads have been carpeted so now there is no distinction between cities and the villages in some parts of Sri Lanka.  

                                              Hatarliayadda town is under construction

My step mother and father are quite old now but they are in good health. My step father worked in the Railway department in Kandy until he retired. We were given a stupendous lunch and then we left back to my village where my two uncles live with their families. One of my uncles is already dead.

                               My step mother and father with the other members of his family

                                                       My step mother and father

                                    They posed for another picture with my son on the left

As I stated earlier, my village is situated at the foot of Alagalla rock so in order to reach my village, one has to take the road which branches off from the bus route from Rangamuwa (another village located on the Hatraliyadda-Rambukkana  bus route). The road which leads to my village is mountainous so you have to climb about one kilometre to reach  a plain and then another kilometre to reach  my uncle’s house. We reached my uncle’s house around 4 p.m. and in the  evening visited some of my relatives who live in my village close to my uncle’s house. We spent the night there and in the morning I was awoken by a loud sound which came from the roof. It sounded as if someone was walking on the roof. I quickly went out and to my dismay it was a monkey. My aunt said that a group of monkeys are used to coming to the gardens of the villagers in search of food. Therefore, it is very difficult now to protect any fruit from them. I noticed a quite big troop consisting of 10 to 15 monkeys roaming over the tree tops around my uncle’s garden in which coconuts and some fruits like mangos teen, mangoes and durian have been  grown. The only device the villagers use to drive away the monkeys out of their home gardens is to light fire crackers or throw stones at them. But since now they have got used to the sound of fire crackers, that device too have become ineffective. Throwing stones at them with a catapult also seems rather difficult since they can easily see someone trying to do it from above. There were a few fire crackers which I lighted and threw at the tree where the moneys were sitting. But I myself found that they were not disturbed or distracted by the ear splitting sound. They were seen just staying there on the tree tops.

                                               
                                           

Rangamuwa Primary School where I received my primary education.

My late uncle

My late uncle and aunt (aunt is alive)

Temple in my village

                                                               A small shop

I tried the next device too. There was a hand catapult placed in the same place where I found some fire crackers and this time my son too joined. I asked him to find small stones form the ground so that I could use them to shoot at monkeys with the hand catapult. I tried several times,

                                                 

                                                                 A hand catapult

But taking a correct aim at a monkey was difficult because they stood on such a high branch of a tree that the stone I shot from the catapult did not reach up to that height. So we discontinued that and decided to get ready to leave for Colombo that day morning. After breakfast, we left the house where we had stayed the previous night saying them food bye and visited the house of my other uncle and told them that we were leaving. On our way to the bus stop, we were given a ride by one of my brothers who is a relative of mine. Later we took a bus to Rambukkana and took the train to Colombo. A journey by train is generally enjoyed by all especially children. We did not travel up to Colombo fort because it was convenient for us to get down at Gampaha and take one but to Kaduweal and another to  Koswatta where our rented  house is located. Around 1 p.m. we were able to  get to our house ending our two day journey to my village.

On the way to Gampaha by train, my son (Gavindu) took several  pictures of some places that we passed. They are given below.

                                                          Mirigama Railway station

                                                      Another scene captured by camera

End of another journey