Darbat and Drishyam complement each other! Whenever, I remember this place called Wadi Darbat, I always have beautiful visual memories or 'Drishyam' of this place. No I am not talking about the latest Bollywood thriller 'Drishyam' here but about a beautiful location in Salalah that is a visual delight to anyone who visits Salalah. Wadi Darbat is a beautiful natural park located in the Dhofar region in the outskirts of Salalah in Oman.
By the way, 'Drishyam' in Sanskrit means a visual or a sight. And yes, I will be mentioning Drishyam many a times in this post since I watched this enthralling movie just a couple of days back.
Now talking about Darbat, we didn't know that such a beautiful place did exist in Oman, until we visited this site. It was sometime dated back in September 2011 when my parents had come over all the way from India to visit us in Salalah. They missed the active social life in India and their friend circle since Salalah was not the kind of place where you would find many people around in your neighborhood. Luckily, though we were fortunate to have the company of very good neighbours - an aged but jolly good couple from our native place. My parents enjoyed their company during their short stay in Salalah.
Out of the many trips we had, this trip was planned by our friendly neighbours who also escorted us and we truly had an enjoyable experience: A beautiful 'drishyam' to be treasured!
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| The greens as we approach Wadi Darbat |
I don't remember how long it exactly took us to reach this destination for all the while we were occupied with laughter and chats with our friendly neighbours. This wadi was around 40-45 km distance from our residence in Salalah. We passed through mountains covered in lush greens, and when we reached the destination we were simply astounded by the view that greeted us - a wadi with a water body. Imagine seeing an oasis in the midst of a desert. But then as I mentioned in my earlier posts, Salalah is one place which turns green during the Khareef season; the brown mountains get covered with greens and its wadis are filled with water.
As we reached there, we spotted a few tea stalls along the roadside and the parking lot. It was around 5:00 pm in the evening, the weather was awesome, with the temperature, not exceeding 28 degree C. We had carried our tea thermos and before we proceeded further ahead with our exploration, we gulped down some hot tea with a few titbits. The bank of the wadi was strewn with a few tents here and there; with some people relaxing and enjoying with their families and friends while some were paddling their boats around in the wadi waters. We too rented a boat and paddled ahead into the waters absorbing the greens around us. It was a memorable experience as we absorbed the vast greens around us and paddled our way ahead into the waters exploring the wadi. My feet ached after paddling for some 30 minutes continuously but then as they say 'no pains, no gains'. After the trip, we ended up with a wonderful dinner cooked with lots of love and effort from our good old neighbours.
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| The food stalls by the roadside |
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| The view from our water boat |
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| The river bordered by trees and greens |
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| As we approach the tents along the bank |
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| The view of mountains from our water boat |
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| The hidden view behind the trees |
Wadi Darbat is a beautiful and peaceful retreat in Salalah. It simply leads you away from the hustle and bustle of the city life, providing a very soothing and relaxing environment. It would be nice once in a while to escape to such tranquil environs; to escape from the daily grind, from weekend obligations, household chores and errands, to unwind and relax with your family members in a calm setting like this wadi.
Just an afterthought, they should have shot this movie Drishyam here in Darbat, Salalah. Maybe some movie will be shot some day in this very location. Someday, Someway!
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