The Oasis

I think the name of this oasis was translated as Two Arches. This oasis was in the middle of the desert that we reached towards the end of our trip. It's unfortunate that there is no easy way for me to post all of these pictures in some normal order- but, if you go down to the post about the desert, and picture all that sand and sky all around, that is what we were driving through, when we came upon this:

Well, actually, we drove our cars in as far as we could, and then we had to walk in the rest of the way. It was hot.

Us, at the oasis.

Joel on top of a big jutting rock. Actually, the local guy who "guided" us out to this spot was nervous about Joel getting up there, because he said that it just looks like rock, it's really just solid sand. We later sat under an overhang like this to enjoy the shade and SP, one of our fellow travelers commented, "Well, this overhang has probably been here for, hmm, 10,000 years? Let's hope it lasts another 10 minutes while we rest."

One of the arches?

It was a winding path we followed and the glimpses of what was ahead were amazing.

Joel on those rocks again.

Another view of the lake.

Definitely an arch.

It's SO green compared to the absolute blue and brown-ness of the desert.

These are the houses of the people who live on one side of the oasis. They "watched our cars" while we walked in- which translates as, if you give us money, we won't steal anything. And one of them guided us in- which basically means he walked ahead of us on the path and later asked for money. Of course, we're happy to give these people some money. And actually, the guide did tell us a little bit about the place.

The oasis was so green- and it was over-run with wild cherry tomato plants. It was very clear what a large part of the local diet was.

Another shot of the tomatoes. I couldn't get them very obviously, but if you look closely, you can see there are tons. The guide told us that the locals eat what they grow, and that they eat a mostly vegetarian diet- they only eat meat when there is a big party. We saw an area that was obviously a planted crop- we were told they were sweet potatoes. Yum.

These things grew all over as well. I'm not sure what they are- someone thought they were gooseberries. They reminded me of these.

I didn't mess with em though, so I have no idea what was hiding inside these beautiful lantern looking like pods.