Trip to the Desert

One of my favorite things about working in the oil industry is getting to go to the oilfield. I like seeing what it is we actually do and I love meeting the people who work in the field (and being seen as an approachable lawyer). This week I finally go to go the field here, partially because it had been too hot all summer and partially because it's a 5 hour drive each way, so I needed to make sure I had sufficient time to spend a few days there.

On the drive there we passed some spectacular scenery...namely tons of small villages, ancient forts and craggy mountain ranges (of course having to stop at a gas station and use one of their horrible squatter toilets left a lot to be desired).

After about three and a half hours of driving we pulled off onto an unpaved desert road where the main hazards are dust clouds and camels. We hit a "traffic jam" as we waited for a herd of camels to cross the road in front of us - a couple even got so close to the car that I could have reached out and pet them (or at least reached out and angered them into spitting at me).

The field we were going to has some pretty spectacular orange sand dunes, so at the end of a bumpy 5-hour drive we were met with some awesome scenery of the orange dunes.

We hiked up to the top of a dune and though I didn't quite catch the sunset, it was well worth the sweating.

 

 

After three days of being in the field I felt a bit rejuvenated again. It was a good reminder of how beautiful Oman can be, how great some of the people in the field are and how many wonderful connections with people I've made at this company over the years. And on the way back we passed through a pretty large herd of camels (though none attempted to cross the road):