Part 2 of the Epic Saga

I'm following the trail of the Book of Mormon prophet, Lehi, as he left Jerusalem, Israel for a point near Salalah, Oman. There, the scriptures record, his son Nephi build a boat and the family set sail for Meso America about 600 years BC.

A secluded coastal valley has been discovered that exactly matches the scriptural description in Mormon's book. The camels are ready and eager to go.

Click here for a map showing Lehi's trail that we are following

http://www.latter-day.com/bofm/arabia.htm

Back to the journey and more on camels later.
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Where is Mecca from here?

On the flight from NY, along with altitude, ground speed, GPS location etc, the TV monitors also showed an arrow, angling off one side of the plane, like a compass direction. It wasn't pointing north ~ unless we were really lost. My seat partner explained that it pointed towards Mecca. If you're on a plane for 12 hours and need to pray 5 times a day towards Mecca, it's a handy aid.

Hotel rooms had aids too. Prayer rugs were also provided. However, no Gideon bibles in the bedside tables.

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We had a "cultural" adventure in Jordan. The people belong to tribes. Each has their own status. If you mix nationalities, job positions, and politics with a dash of liquor.... whoa!

I don't understand a lick of Arabic but body language told me to duck.

Sorry, no photos of that.

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Leaving Petra, Jordan behind (scroll down for an earlier entry), we flew overnight to Musqat, Oman. A beautiful, clean, modern city brought into the 21st century only recently by the present sultan who was educated abroad.

We attended church in Musqat. The little branch was thrilled to host us. They have a beautiful building. I took pictures of every room and every ceiling. I'll spare you the over kill. The members there are mostly oil company employees from the states or elsewhere.

Visiting the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque of Muscat was sensory overload. I just love mosques!!

Note the reflection in the marble!

The Quran (or Koran) on the building

Detail of a doorknob.....

Marble tile everywhere

This mosque is simply amazing. The men's section holds more than 6,000 praying men. Suspended is a chandelier made of Swarovski crystal. It is 8 meters across and weighs 9 tons

The carpet is all one woven piece!

Pictures can't describe the size and grandeur of the men's prayer room. Pictures describing the size and grandeur of the women's section however, *is* quite possible. Conveniently, women can pray at home. Here, Leah is modeling.

The Boat......

We visited a National Geographic site where a crew was constructing a replica of a 3,000 year old boat. The planks were being hand carved and then sewn together. The rope, made of coconut fibers, becomes stronger in seawater.