THE CAVE: From shadow to light

CHAPTER IV - The canyon

CHAPTER IV
The canyon

We are still driving, getting closer to the sea, crisscrossing the roads, here and there in the Omani mountains, narrow roads and a lot of very tight bends, in height, or not. When we suddenly take a turn that brings us in the middle of two huge rocky mountains, breathtaking, so high that we want to submit to it, afraid of perhaps being crushed by it, by their imposing charisma, a view that is both violent and stunning.
- It's here
He says, parking the car in a small parking lot that appeared out of nowhere. Few cars are here, some peasants sitting, watching life around them, a goat hanging on a square stone, as if it wanted to show the world that it is the queen, and others coming to say hello to the humans around, but surely begging for something to eat. It is very hot, a moist heat and a striking sun, so striking that its light is abusive, so abusive but interesting to a point that it illuminates even the very small details that would go unnoticed with less clarity.
Ali trains me to follow him, we head more and more towards these great mountains of frightening rock, I remain silent, doubtful, stepping hesitantly. It's empty, people slowly disappeared, it was only us, no one else, no goats, no humans, no life. The harshness of the place doesn't inspire any tranquility to me, even Ali is silent, but confident, as if he walked through these trails since his tender youth. I trust him, I keep following him. At the end of the long, dry, and arid path, devoid of all life, a beautiful little waterhole starts to timidly point in the distance. It reassures me! I am so thirsty, and ignoring that we would go to such a place, I didn't plan to bring water.

- Look, it's natural water, you can drink a little and refresh, wash your face.
- I see, are you sure it's pure ?
- Yes yes, everyone drinks here.
- Nice ! I needed it.

We are closer now, the water is so beautiful! Blue, green, transparent at the same time, so attractive under this heat that you want to drink all of it and not wonder if it's really clean or not. Neither one nor two, I dip both my hands in the water, catch the maximum I can and drink, it's so good! The water usually has no taste to me, but this one had a slightly sweet taste, a taste of pure water, rock, and sun. Ali also began to drink, then continued by rinsing his forearms, then his face, exhaling a good blow, as if to express the happiness of being able to quench his thirst.

- You see, water is good huh ?
- Amazing ! I can't stop drinking
- *Laugh* Drink, drink..
- Oooooh yes I drink !
- You know swim ?
- Swim ? I guess yes. I mean, at school we had swimming in our sports courses, I wasn't too bad at that time but since then, I'm not really sure.
- It's ok, if you don't know we will not swim. I want show you something.
- Again ? It's not the end of our trip here ?
- No, this nothing, there is more.
- Ok.. Well, let's go then...
- Follow me.

He walks in the water, following the watercourse. At first, the water barely reached our ankles, but the further we went, the deeper it became and the water invaded our knees, then our thighs, then the bottom of the bust, up to the chest. Ali invites me to swim at this depth to be sure that I will know how to manage. I make some round trips in crawl, it's not so bad, we can continue to move forward. The more we swim, the higher the rocks on the edges become, the water still as beautiful, a sapphire color, some mini islands of sand on the sides here and there, probably created by the human in order to take breaks if too tired of swimming, clever! I do not fail to take the opportunity to stop at each mini island, endurance is no longer a part of me since I started smoking, my breath spoils very quickly, my body becomes heavier and heavier, my muscles are no longer used to making so much effort in such a short time. Ali, him, he swims like a fish, he's in his element, he is enjoying, almost mocking me everytime I catch a mini island to spit out my lungs and try to come back to life.
After 500 stops, a crawl swim worthy of a wet dog, and a water much deeper than it was at the beginning, a magnificent waterfall is showing up at the end of the way, I remain speechless, I admire with love, it is a landscape that I have always seen in photo, postcard, but never in real life, I'm stunned. Under this waterfall, the entrance to a cave, even more attractive..

- Ready ?
- I don't know. It's kind of scary though..
- No, don't be scared. Trust me
- Do you know this place ?
- I know yes, come, follow me.
- Whyyyyy....

At this point, I just wanted to step back and sit at the beginning of this way and have fun with dead skin-eating fishes. I don't like the sea! I don't like depth, I don't like mysterious water! But not wanting to appear deflated, I still decide to follow him, after all, to go all this way back alone? Never!
It's up to us to cross the waterfall to enter the cave, when the jet crushed my face with its strength, it's so refreshing at the same time! I Love it.

- Wawwww.... It's ... It's... waw !
- *Smile* you see, I told you.

A cave! For the first time in my life ! I feel like in a cooking pot, with a whole upon our head, that gives us the luxury to have a view of the sky, and another waterfall inside, the cave that flowed on the rocks, and gave this glittery effect to it. It is so closed that the sound of the water falling from all sides reasoned so loud that we can hear it on the other side of the world. Another breathtaking view.