Riyam to Muscat: 3. The Cave Traditional Geocache
Riyam to Muscat: 3. The Cave
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(regular)
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A regular cache hidden in a small cave next to the old road from Riyam to Muscat.
Only 50 years ago, the Sultanate of Oman had only one asphalted road, from Muttrah to Muscat. Parts of that first road ever built in Oman still exist today and provide a scenic route into the Capital.
A series of 8 caches have been hidden starting at Riyam Park and ending at the Bait Al Zubair museum in Muscat along a distance of 1.8 km. You can drive the entire road and access each cache by car, but why not leave your car behind at the Riyam Park parking area, or get there by taxi, and walk the trail of caches until you reach the Bait Al Zubair museum in Muscat? Reward yourself with a refreshment at the museum and let one of many taxis passing by return you to your starting point.
The mountains along the road are made of “ophiolites”, cooled lava that has welled up along one of the rift zones in the middle of an ancient ocean. At these rift or spreading zones, magma gets pushed up to the sea bed and solidifies when it comes into contact with sea water. The rock than gets pushed aside by further lava welling up behind it. This sets in motion a “conveyer belt” of rock that moves gradually further and further away from the original rift zone. These rocks normally get pushed down again into the core of the Earth when it reaches a continental plate that “drifts” on top of the denser ocean floor. However, in the case of Oman, by a fluke of geology, the ocean floor was pushed up and over the continental plate, creating mountains that border the entire North Omani coast. Weathering by temperature variations and rain have created many cracks and holes in the rock. Ideal hiding places for geocaches!
The cache consists of a regular lock-n-lock container camouflaged with a beige sock. It contains a logbook and pencil and can hold articles of swag. This cache is only a short walk away from the previous cache in the series: Riyam to Muscat: 2. The Tree, GC44J46 and leads on to the next cache further up the hill: Riyam to Muscat: 4. The Mountainside, GC44J4C
The cache contains a bonus prize for the ‘First to Find’ geocacher. Inside the cache is an envelope with an unregistered geocoin which can be activated by the person first finding the cache. So hurry up and good luck with your search
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Nobhg 4 z uvtu