Blogs from Muscat, Oman, Middle East - page 12

Now as neither me or Kat are big fans of the package holiday it was still hard to pass up a bargain trip staying at the Shangri La Al Jissah al Waha resort just outside Muscat in Oman. why not, everyone deserves a bit of luxury now and again! The Sultanate of Oman is quite frankly stunning consisting of mainly desert, mountains and secluded perfect beaches combined with lush Wadi's dotted about the countryside. It is one of the only countries I have been to that overwhelmed me with the passion people have for where they live. As a visitor to the country we were made very welcome and everyone was exceptionally polite and could'nt do enough for you. Oman is situated on the Southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula bordering with Saudi Arabia, United Arab ... read more

Well, our time in Muscat has been great. Pure indulgence in a luxury hotel by the sea. And just when we thought it was all over, we ended up being bumped off our flight home and back in the hotel for another full day. Could be worse! I think we should manage another cocktail while watching the sun go down and a morning swim in the sea.... Beats doing the unpacking and washing I had planned for tomorrow.... read more

Howdy all, (New pics to be added still when I get Carmels memory stick) Just returned from Oman late last night, it fact it was a miracle we returned at all as we got hopelessly lost trying to find Sharjah airport in our hire car and only checked in about 20 mins before take off.... Oman was a wicked holiday from start to finish. The first country I have seen in this region that hasn't over developed to the extent where it has lost it's original identity. It is a slow relaxed country that still relies on fishing as it's main industry - and whilst the signs are there that it will soon be 'Dubai-fied', at the moment it is a stunning country with beautiful scenary and approach to life. Anyhows, enough of the slightly pretentious ... read more

Day 9: After an early breakfast we were picked up at 8am and went on a tour of the mountains. We drove through Muscat in a 4WD vehicle and headed to the mountains. We visited a couple of villages seeing Nakhal Fort and a hot water spring before setting off up Wadi Bani Awf, a Wadi is the local word for dried out river. It was a bumpy track leading through the valley of the mountains. We stopped at some small villages, and then headed up the mountain on a small dirt track. The way was not always clear and our guide asked for directions in several villages, the usual response being we needed to turn around and go back the way we came. After a while we finally arrived at Bilad Seet a village for ... read more

Day 7: Thursday and Friday are the weekend in Oman, so we decided to stay at the centre and dive, as anywhere else would be very busy. After a big(ish) breakfast we got ready for our dive, analysing nitrox and getting our stuff onto the boat. We headed out to sea, it was not too rough, going around to the wreck again. This time our dive was much better, I was very chilled out. We started at the bow and worked backwards spending time going through walkways and into various holds and enclosed areas. We even swam through the wreck from one side to the other! There was a bit of a current and so taking photos of the nudibrancs was more difficult, but still got lots of nice shots of the wreck and fishes. It ... read more