Blogs from Oman, Middle East

After all the glitz of the United Arab Emirates it is such a contrast to arrive in the sleepy Sultanate of Oman. This fairytale kingdom is ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said who has done a good job of preserving the unique essence of the country while slowly moving it into the 21stCentury. Oman was a closed country until the mid-1990s. Now education is encouraged and Oman has one of the few Arabian female ministers in its government. The Sultan maintains good relations with both the United States and Great Britain. Omanis are in a dither though because their 72 year old monarch has no heirs to the throne. So it is uncertain who will carry on the Said dynasty. We arrived on Friday which is a holy day for Moslems so we had to make ... read more

Our destination was Musundam, Oman. We stayed overnight in Fujeirah & Ras Al Khaimah, UAE and on the way back we stayed in Sharjah. I tried to get more pictures of local life and mountain villages. Enjoy! UAE finished celebrating National Day so theres still plenty of decorations up. all the pictures of the water with the mountains were taken in Oman. the city buildings were in Sharjah. There are plenty of mountains in the area of Fujeirah and Ras Al Khaimah so they have plenty of cement and tile companies, every kind of rock you can think of and oh yes the oil fields of fujeirah. Enjoy! keep in mind that my husband likes to sight-see while driving 110 mph, so forgive the pics from the car...... read more

RUBBISH A friend of mine who has spent a deal of time in this region described the Omani people to me as "the hippies of the gulf". I didn't notice any peace sign neck chains, dreadlocks or groups of locals sitting around eating bird seed and smoking numbers whilst discussing the kaleidoscope of colours on the domes of mosques. I do however see some merit in the simile with the general kick back nature of the populace. There's no wild antics, animated gesticulating or hints of aggressive behaviour, as if they have been inhaling a few of those less than licit substances. There's even a semblance of sanity in the traffic. Good news is no news. That's why you have probably never seen Oman occupying the headlines of international media. Flying under the radar is a ... read more

Muscat, Oman... what a beautiful city and country. Unfortunately we only had a brief flying visit in to Muscat to visit our friend Topsy, however we hope to return soon to explore more. I snapped away for the brief time we were there, not great quality photos... but I thought it would give you a tiny glimpse, as it did for us. We have driven through the spectacular rocky mountains in the north on previous occasions, but this was our first visit to Muscat. It was refreshing to be away from the skyscrapers and traffic of Dubai. To see people going about their daily business and the historic fishing village area, with winding streets in the sand, decorative doors on the walled houses, leading in to inner courtyards...this was also a breath of fresh air after ... read more