Blogs from Oman, Middle East - page 22

Muscat - the capital The capital of Oman is named Muscat. I spent time there in the beginning of the trip, in the middle of the trip and in the end of the trip. But I left it to the last of my blog entries to actually write about it. Most of the time I was in Muscat I stayed in an area called Muttrah. It is in Muttrah you find the cheapest hotels and that was the primary reason for me to be there. But Muttrah is also a nice part of Muscat and it has a few attractions so it is also a good place to stay. Most people who come to Muttrah visit the souq, the local market. It is covered market, very clean and nice and it feels very old. It feels ... read more

Gestern haben wir einen Kurztrip in den Oman gemacht. Ziel unseres Ausflugs war Musandam. Dies ist die Spitze der arabischen Halbinsel und man ist erstaunt wie nah man auf einmal dem Iran ist. Wir fuhren durch die arabischen Emirate (Dubai, Sharja, Adjman, Um Su´Quaim, Ras al Kaihman) und haben nach einer kleinen Suche auch die Grenze zum Oman entdeckt. Der Grenzübergang ist natürlich nicht so einfach wie der in der EU. Wobei das Schwierige nicht das Ausfüllen der Papiere oder die 2-3 unterschiedlichen "Haltestelle" je Grenzland waren, sondern wir mussten für den Grenzübergang Geld bezahlen. Das habe ich bisher noch nie erlebt. (nur wenn im Vorfeld Gebühren für ein Visa anfielen) Naja, wir waren dann schließich 35 € leichter, aber im Oman.... Wir sind dann die Küstenstraße bis Khasab entlang gefahren und waren beeindruckt von der ... read more

Happy New Year and all my Wishes to all of you. Let's hope 2009 will be as good as 2008! Welcome to 2009! What a better way to close 2008 than by a little dive trip. The challenge was not that easy this time...wanted a place where I could depart from Luxembourg between the 26th December and be back on the 2nd January. A place were I could dive, in a country I hadn't visited yet. My shortlist ended up with Djibouti, Cuba and Oman. Really want to see Cuba, but seems that at the only great reef, the boats are not equipped at all, and the food is very very...not there! For Djibouti, great place for whalesharks, but really not easy to reach. So here I am in Muscat, Oman. The last few days were ... read more

Sand dunes beat the hell out of snowdrifts For this year's Christmas vacation I decided to go to Oman. People have for the last couple of months asked me why and I couldn't really explain. Well, here is the best explanation I can come up with. Oman • Daylight - 12 hours a day • Temperature - 25 degrees in the shade in the daytime • Typical weather - sunshine Sweden • Daylight - 4 hours a day • Temperature - hovers around 0 • Typical weather - cloudy sky and rain Add to this that I found a cheap flight ticket to Oman and that Oman is a country with old history and as such probably has one or two places worth seeing. That and two weeks off from work is all I need for ... read more

Sunday 7 December. It is less than a week since I left Cornwall but it seems an age already with experiencing so many different things. A fairly negative day. I woke early and walked to the Post Office. It was windy and therefore dusty. All buildings are vast and spread out and the entrances are never where you expect them to be. Eventually I found the PO after having to retrace my steps and attempting various entrances I found the correct one to buy stamps. I only wanted to return a book that had been given to me by Kath for her to finish. It was going to cost £10- the book only cost £7.99 so I said forget it. The Omani behind the counter looked for ways to make it cheaper whist puffing on his ... read more