I have been to Oman once, in the winter of 2006. Oman was full of surprises, the beaches are beautiful, there are some big mountains in and around Muscat. You can obtain a tourist visa upon arrival at Muscats Saeb Int'l airport for appx. us $35 if I remember correctly and it is good for 30 days. The prices are about the same as in Dubai so it will not be extremely backpacker friendly, however the locals are very friendly towards all "westerners", and very inviting to you they are very curious and ask lots of questions. All in all I [View Full Entry]

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This was my first adventure out of Dubai without emirates......and our...first holiday together. And we both survived and also had a very surprisingly great time and fell in love with a country that is rarely visited but has sooo much to offer in beauty, over whelming hospitality and crazy adventures for the unexpecting tourists.....it is a deffinete must see for the middle east. Its only a quick 40 minute flt to muscatfrom Dubai but we thought we would be adventureous and hire a car and drive from the U.A.E to Oman....not an easy feat but again we were a strong team....with [View Full Entry]

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Crossing the border gave us a strange sensation, after a burning-hot sun in Yemen we arrived in a cold, foggy place. We couldn't see more than 20 meters away. What made us wander around a lot until we could find the Oman immigration office. The place was almost deserted. Besides the police officer we could find only some Saudi's going for the Khareef season in Salalah or a few Omanis going to Yemen to enjoy some Qat, which is forbidden in Oman. After spending around 6 hours in the border trying to get a lift to Salalah (Saudis are not hitchhiking [View Full Entry]

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Muscat, Oman is right out of “1001 Arabian Nights” with its walled old town, forts and the oldest souq or marketplace in Oman. Set in amongst jagged mountains next to the port, the mystery of this city remains because it is virtually unknown to Westerners. We chose to take a sunset cruise on an ancient Dhow boat used for centuries in this part of the world. We glided along the coast and saw where future development is planned on their beautiful beaches. The next day, a small group of us went by 4x4 vehicles through the mountains and off road terrain [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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... While leaving Dubai in only 3 weeks, I feel I could have at some point missed out the beauty surrounding the Emirates.... During last year's Ramadan my parents dropped in for a 1 month visit, and begged us to show them around the country.... This was a challenge. My parents are romantic traveler’s, in love with culture, adventure and architectural beauty. They are hippies at soul, thirsty for new discoveries.... Would the Burj or the Royal Mirage stand up to the level of the Pyramids, Thailand, Petra or Matchu Pichu? I had a job to do. I had to find [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Day 8: This was our last day of diving. We woke up and had breakfast as usual, sorted our stuff and got onto the dive boat. We were going in a different direction today, past Mascat to Fahal Island. The journey out was a bit rough and we were all relieved when the boat stopped. We kitted up and jumped into Shallow Reef, a negative entry to two pinnacles the tops of which were at 16m and 18m, so not that ‘Shallow’! We swam around, and Faisal our guide found a seahorse, it was about 10cm big, and was really great [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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Day 6: We spent the morning walking around looking at Muscat. We saw the sultans palace, some forts by the sea and then went to a small local museum which had some interesting displays and old photos of Oman from the 70’s. We then decided to walk to the souk, it was miles and ended up getting a taxi, we had a large glass of fresh mango juice and then did some shopping before stopping for Falafal for lunch. We headed back to the dive centre and chilled out before our dives. The first dive we did in the afternoon was [View Full Entry]

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