Blogs from Muscat, Oman, Middle East - page 11

Some Photos of things I've seen.... read more

Day 2 - Wednesday, April 2 2008 Immersion suits are fun. If they had a sheep-skin outer covering I’d bring one home for Bob, knowing Aberdonians would find that completely irresistible. They look like the kind of blow-up girlfriend he’s always fancied, except in pre-inflation mode and much better-looking than his usual live selections. The difference with an immersion suit is that it’s not inflatable. You have to climb inside and then it adapts to the contours of the wearer. It’s like a one-piece frogman’s outfit with a big zip-up shawl collar that you pull over your head, then wind around your neck before shackling the whole apparatus to a waist-band. The neck-wrap doubles as a flotation aid (keeping head above water’s never been so easy) and there are two lanyards for lashing on to your ... read more

The Sultanate of Oman,is in my opinion,the jewel of Arabia and a perfect tonic to escape the cold wet European winter for a while. I found this beautiful country to be a five-star experience in a region sadly dominated for so long by violence and intolerance. It has been ruled by the same family for over 250 years and is a glimpse into an old kingdom as it once was before the wider region discovered oil riches and was developed out of all recognition. Thankfully Oman is a total contrast to it's brash big brother next door, Dubai, the current infashion Gulf hotspot, but with less of the over developed tourist complexes and more of the empty pristine beaches, fantastic food, excellent hotels and a vibrant middle eastern culture.This is a a land of myth and ... read more

Today we hopped back into the car to visit some of the beaches near to Muscat. In particular we were heading towards Yiti and As Sifah. The route we needed to take took us very close to Muttrah where we were yesterday. After navigating our way through the Muscat road system we found ourselves at the start of the route. For some reason I had thought that the start of the route would be a peaceful little turn off, something akin to a turnoff to a beach in Christchurch. However as a complete contradiction the start of the route actually turned out to be this crazy little town, with tiny winding streets, that were full of people, animals and children. After this little part of town the route to the beach then rose steeply, and I ... read more

Well the day began as many a Christmas day has begun in the Ade family with a walk along the beach. Except this time the beach was in Sohar, Oman. A little different to little old Eastern Beach or Ohope Beach. Following the beach walk we settled down to the serious business at hand. That of opening up the enormous stack of presents that had accumulated. I must admit that I felt more than a little bashful when I surveyed the stack of presents as most of them were for me. Only 5 of them were for mum and dad (I had bought mum’s airfare over to Dubai as part of her xmas present). I must admit that I received a lovely haul of gifts, from the fantastic ‘Jaffas’ tee towel from Kathryn to the Bucklands ... read more