Blogs from Muscat, Oman, Middle East - page 14

Had a great day today the guy in the Internet Cafe had my photo software on his machine and he has burned me copy of all my photo's which I will airmail home in the next week. It is bloody hot here today and the place I plan to visit tommorrow registered 43 degrees. So I aint looking forward to the trip down there. I went to the souk which was easily the best yet, I found heaps of presents for Ruthy, I was so excited about the perfume bottles I rang her and in 16 minutes we were on the phone decided to go to New Zealand early next year so I am happy with that. Anyway getting back to the souk there was an excellent range of quality goods although they are more expensive ... read more

Dubai and Muscat are like sisters. Dubai needs to be at the centre of attention at all times; she wears revealing clothing, lots of makeup, and chances are she'll be pregnant by the time she's 16. Muscat is the cooler, older, hippy sister; she is more modest, laid back and wears her beauty effortlessly... I could feel the pace of life slow to a leisurely halt as the plane touched down in Muscat. Everything about travelling in a foreign land that was challenging and difficult washed away when I saw the familiar faces of Dave and Jana on the other side of the extremely lax airport security. I was immediately welcomed and embraced as a temporary resident of the expat ghetto of MQ; a place where live in maids and gardeners are the norm for school ... read more

dxb-mct via sharjah, fujeirah, sohar, al hazm, rustaq, nakhal After a delicious breakfast at the Intercontinental hotel, we caught a cab over to the Budget car rental where our friends D & S were waiting to pick up the car. We would be spending the next few days driving through the UAE and Oman. The rental company required extra Omani insurance, but with 4 people to split the cost, it was reasonable. The plan for the day was to drive across the UAE to the Omani border via Sharjah and Fujeirah, then down along the coast via Sohar to Muscat. It was going to be a very long day and it was already 9:30 by the time we left Dubai. The traffic heading into Dubai from the north was horrendous, practically a parking lot, but our ... read more