Blogs from Muscat, Oman, Middle East - page 7

Day 3 and after breakfast its lotion up and head for the pool. But wait, what's that in the sky , clouds !! call the manager and have him sort it out please. Still warm enough to lie down in shorts and top up the tan when the sun deigned to appear. By the afternoon normal service had been resumed and we had a late lunch in the poolside cafe (Asian beef salad ) before retiring for the afternoon to the terrace. I'm currently reading 'Jerusalem The Biography' by Simon Sebag Montefiore an excellent book so spent the rest of the afternoon with my head buried in this fascinating tome. 6 o clock can mean only one thing - Happy Hour! - only difference here is that due to our upgrade all drinks are free till ... read more

Up early the following morning, we continued on the journey northward, this time to Muscat, the capital of Oman, stopping along the way to explore a few small towns off the highway. We drove through a residential neighborhood in one non-descript town called Adam, admiring the houses and enjoying the kind smiles and numerous, unexpected waves of hello from the locals. We were repeatedly flagged down, stopped and asked, “Are you okay?” "Are you lost?" “Why are you…here…in Adam??” People – men – couldn’t understand why we were there in that desert town but to me these are the more authentic places where the people, markets, buildings, etc are located. This is where I find the genuine charm and curiosity, kindness and helpfulness of the locals. This is adventure. This is living. A desert-colored brown pickup–type ... read more

On Thursday, 3.11., I arrived with the ferry in Sharjah, UAE. The entry to the country was quite easy. I got a stamp at the border with allowance of 30 days staying. In Sharjah I enjoyed my first proper supermarket since Erzurum, Turkey, maybe. And you can use the credit card again. I still have much cash left from Iran, so I didnt need a cash machine, but I was not sure at all if I still remember the PIN and wanted to try out. From two machines I tried to get about 10 Euro, but they said its too much. Aehh? I figured out that it was just too little and I remembered the right PINJ In UAE are living many different people: Arabs, Western people, Africans and many Indians. And you see skin. I ... read more

The evening before arriving in Muscat it was the final 'formal' night and once again the Captain made an appearance in the theatre with his senior officers before the show. The show was the best yet and was an array of glitter and colour. It was called ‘Spirit of the Dance'. It was a mix of Riverdance meets a satanic phantom of the opera. The beast of the moment was a pale-faced demon with curly horns that fancied himself as a bit of a Paul Daniels. The only difference was that we all liked this…a lot!!! The finale was something special. The lights dimmed and 2 of the singers stood either side of the stage and started singing ‘We are the world'. Illuminated words started to float in to the middle of the stage and began ... read more

Hi Everybody! On Sunday afternoon, we took a taxi to Bur Dubai, an older section of Dubai. To get over to the Old Arab Souk(shops), we had to pay about 30 cents to cross Dubai Creek in an long boat called a dhow. ( This so called creek is more like a river and is filled with saltwater.) There were many small shops with Pashimas, brass items, gold jewelry, long silk dresses, stuffed camels, t-shirts, etc. The shop keepers were very polite and not very pushy. I am amazed at how neat and clean everything is in Dubai. From the white robes of the men to floors of shops, there is not a speck of dirt anywhere. I have only seen a couple of people smoking. You can only order alcoholic beverages in a hotel bar. ... read more