Blogs from Oman, Middle East - page 18

Oman is studded with lots of Unesco World Heritage Site forts, which were the result of the near constant battles that used to be fought here. What's the different between a Fort and a Palace? Well, they are both fortified, but a palace is where nobility (no-ability) sleeps, while a fort is where the grunts sleep.... 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

We decided to try to do more on the weekends. There are so many beautiful things to see here other then the malls. Now that the weather is cooling a bit we have decided to go on adventures during the weekends. We wanted to visit other Emirates and Oman which is the country neighboring UAE. In this blog we ventured to Buraimi, Oman which Al Ain borders. I actually live right across from the border so we have finally gone across to do more than just renew our visas. We decided to visit. We also took a trip through Oman mountains to get to Hatta UAE last weekend. Hatta was a quaint village we enjoyed visiting the fort there and the heritage village. The following weekend we ventured to Musandum, Oman going through Ras Al Khaimah ... read more

Dear friends, After four fantastic days on sea, we arrive this morning early in the harbour of Salalah - Oman. For us it's the second time here. Salalah is a very nice place where old and new meets each other. Perfume and incense (the real one from the incense tree, which grows only here in Salalah) are the main products for visitors. Very high quality at good prices. More information about Salalah: (thanks to Wikipedia) History Salalah History shows that it gained prominence due to the Frankincense that was extracted from the Frankincense trees that are found in this region. Frankincense is an extract from these trees that is used for perfume and incense sticks. These perfumes are used for ritualistic purpose and are hence widely popular among the practitioners of Judaism. Belonging to the Boswellia ... 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