Intercontinental Hotels Intercontinental Muscat

... overllooking a large bay with a sandy beach. Nearer to the centre of Muscat and ideal for holidaymakers and business trips alike are the Grand Hyatt and Intercontinental.

There is plenty to see and enjoy from this charming destination.

... an hour or two. It was just like one of the wonderful days out I remember from growing up in Scotland. Except we didn't have to wear raincoats while paddling, we didn't need hot pea and ham soup to warm us afterwards, and we didn't eat our sandwiches staring through the steamed up windows of the car. But very reminiscent all the same. Although I did miss the thickly buttered doorsteps of home made fruit loaf (spiced please, Mum). 23°34'7.71"N 58° 6'56.27"E

... in both marine and terrestrial habitats. A lot of our time has been spent meeting at their offices. Yesterday we met with some key government officials at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism. Our meeting with the Environment officials was very interesting and somewhat a formal affair. We met in this very large conference room and sat at a table that must have been at least 100-150 feet long. It was also ...

... pas tout a fait dans ce constat. Mais mon arrêt dans la cite nabathéenne semble voué a contre-balancer le bonheur que j'eus a parcourir ces distances si longues, ces si magnifiques deserts auxquelles ont tellement bien repondues les montagnes iraniennes. Un voyage d'une beauté finalement fabuleuse et dont chacune des rencontres effectuées l'aida à gagner en puissance. Mais j'avais dit que je ne m'interdisais rien et que même, avec ...

... boarding card checks in two different airports. Oh, and we'll also remember the Muscat customs official who diligently rummaged through our bags in search of... well, we assume in search of something we shouldn't, and didn't, have in our possession. We're good boys after all. "Do you smoke hashish?" Pat was asked by the official as he poked his hand in and out of every part of Pat's bags, smelling his fingers for suspicious ...

... at the coffee shop, laundry, dry-cleaning, and use of the pool and spa. During the weekends, we would go out with friends and they would tour us to the sand dunes where we we would see wild camels crossing the road. We would also go to beaches which were so blue, and reminded of postcards from the Mediterranean Sea. I would love to go back and visit again. It's been almost 20 years --- I guess I should start planning about that.

... seemed happy for the Consul General and his Mrs to languish on the border indefinitely. They seemed to miss the point that we weren't responsible for their lack of action on the residence permit and we were well within our 60 days. Eventually, we were taken off to a hut to speak with a man with a lot more braid and bigger hat and finally there was much stamping and we were on our way, an exercise in patience. However this was not to be the end of the saga. 2 weeks ...

... mysterious-until the present ruler of the country, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, took the throne in 1970. He transformed this once-feudal nation into the progressive country it is today. Oman has been more guarded in its rush towards modernity, preserving the language, customs, and architecture of its ancestors. In a twenty year period, virtually all of Muscat has been built in modern though ancestral style. Its port is not tourist ...

... be Italy. All of those luxuries were in the men's section of the Mosque. The women's section was no where near as elaborate. By the time the tour was done so were we. It was ridiculously hot and we were beat. So we went back to the house and started planning the next lag of our journey. Tuesday Jon had organized a dolphin watching trip for us. We got up around 6am so Jon could drop us off at the marina on his way to work. The boat tour had a few other people on it ...

Right across the road from our hotel is the Mutrah Fish Market. It starts at 4am when the fishing boats return with their catch and closes basically when the catch is all sold. For sale were some massive fish and various other edible sea creatures. If you like there was a section where men, for a fee, will gut, scale and fillet the fish right on the spot. They must have been popular because there were buckets and buckets of gruesome fish remains, worthy of a horror film blood and ...