Majan Continental Muscat

... a relatively undeveloped country. Apparently Oman had no paved roads until 1970, yet Muscat is now a large sprawling city of highways, massive buildings and ridiculously expensive hotels. I suppose I am fortunate that Ibis has not only opened a hotel in Amman this month, but also in Muscat.<br>So yes, here I am in a familiar chain hotel room again!<br><br>Expect to stay here until the 31st, and then hire a car to explore other, perhaps less modernised, parts of the country.<br>T.<br>

... We had dinner their every night and couldn't wait to get our hands around the just roasted chicken and lamb shawarmas on warm pitas. Our return back to Dubai was again uneventful. The scenery was amazing to watch as we left green and lush Muscat to cross the hot and rocky desert between Oman and the UAE. Wild camels (yes wild camels) could be seen walking across the sand and eating the bushes (or whatever green dry plant was available). By the ...

... were topics that we've been dealing with at Acadia as well. Despite the different cultures and geographic locations, we obviously share many of the same desires for tourism - protecting then area's natural and heritage values, providing economic opportunities to local communities, and creating a market niche that is distinct from other vacation and recreation destinations. Tonight we ate Chinese food served by Indians in Muscat, Oman. Almost like China Hill.....

... to get his visa for Iran so we will try to get ourselves there as soon as we can. Oman is an awesome place to be but it is def not a back-packer friendly place and the kebab is getting to much of a routine. Next time we write we will be in Iran and as long as the US does not cut of their Internet cables you should here some good reports from a cold Iran! Until then, all the best!! Philip and Viktor

... tchador tête-aux-pieds couvrant même le visage) à Teheran qu'au Caire. La vieille femme completement voilée et marchant courbée éxiste, mais pour citer mon guide papier (qui sur ce point, se révèla juste), on a plutot affaire à l'exception qu'à la règle. Les régions rurales sont évidemment plus retranchées sur les trads, la religion etc et, ce faisant, davantage habitées par des femmes dont la vie est limitée au foyer et dont la "pr ...

... 3 days in Muscat. I navigated us to the Beach Hotel, in Shatti al-Qurm, which is in an old heritage building and has a bit of charm about it. As soon as we were in the room we flaked. The following morning, we woke up early and straight out the door to meet our tour operator. We drove down to the Marina. We boarded a speed boat and headed out on The Gulf of Oman to do a spot of dolphin watching.....we were not ...

... quick view of the Sultans Palace we headed south of the city to check out the coast which is very different too - once again the rugged, steep bare hills in ochres and creams heading straight into turquoise waters. The rock is very soft and crumbly - sandstone? - and where it reaches the sea it has been undercut by the water leaving deep overhangs. Some sections away from the water are of a harder darker rock. We spent some time exploring - the infrastructure is ...

... the Omanis I met at the Hatta-Wajaja border and Dubai that once, and then maybe meet up with some of the Americans in Muscat. And we would ALL be friends. But like I said, there is a massive storm coming to this region. It's a cyclone, like a hurricane. Even if we wanted to go at this point, the airport is closing; and the storm could potentially strike Dubai. Luckily, we're sort of tucked ...

... and friend´s of the guy I met used to go into the shop all the time, come out and - just to torment him - say ¨Your grandma is soooooo hot!¨ The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We stopped off in Muscat - capital of Oman - and I managed to collect another tacky fridge magnet. This time a rather stunning pink camel tenderly holding a heart shaped necklace from its mouth. All very tasteful. I cannot say much about Oman as I was only there for a few ...

... place where we had to hike a hill through the rocks to reach the beach. It was actually dark n everyone had to use their torches. It was fun. A strong wind was blowing and I could feel the chill initially but got used to it later. We were not supposed to focus torches at the turtles or take snaps with flashes as it disturbs turtles and they may go away w/o laying eggs. You can go near n touch them when they start laying eggs but not before. We actually saw two turtles laying ...