Majan Continental Muscat

After a few days at sea where we basically rested up and had a few drinks on the back deck in the shade, but still very hot, we arrived in Mina Qaboos at 6.45am. It didn't look very exciting from the ship but we got on the shuttle bus (which we all had to pay AU$7 each one way) and it only took us about 1 klm and then we got off at the markets. Everything was closed but they gradually started opening the little shops up as we walked around the ...

I've made a few friends that I'm sure (well, hoping!) will become quite firm. One Mum took me to the nursery as her son goes there. She invited me for a coffee in the shopping mall but I couldn't make it as we were getting my resident's card... But even if I don't make firm friends here for a while, there are always people around looking out for us and whom we can talk to. The house still feels and looks like a holiday home ...

... wide. Our group sat on one side (Stewart from US Fish and Wildlife Service, Rob Baldwin from ESO and Five Oceans, and Fareed and Said with ESO), and the ministerial people on the other side. Folks from the Ministry included the Director General, and their section heads for Biodiversity, Coastal Zone Mgmt, Nature Reserves, and Wildlife. Rather than it being a flat table, it had a raised portion in the middle that only allowed you to view from ...

... vision coloniale de l'Iran (je charrie un peu) m'étais-je imaginé possible de rester dans un village avec des bergers et des chèvres afghanes. S'il fut bien un enseignement progressivement (donc superbement) dégagé de ce voyage, c'est bien le caractere bourgeois au sens intellectuel du terme de ma personne. Perdu au fond du Liban comme dans le train Turque, pourtant jouissant comme jamais de cet environnement si nouveau que je d ...

... as he went. Clean as a whistle. The verdict Once we got all that out of the way, and had put our bags back together, we soon realised that it's pretty hot here in Muscat, the capital of the Persian Gulf oil rich country of Oman (officially called the Sultanate of Oman). Pat still doesn't know why we're here and now that we've spent a whole night here I've given up coming up with reasons/justifications for having stopped off on this part ...

Oh, man. What a weekend. Oman is one of those places that you never thought you would visit, and I coudn't be happier that I did. Despite some issues with our visas at the boarder - nothing more complicated than a long weekend wait - it was a truly memorable trip. We spent two nights in Muscat and enjoyed some hiking, caught up with some locals and their expat pals for a game of beach soccer, and enjoyed strolling around Old ...

... when our admin fellow went to collect our residence permits he was told that we couldn't have them as we weren't in the country.........at first they wanted us to drive back to the border crossing and persuade the border guards to stamp more than their blotters, but Afaq managed to convince them they should sort it out and he arrived back eventually with the permits - so we are in the country after all. Relief all round I'm sure. We chose to drive back from ...

... since tourism is still developing. Buildings are almost all white, roads are wide and clean, signage is Omani with much English to match. It is divided into several quite distinctive regions, including the Old Town, whose boundaries are marked by gated walls which enclose the area around the port, the Sultan's palace and the harbor. Several forts guard the entrance to Muscat harbor. There are few high-rise buildings, encouraged by ...

... time it wasn't only us. There was a British family and an American family. The British guy was wearing the most ridiculous outfit I have ever seen (no worries I got a picture of him). He was wearing pink plaid pants and a pink striped shirt. He looked outrageous and he kept nearly falling overboard with excitement every time a bird flew by...we were dolphin watching! We saw about 150 Spinner dolphins. They were much smaller than I had thought they would be but they ...

... scene, going back into the bay. Blood and guts were flying everywhere as locals did their shopping. Right next to the outlet were some kids having a swim....ewww! Outside the old city and a short cab ride away, was Qurum Beach. We got dropped at one end and pretty much had the beach to ourselves, bar some locals and a fat, sun burnt red German couple. The beautiful beaches were fairly devoid of people whilst we were there, but unfortunately the green coloured waters were less than ...