Safari Village Executive Suites Muscat

... for people to survive here. During the dry months, water from high up is funneled down through man made water courses called 'falaj', irrigating each village and farm on the descent in turn. This is the way it has been done for hundreds of years, and is still as effective now. At this stage the track was fairly good so Natalie decided it was time for her first off-road driving experience. Nervous at first, she soon got into the swing of things and by mile 2 she was ...

... in the 1950's. It's amazing that sites like this are complete left as they are, with no signs, guards, entrance fees - or garbage cans. I imagine in the near future these ruins will be better attended to so that they can be developed as a tourist attraction but for now, we saw them in their 'natural state'. Jessie had told us that we really should see the Grand Mosque - it is a newly built mosque that is truly, well, grand,  and well worth the visit. Usually, infidels aren't ...

... to be posted] let me know...same goes for the pink flowers please!). The bird seemed no larger than a wren and was bluey black in the sunlight.   Although when Colin asked me on the first night what I thought, the first word was 'isolated' but this seems a slightly harsh word to describe it. I'm making the most of the relative peace and tranquillity as it will all kick off eventually as soon as I get thrown in to the reality of it all, what with driving ...

... 4 othe women wearing jeans throughout the conference) I wish I HAD brought two pairs. I still haven't gotten my heels for the ball. I think I'll have to look in the hotel for some. Here's me at the conference: I have to say that the food provied at the conference is nothing short of amazing ...

... Buildings India is full of temples, shacks and buildings that haven't been tended to in decades and that look like they would crumble at any given moment. Oman is full of mosques and pastel coloured buildings that look like they were painted yesterday. - Weather India is hot (low 30's Celsius). Oman is hotter (mid to high 30's). - Getting around Indians drive beat-up TATA's on either side of asphalt-challenged roads blasting their horns ...

... to experience it for yourself. Our journey begins in Muscat, as virtually all Omani journeys do. It starts, I suppose, once the bus takes me from the plane to the terminal and I've successfully rented the 4x4, with the drive into Muscat. The infrastructure is modern (again with the love affair with roundabouts -- and placing things in the middle, ranging from fountains to an entire sailboat). But Muscat is an amazing city. It started with a protected harbour, as ...

... entire sections of the center of Muscat have been cordoned off, and only governmental officials and other such people can enter. This is where there is the real destruction. People there are living in tents, have no running water, etc. Here's something you might not realize. Most people in Muscat and Oman don't live in tents with no running water anymore. Like most GCC countries ...

... incense (frank or otherwise) anyway. So we don't have a blog entry for Salalah because there really was nothing else to see there anyway, so we took the day off. We next stopped at Bait Al Zubair, a private museum housing collections of traditional Omani items, including weaponry, jewelry, clothing, household items, books and photographs, paintings and maps. As usual John, underwhelmed, took a smoke break. Driving along Muscat's ...

... to cost me more than it cost to rent the bloody things in the first place. But for 130 Litres of gas (damn this thing holds a lot of gas) it only cost us 15OR which is like 30 Canadianish Insane. I was thinking since everything in Oman is insanely expensive that this would be for sure. It used to cost me 50Cdn to fill the Matiz in Korea. Nuts. We made it back to Muscat, dropped all of our stuff off at the house and then dropped the car ff just in time. The rest of ...

... a couple of litres of water and still not having to go to the toilet for a pee! The culture is also a bit of a shock to the system. So far Megs has been hissed at once, ogled by boys and men many times and been the recipient of many a disapproving stare from old women. She has resorted to wearing one of Rick's long sleeved shirts and a long skirt but even that is not enough to keep the locals happy! Apart from that people are very friendly and always willing to help.