Sur Beach Hotel

... was quite an experience. Oman Air run a Daily service every evening from Heathrow Airport arriving at 0900 hours the following day and returns every afternoon, ideal time to get to and from your hotel in Oman.

Oman has an enormous ...

... Lots of shops with leather and jewelery and fabrics. It was quite lovely and we didn't get hassled by too many different vendors. Once you said that you weren't interested they basically left you alone. The city was absolutely clean and there are fines if you drop any rubbish. Such a contrast to Cairo. The locals were very friendly and a lot of them spoke English, which always helps. The port is surrounded by rugged hills with no ...

... cove. Freya and Daddy went snorkelling, while Callan pretended he was cruising in Monaco, smiling at the imaginary ladies and waving to the landlubbers (also imaginary).


Natalie seems to have found her spiritual home, diving off the boat, floating in the warm water, then walking along a deserted beach.


We had a brief heart stopping moment when the main ...

We had hoped we could visit Oman to see family and when it turned out that the cheapest flight to India went via Oman it was a go! Jessie and Tom, and their gorgeous 2 young daughters have lived in Oman for the past 5 years, first meeting in Saudi (Jessie is Bernd's eldest daughter). It was wonderful to spend a few days in a home with family, catching up on news and seeing Muscat through their eyes. They both love Oman, and can foresee staying here, at least until the girls get ...

A side trip to Oman from Dubai was our idea of getting out of our friends' hair for a while to allow them to settle in their new home. We decided to take a small trip for a couple of days and see what the neighboring Arab country was like. There were daily buses that left Dubai twice a day to make the 6 hour journey to Muscat. So we awoke on Monday morning quite early to catch the 7:30 am bus. Once we arrived in Muscat we found lodging at the Al ...

Our penultimate port of call, and again a lovely way to see the first sight of the city from the sea. Very white and very clean, with old forts on the hillsides above the harbour. Shuttle bus to the Mutrah souk, selling the normal stuff,pasminas, silks and local crafts, then a taxi ride to the Grand mosque which was about 10 miles away. Our driver was a young man, who proved to be a good choice as he spoke English and actually ended up being our guide for the day. The ...

Où l'on fait le bilan de ces deux dernières semaines et, ce faisant, de ce long voyage. L'idée première, majeure et fondamentale qu'il s'est agit de retenir à propos de la République Islamique est son égalite de statut d'avec la France ; je m'explique. Les recherches qui ont precedées le voyage ont été l'occasion de confirmer une vision quelque peu misérabiliste de l'Iran, en ce sens qu'on a décrit (et que je m'imaginais) le pays ...

I woke up a little groggy; okay, a lot groggy. That's what a long drive the night before and a short sleep in your car will do to you. The car camping wasn't awful; I've got a Suzuki Grand Vitara with fold-"flat" seats, but I've had better nights. In addition, the view wasn't particularly gorgeous -- the liquified natural gas plant at Sur -- but it was kind of neat to see it glowing at night. In the morning, I drove into the centre of Sur; once a little more ...

... protected area but they kept one km open to the public so we can have a chance to witness this beautiful spectacle. The turtles only come to the beach at night. So we had to wait till midnight before the park keeper came to get us and took us to the beach where the giant turtles were already getting busy. What a unique scenery! They're truly majestic. They grow up to one and a half metres (about 5 feet) and can weigh over ...

The University sent me in a taxi throught the desert to what looked like a deserted town or village. This was Sur. A step back in time. I asked the 'driver' so..where is the town. Is this it? I don't see anything I said...where are the businesses.... Where is the University?