Sur Beach Hotel

Written Nov 6th and 7th, and uploaded Nov 9th.<br><br>On Tuesday I drove down, down, down, the steep and twisting road from Jebel Shams, and<br>then north-east through the Haijar mountains towards Sohar on the coast about 250km<br>north-west of Muscat. Sohar was a bit of a disappointment with not much to do, and the<br>only hotel available was a new building of &#8220;suites&#8221; which had just opened earlier in the<br>month, and was not yet ready for prime time. Still, I did ...

... us up was not there. We waited for half an hour before calling the company, who then took another HOUR before a hotel driver showed up. We arrived at our hotel, the 'Al Bahjah' and passed out for 14hrs. <br><br>So now it's 8:17am here, 11:17pm in Ontario, Canada and 12:17pm in Japan. We had a lovely breakfast of pita bread, refried beans, feta cheese, yogurt and salad. Oli's guitar is still MIA and nobody from the company has contacted us. I feel like an alien. <br><br>-M <br><br><br><br>

... though I noted a few unusual items: 4kg pails of yoghurt; 5kg slabs of margarine;<br>a display of herbs and spices in bulk sacks - 125 different ones; a display of bulk nuts<br>(edible variety) - 70 different types!<br>I bought a souvenir T-shirt and a bottle of Listerine.<br>After all that excitement I returned to Al Khuwair (suburb where Ibis is located) and hung out<br>at the coffee shop doing the aforementioned research.<br><br><br>

That is the question that has been bothering me since I arrived in Muscat about 24 hours<br>ago.<br>About 50% of men on the street here wear the traditional &#8220;dishdasha&#8221;, a sort of robe<br>looking like a long sleeved, collarless shirt, but continuing like a bulky dress all the way to<br>the ankles. Nearly always pure white, occasionally khaki, grey or brown, and sometimes<br>with a very modest decoration around the neck. However, after intense ...

Walking around the Central Business District of Muscat today, for a moment I thought I had been transported back to Road Town. For those of you who are familiar with Road Town in its current state, you will know that this is not a compliment. A collection of large concrete buildings recently thrown up, (though the ones here do at least have a little style), surrounded by packed car parks, and roads choked with traffic!<br>Maybe that is what always happens when prosperity and modernity ...

During the course of my work it is necessary for me to visit the hotels and resorts that are included in my company's holiday programme &#8211; Luxury Hotel Holidays.<br><br><br><br>Luxury Hotel Holidays is an independent specialist tour ...

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 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?