Nizwa

Yesterday afternoon we visited Nizwa, one of the oldest cities in Oman, situated about 140km inland from Muscat. The city used to be a centre for trade, religion, art and education within Oman.

The road from Muscat took us in a pretty much straight line into Nizwa in around 1 hour 30. We drove past a number of smaller towns and villages en route and stopped for a quick break at Wadi Qurai. For anyone who doesn't know, a wadi is basically a river bed or valley that is dry most of the year except in the rainy season. Wadi's are often home to falaj systems. It was a shame we could not see the wadi full of water as I imagine it would be beautiful had it been.

Following our short stop off we continued to Nizwa. The city itself did not strike me as being that dissimilar to Muscat, just a little smaller and less to do! One of Nizwa's main attractions is its 17th Century fort. The fort was fascinating and is definitely worth a visit. It cost 500 bz per adult and has over 20 exhibits of Omani clothing, silver, food, historical facts etc., an old date store room, prison and lots of steps to the top of the fort where you can see for miles over Nizwa and beyond.

Incense burners.

View from on top of the fort. 

The area immediately surrounding the fort (behind the walls to the main entrance from the car park) was also interesting to look around. The older buildings and narrow roads are fascinating to wonder around and so different to back home. There is also a fish and veg souq held within the castle/fort grounds. At some 7,600sq m (I think!) in size, it is one of the largest however it wasn't open when we visited unfortunately!

xXx

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Sand Storm

Muscat has seen no blue skies for the last couple of days due to a very persistent sand storm blowing over Muscat and places of the Gulf further north, apparently from Saudi Arabia. If it weren't for all the dust in the air I would be tempted to say that it is a refreshing break from the heat and bright sun. However breathing in dust isn't a comforting thought, nor a comforting experience and asthma sufferers are probably better off staying in doors! Apparently a number of flights have been cancelled. Lets hope the forecasters are right and it'll all be cleared by the weekend!

xXx

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Scorpions

I never thought I would come across a scorpion whilst living here but I have! and I can definitely add them to my list of hated bugs. I have seen 2 (although it may have been the same one) in the house in the last 2 days, thankfully they are not huge or life threatening! Living close to mountains is not good idea if you don't like bugs and I eagerly await a move to the more concreted up areas of Muscat. The scorpion I saw was a couple of inches long and cream/yellow/red-brown colour and has left me walking around the house on tip-toes, obsessively checking shoes and clothing just in case one has crawled up and made home in my stuff. erg. As far as I am aware scorpions are mostly found in the mountainous or sandy desert areas of Oman. I have heard of a man who eats scorpions (each to their own!) and apparently scorpion bites aren't as rare as I thought. I did consider uploading a photo of one onto here but, as would be the same with spiders, I would probably get put off looking at my own blog so decided against it!

xXx

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Extreme Sports Festival, The Wave

Today we went along to the extreme sports festival held on the beach at The Wave. The Wave is prestigious resort and residential development that is half way to completion. It will have around 4000 homes, a marina, beach, shops, restaurants and will have a couple of hotels and a golf course when complete. The festival was held on the beach and included a boat/sailing race, music and lots of family events.  It was not necessarily an "extreme" event in reality but it was fun and nice to see people of all ages and nationalities mingling together.

And it always makes me giggle when I see things like this:

xXx

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Dubai Tennis

After some time at home I am back in the Middle East. I spent my first couple of days back here up in Dubai and went to see the Dubai Master's Tennis, which was amazing! We saw 3 matches, M. Djokovic (Djokovic's younger brother) v's  Golubev, Fish v's Beck, and lastly N. Djokovic v's Stebe, the latter being by far the best match with loads of rallies, Djokovitch beat Stebe after about an hour and a half. Watching tennis in Dubai is so much more relaxed than Wimbledon and we were lucky enough to get some great seats.  Here are some photo's of the day:

The stadium before it filled up.

 Fish serving.

Stebe and Djokovic.

We also visited the Dubai Marina, which is beautiful and peaceful. It was funny to see everyone relaxing with shisha pipes (fancy water pipes used for smoking flavoured tobacco) in the middle of the afternoon, hard life!

Its a lot cooler in Dubai than Muscat at this time of year and come the evening I was actually a bit cold! On our last day before leaving we went to see the fountains outside the Dubai Mall. In the evenings they are switched on every half an hour and 'dance' to music. It is almost like watching fireworks in the water.

Fountains outside the Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa.

The Burj Khalifa in the evening.

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Happy Ramadan

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As Sifah Beach

The drive to As Sifah beach takes you around 90km south of Muscat past the rugged terrain and small villages that are typical of this part of the world. The first half of our jouney was easy enough, with a decent road system taking us to a place called Yiti. Following Yiti however the roads become less easy to negotiate and a 4x4 is a must - as a relative novice to off-road driving I was slightly nervous at some points! You really feel like you are experiencing the real Oman when you venture out of Muscat and passing through small villages along the way adds to the feeling of authenticity. The villages are as you would imagine: small houses and lots of goats.

A smooth part of road on the way to As Sifah.

Passing through a village. 

The views of the mountains are really spectacular, despite the arid-ness of the surroundings. On arrival at As Sifah beach the soft sands really captured my attention, they are so uninterrupted compared to those within Muscat. Unfortunately some rather selfish people had parked cars in such a way that they blocked off entry to the most expansive stretch of beach, however we still nabbed ourselves a stunning spot and were able to enjoy the setting just as much. 

xXx

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