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...

Read More

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! x...

Read More

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...

Read More

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...

Read More

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...

Read More

Happy Ramadan

x...

Read More

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...

Read More