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...

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Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

We visited the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque a while ago now but its beauty is still etched in my mind and it is definitely worthy of a post! The Mosque sits beside a main road cutting through Muscat and so cannot be missed. Its car park is huge, providing plenty of parking for the 20,000 worshipers the mosque can accommodate. On entering you are reminded of the conservative dress of the Islamic faith and it is vital that men are covered down the the wrists and ankles and ladies from head to toe. The Mosque...

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Driving in Oman

Driving here is a crazy, stressful experience that provides entertainment if nothing else. Luckily for me I haven't had to drive yet (yet being the optimum word as my time will come I am sure) and have only had the pleasure of experiencing Omani driving as a passenger...worse than being the driver in some ways! Obviously they drive on the right hand side of the road and everyone (almost) drives an automatic. The issue is that there seems to be an apparent lack of awareness or commonsense when it comes to maneuvering the vehicles between cars and lanes. Its not that the drivers can't control the vehicles, its everything...

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DUBAI!

Oli and I visited Dubai for the first time earlier this week, staying over for one night. We flew out of Muscat at 8am and landed 50mins later in the UAE giving us two full days to explore. Dubai is nothing like I have experienced before - a strange mix of so many different places all coming together to form something I can't quite categorise. The city doesn't seem to have a set identity but rather feels like a combination of Muscat, L.A., Spain and Shanghai, a bizarre mix enhanced by the presence of so many different nationalities (80%...

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Interior Design

All this moving we have been doing over the past week or so got me thinking about Omani interior design. We have visited a number of local curtain and furniture stores including a small curtain store in Al Ghubra, the Marina in Qurum, and Home Centre in Muscat City Centre. In traditional Arabic style much of the furniture is rich in colour and extravagant in design. Unless you were to visit Ikea up in Dubai its unlikely you will come across minimalist furnishings. Interior design here is impressive and luxurious and I love it (perhaps...

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The Chedi

I absolutely LOVE The Chedi. Its like stepping into a magical oasis of calm and beautiful architectural style. Its one of Muscats luxury hotels, located along the beach near Al Ghubrah / Al Khuwair, and really is worth a visit. The bar offers interesting fruity mocktails. I tried a refreshing one made with soda water, lime, lychees and blueberries. I've not eaten there or managed to use the gym/pool/spa but have wondered down to the private beach and walked around all the small turquoise pools/water features which just add to the zen-like...

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Lulu Hypermarket

Such an experience shopping in Lulu's is that I feel it deserves its own post. Not the only food shop in Muscat, but definitely one of the largest. The store is HUGE. It is something akin to a large warehouse with a higgledy piggledy (spelling?!) car park; bright signage that lights up like a casino come the evening; and is full of all the food you could possibly want plus tonnes of non-food stuff. The fruit selection is amazing. The store was busy when we went and full of a diversity of people from all, it seems, the different...

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Muttrah

As promised here are some photos from Muttrah to Old Muscat... This is a view of the Sultan's Palace. Shame it's not open to visitors! This is the entrance to Muttrah Souk. x...

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The Dive Centre

Yesterday we spent a few hours down at the Oman Dive Centre, located about half an hour away from the centre of Muscat between Qantab and Barr Al Jissah. The centre is specifically designed for diving, snorkling, dolphin cruises and the like. We went just to use the beach and restaurant but are definitely going to hire some snorkeling equipment next time we go. The centre is a sited within a cove where the water stays shallow for a long way out. Its full of all sorts of marine life. We even saw a turtle! There is...

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Heating up

How annoying...I spent ages the other day redesigning my blog and writing another entry only to go back onto blogger today and find its all vanished!! Stupid computers. Anyway I shall attempt at remembering what I wrote. Temperatures are really starting to heat up here, the car has been registering 46C! The locals have been saying how its a lot hotter for this time of year than usual, even for Oman, but I don't expect it'll ever go much above 49/50 degrees (thank goodness!). Its really funny living somewhere where its constantly hot and even going for walks late in the evening is a challenge, quite like walking in a sauna. Occasionally there's...

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Sultan Qaboos' boat

This is Sultan Qaboos' main boat docked at Muttrah Port. x...

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Women in Oman

I thought it may be interesting to post an entry on what it is like to be a women out here (from a westerners point of view). As a western women the main issue is the attention you get from the local and Asian male population. They tend to stare and although it is not in a horrid way, it can be rather annoying. The best thing to do is to ignore and not wear clothes that are too revealing and to be honest you begin to not notice.  Local women don't appear to have as much freedom as western ladies do. Additionally, Omani men tend to socialise without their wives and I hear they can be very flirtatious....

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Mingling

The last couple of days have been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster. I was feeling quite homesick on Saturday and poor Oli had to put up with me and my tearfulness all day long. However, I had to pull myself together Saturday evening for an Art Exhibition I went to with Jane. We were invited along by a lady who has been in Oman for around 20 years; she is one of those people who seems to know everyone. The art on exhibition was that of Kathryn Wilson, a young Dubai based artist whose work is inspired by the geography of...

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The Royal Wedding

Good evening! Today I have felt more British than I ever do whilst actually in Britain! It was, of course, the Royal Wedding. We spent the afternoon at the British Ambassador's residence where circa 300 of us all gathered around a few screens to watch the wedding whilst sipping on wine or Pimms and eating crust-less sandwiches and tiny scones! A very British day. (Although not necessarily typical day-to-day Britain mind you.) All in all, I had a lovely time and the Ambassador's house has such amazing views across the Marina (see...

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Good Friday

HAPPY EASTER from Oman.  We spent the majority of Good Friday driving around exploring other parts of Muscat and following lunch at the PDO, headed south to the oldest part of the city, Muttrah, home to the Sultans Palace. I really love driving around this part of the city; Muttrah is adorned with ornately designed roundabouts, pretty gardens and beautiful buildings. I will try and take some photo's of this part of the city soon as it really is something else. I love how all the buildings are beautifully designed and still retain...

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Week 1

Wow, nearly been here a week already! Have had a productive few days viewing properties and trying to organise some work. We viewed a nice house in Qurum the day before yesterday but unfortunately it was snapped up by somebody else not long after. You pretty much have to put the deposit down instantly to secure property out here. We did however view another nice house this morning, also in Qurum, which Oli's parents may try and get. It has 3 bedrooms and is larger than the apartment we are staying in at the moment. Plus the neighbourhood...

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Days 1 and 2

We arrived in Muscat yesterday at approximately 9 am local time (6am in the UK). The flight went by fairly quickly, however I didn’t get much sleep so spent most of Friday in bed or eating chocolate (which, by the way, isn’t as nice as in the UK!).I was feeling a little sad yesterday which got me thinking about the little things I am going to miss about England:           The New Forest and countryside           Trees!           Rubbish but entertaining TV shows           Running outside in the fresh air   ...

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Last night in England

I am writing today as I won't have a lot of time tomorrow and wanted to post an entry before we leave the UK.  I have spent the whole day cleaning/sorting and am absolutely shattered. Its now 29 hours, give or take, until we fly and everything is really sinking in. I am actually packing up my life here and moving to the Middle East...can't quite believe it! If it wasn't for the fact that I have been living out of a suitcase for the past month I would think it were just a dream. Despite knowing that I am going to miss my family, friends and the familiarity of home, I am so excited to be experiencing a new way of...

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Ahlan wa sahlan...

… [welcome] to my blog! Hopefully the first post of many. Myself and my boyfriend, Oli, will soon be migrating to sunny Oman in the hope of escaping the dreary weather and gloomy economy of England. This blog is my way of sharing our experiences with everyone back home. It’s just under a week until we leave and I am beginning to get butterflies! I am excited (if not a little nervous!) to see what Oman will hold for us. x...

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