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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