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| Must be Hump Day in Southern Oman |
As we approached the Doha airport, there was one lane for rental car returns. We drove at the prescribed 60kph speed limit and, of course, some idiot in a large SUV got right on our tail and kept flashing his lights and honking, despite having two other lanes to pass us. Instead, the guy drove on the shoulder to the left of us, honking away. Just a perfect microcosm of the Qatari mindset. I don't know if I dislike any culture in the world more than I dislike Qataris.
We checked in for our flight which had been delayed almost 8 hours (we were advised in advance, fortunately) and headed for the lounge and water glasses full of wine just to bring our chemistry back into balanceđŸ˜›. We were headed for Salalah, Oman, which is about 400 air miles from Doha, but the trip took 2.5 hours because the Qataris aren't allowed to fly over Saudi or UAE airspace. Instead, we aimed towards Iran, flew over the Strait of Hormuz and then entered Omani airspace on the opposite end of the country from our destination. I later learned that the UAE bought the Middle East TV rights for the World's Championships and then refused to allow them to be shown in the home country. Now that's a classic F You!
The plane was mostly full of Omanis and there was a more relaxed vibe. Then, when we started to dis-embark, some of the Omanis stepped aside and asked us to go first, ignoring typical protocol. Wow! That was the first nice thing any locals had done for us in weeks and we immediately fell in love with Oman. The rest of our few days there were much the same, with strangers smiling and saying hello. While there are foreign workers in the country, I never saw anyone abused by a local just for being foreign.
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| Wadi Darbat |
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| The Astonishingly Beautiful and Isolated Indian Ocean Coastline |
We had to squeeze what was going to be two full days in Salalah into one heavy day of tourism, so we rented a car and drove both E and W of the city, checking out some beautiful oases, old forts, museums and some gorgeous white sand beach coastline. I'd like to have driven to the Yemeni border, but time didn't allow. Too bad since we were only about 40 miles away and the road is a crazy mountainous road full of steep ascents, declines and hairpin curves. That evening, we treated ourselves to the best buffet ever at a five star hotel. Think great Vegas buffets. I just wolfed down as much sushi and sashimi as I could, followed by some amazing chocolate cake. Yay food!
We moved onto Muscat for a few days and visited what must be the most beautiful mosque in the world, The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. The workmanship was amazing and one might easily make the comparison to St Peter's in Rome which, one you've seen it, makes most other Catholic churches almost irrelevant. We also headed over to Muttrah, a suburb of Oman where the Sultans gazillion square foot palace and two cruise ship sized yachts are located, along with a fun souk. While there were other tourists, the area seemed like a locals only kind of place and it was cool to see the locals out on what would be their Saturday afternoon.
Our hotel, the lovely Thai-owned Centara was conveniently located in an area that might be described as a "little India". The Kerala restaurant next door served some great food at laughably low prices and we were happy to dis-engage from Middle Eastern cuisine for a few days.
Next stop and final country, the United Arab Emirates, a majorly different place than Doha and Oman.
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| Sharon After I Told Her I Bought a New House |
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| Sultan Qaboos Mosque |
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| Sultan Qaboos Mosque |
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