Oman

Mountains, forts, wadis (canyons) and friendly people – these were my experiences in Muscat. First my friend and I had 4 days in Muttrah, which is close to the old original city. There we explored the famous Muttrah Souk and went for walks to museums, government buildings and forts, etc. We also spent a day on a private beach and went on a guided kayaking trip. On the trip we went through caves and saw turtles swimming in the water, and countless fish. Unfortunately the coastline of Muscat was having its annual 2 weeks of algae so the sea water was very green in places and not suitable for snorkeling.

After Muttrah we rented a car and went to Sur. (about 300km south along the Oman coast) The newly built road was fantastic – two lane highway all the way and a 120km speed limit. Also petrol is very cheap like all of the Middle East – only 40c a litre! On the way we stopped at a wadi and walked for about 45minutes through the canyon (mostly on boulders) and stopped for a swim in one of the pools. The scenery is amazing and the weather was in the high 20’s which made the water a perfect temperature. While at Sur we went for a drive to old fortified villages which were in fact still being lived in, even in some of the old rundown 500 year old buildings. Some people didn’t’ always seem happy to see us there so some visits were quick, although many more were interested by our being there.

The last three days we were back in Muscat and while there took a day trip to Nizwa (the formal capital of Oman) and also to the surrounding areas. Nizwa was great with an awesome fort, castle and souk all next to each other. There was so much to see and so much history. It was really a great place to visit.