A summer jaunt to Qatar - part 4
Previous parts are here
I still wasn't feeling that great (and still had a fever) on the night we were supposed to go to Oman, so we rescheduled the flights for the next day, and pushed our return flights back a day as well.
By the next morning my fever had subsided and I felt great, so we mooched around the apartment and then headed off to the airport. Unfortunately, Mum wanted to get there nice and early, which was fine, but the flight was delayed, which was less fine, so we ended up spending a lot of the day at the airport. Doha airport is fine, but it's not a great place to spend a lot of time.
Oman - Day 0
Anyway, we got on the flight, set off across the Persian Gulf (which incidentally they call the Arabian Gulf in Qatar and the Gulf of Oman in Oman), then across the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to arrive in Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman!
Muscat seems to be phonetic transliteration of the Arab name into English. WIkipedia tells me that a more proper name in an anglo-arab style would be Masqat, which I prefer the look of, but it's called Muscat everywhere so that's the name I'll use.
So we flew in over the dark brown, crumpled coastal mountains of Oman. They're dry and striking and a lot more extensive than I first imagined. Got a good look at the white buildings of Muscat nestled in between the austere, rocky outcroppings of the hills and the sparkling water of the Gulf. Got off the plane and despite the fact that it was evening, it was a pleasant temperature. Pleasant enough for me to realise it would be quite warm during the day. And it was! Despite the fact that it's only about 650km from Qatar, and east rather than south, it's noticeably warmer. Highs in the 20s, and this is in Winter! I asked the receptionist at our hotel and he said that it gets up to about 52 in the summer. 52! Wow, I don't know if I could handle that. But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
We booked a taxi and drove through town to our hotel. The taxi driver didn't speak English, but did seem possessed of a sly wit. We automatically started speaking to him, asking him about Muscat, that sort of thing, to which he interrupted: "No, no. No english!" There was a brief pause, then with raised eyebrow, he asked "You speak Arabic?"
Touche.
The airport and a large part of the town lie on a flat coastal plain, just west of the hills surrounding Old Muscat (which is the administrative area now) and the drive to the hotel went along a really good motorway, through lush boulevards and then winding through the rocky hills. I feel I should take a moment to stress how striking the hills are. They rear up from the surrounding flat ground, and they're really steep and sharp. And bare. Pure unadorned rock. Basically outcroppings of some deeper rock protruding through the soil. The weirdest thing about them is that they are the size of hills, but have the shape of mountains. They look like they should be distant and massive, rather than close and just taller than the larger buildings. Odd.
We checked in to our hotel, and there we came across my only complaint about visiting Oman. Accomodation is ridiculously expensive. Food, drink, clothes, everything else is pretty much the same as NZ, but accomodation is way too much. If you visit Oman, take a tent. It certainly seems safe enough.
Had an okay dinner, then my stepfather went for a wander through the surrounding streets. The people were friendly, and I had my movie moment. Some local kids were playing soccer and the ball got loose and came my way. So being the friendly tourist, I picked it up and kicked it back to them. Unfortunately, it was quite well pumped, and I booted it clear over their heads and one of them had to go gather it in the other direction. Ah well, stoopid Fraser!
Then we went back to the hotel and I amused myself watching a Saudi show for modern Saudi teenagers, in English, talking about things and with one girl teaching the others how to make Chow Mein, all while wearing the traditional hair coverings.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for now. I'll talk about the next day exploring Muscat and driving down the coast later!
I still wasn't feeling that great (and still had a fever) on the night we were supposed to go to Oman, so we rescheduled the flights for the next day, and pushed our return flights back a day as well.
By the next morning my fever had subsided and I felt great, so we mooched around the apartment and then headed off to the airport. Unfortunately, Mum wanted to get there nice and early, which was fine, but the flight was delayed, which was less fine, so we ended up spending a lot of the day at the airport. Doha airport is fine, but it's not a great place to spend a lot of time.
Oman - Day 0
Anyway, we got on the flight, set off across the Persian Gulf (which incidentally they call the Arabian Gulf in Qatar and the Gulf of Oman in Oman), then across the UAE (United Arab Emirates) to arrive in Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Oman!
Muscat seems to be phonetic transliteration of the Arab name into English. WIkipedia tells me that a more proper name in an anglo-arab style would be Masqat, which I prefer the look of, but it's called Muscat everywhere so that's the name I'll use.
So we flew in over the dark brown, crumpled coastal mountains of Oman. They're dry and striking and a lot more extensive than I first imagined. Got a good look at the white buildings of Muscat nestled in between the austere, rocky outcroppings of the hills and the sparkling water of the Gulf. Got off the plane and despite the fact that it was evening, it was a pleasant temperature. Pleasant enough for me to realise it would be quite warm during the day. And it was! Despite the fact that it's only about 650km from Qatar, and east rather than south, it's noticeably warmer. Highs in the 20s, and this is in Winter! I asked the receptionist at our hotel and he said that it gets up to about 52 in the summer. 52! Wow, I don't know if I could handle that. But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself.
We booked a taxi and drove through town to our hotel. The taxi driver didn't speak English, but did seem possessed of a sly wit. We automatically started speaking to him, asking him about Muscat, that sort of thing, to which he interrupted: "No, no. No english!" There was a brief pause, then with raised eyebrow, he asked "You speak Arabic?"
Touche.
The airport and a large part of the town lie on a flat coastal plain, just west of the hills surrounding Old Muscat (which is the administrative area now) and the drive to the hotel went along a really good motorway, through lush boulevards and then winding through the rocky hills. I feel I should take a moment to stress how striking the hills are. They rear up from the surrounding flat ground, and they're really steep and sharp. And bare. Pure unadorned rock. Basically outcroppings of some deeper rock protruding through the soil. The weirdest thing about them is that they are the size of hills, but have the shape of mountains. They look like they should be distant and massive, rather than close and just taller than the larger buildings. Odd.
We checked in to our hotel, and there we came across my only complaint about visiting Oman. Accomodation is ridiculously expensive. Food, drink, clothes, everything else is pretty much the same as NZ, but accomodation is way too much. If you visit Oman, take a tent. It certainly seems safe enough.
Had an okay dinner, then my stepfather went for a wander through the surrounding streets. The people were friendly, and I had my movie moment. Some local kids were playing soccer and the ball got loose and came my way. So being the friendly tourist, I picked it up and kicked it back to them. Unfortunately, it was quite well pumped, and I booted it clear over their heads and one of them had to go gather it in the other direction. Ah well, stoopid Fraser!
Then we went back to the hotel and I amused myself watching a Saudi show for modern Saudi teenagers, in English, talking about things and with one girl teaching the others how to make Chow Mein, all while wearing the traditional hair coverings.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for now. I'll talk about the next day exploring Muscat and driving down the coast later!