To Muscat and back

Last weekend we had a one night stay at the Barr al Jissah resort which is about 16kms out of Muscat the capital of Oman. The trip from Dubai takes about 4 hours by car depending on the time taken at the border crossing between the UAE and Oman. Getting across the border was relatively painless this time, though it irritates Colin that, with an Australian passport he has to (a) queue at the Omani border to get a form, take it away to fill it in then queue again to hand it back and get his passport stamped and (b) he has to pay 30AED for that process. Meanwhile because of my little old NZ passport I don't have to fill in the form and I don't have to pay a cent, nothing, nil, free, gratis and for nothing. My theory is that NZ passport holders don't have to fill in a form because there are so few of us that the Kiwi powers-that-be know where each of us is at any one time....

The Barr al Jissah is three hotels on the one site; 3 star, 5 star and 7 star. Being Ramadan it was quiet which made it even nicer. First we had a swim at the beach where the water temperature was 33 then went into the hotel pool where the water, at 31, seemed chilly by comparison. At poolside, there is one guy who comes round offering chilled faceclothes from a chilly bin followed by another guy who cleans your sunglasses for you. This is the life. In the evening we drove into Muscat and walked around Muttrah souq. When I was there a couple of years ago the souq had dusty unpaved paths, flies and a slightly raffish air. Now the paths are paved and the shops are being modernised and while its a more pleasant place to be fortunately it hasn't lost its 'exotic' feel. We drove round the waterfront and spotted Sultan Qaboos' royal dhow then took some photos of the royal palace and the castles.

Next day we drove out to one of Colin's favourite spots called Yitti and a bay next to it called Yankit. Yankit is so beautiful as you'll see from the photos. The effects of Cyclone Gonu which hit Oman in June were still evident as we travelled out to the bays. It was a shock to see the damage to a couple of villages we passed through. The villages were in the wadis and must have been hit by the surge of water coming down the mountains. Some houses had been demolised by the force of the water and many of those remaining were badly damaged. We saw some families who were living in tents next to their damaged homes. Some of the trees that had survived still had debris hanging from their highest branches. Yet we heard so little about it in Dubai.

We left Muscat and drove back to the border. In the car park of the Omani border post which looks like a palace (see one of my earlier posts for a full story) the sound of the Audi ticking over while we sat in the queue attracted the attention of some of the local boys so Colin gave them a little 'demo' to keep them happy. The boys were very pleased so what can I say except that it was "a drive-by thrilling" hahahahaha...........