A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

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linne
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A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by linne »

OMAN

We landed in Muscat in Oman in the morning, and I had made plans for several things, we should do during the day, among that have our first snorkel trip, since we visited USVI. We had really been looking forward to that.

But sometimes you have to change a plan, and the day began rather disappointing.

When we landed in the airport, we had to stay in line to get permission to come into the country.
It was cheaper than we have expected to have the permission due to the short time, we should stay there, and it didn’t take too long time. But when the luggage came, we missed a big suitcase. Finally we found it wrapped in plastic. Something was broken. We spoke with different people to complain and ended up in the office for the Emirates. The lady in the office said that the only thing, they could do for us was to repair the suitcase. They would find a large plastic bag, which we could take our luggage in, and after three or four days we could pick the suitcase up again at the office.

We were not satisfied with that solution. Our plan was to take a roundtrip, and we would not come back to Muscat before the day, we returned to Dubai. She could understand our problem and said that instead they would buy another suitcase for us, and we could choose it ourselves in a store not far away from the airport. We accepted, and she phoned after some money. We waited and waited, but finally a man brought her some money. After that she called a man, who should drive us to the mall, where the store was. He arrived, I think he was Indian or Pakistan, and we drove.

It turned out that the driver did not know the way to the mall, so it took some time before we arrived. In the store we found a suitcase, we could accept, but the driver told us that it was more expensive than the Emirates would pay. We said that we would pay the rest ourselves, which the lady accepted in the phone. It meant another delay because the driver then said that he needed to find an office, where they could split the bill in two bills. Finally he succeeded, and we were ready to go back to the airport. The next problem was now that he couldn’t find his car in the huge car park. Another delay. But we came back, put our luggage in the new suitcase and went out to find a taxi to drive us to our destination.

Then we had problems again. We should stay in a villa with bed and breakfast, and we had the address and a map, which showed the way. But the taxi drivers, which all seems to be foreign workers, couldn’t understand us. They only could ask “hotel?, and because we didn’t have a hotel name, they couldn’t help us. But one of them hailed another taxi driver, who said that he understood English. We were happy finally to come to the destination after all the delays, we have had, showed him the map and told him the address. During the trip however we became more and more restless and nervous, it seems for us, as if it was a wrong way, he drove. We tried to discuss it with him and found out that he only could understand a few words in English. Suddenly we ended up in a deserted place, which was a totally wrong place. I was a little scared, but Hubby found out that even though he was a taxi driver, he was not able to look at a map, and he probably couldn’t read either. Luckily we had a phone number to the villa, where we should stay. But the owner of the villa was German, and he couldn’t understand the taxi driver, instead he gave us a number to another guy, who could speak Arabic. So with help from this guy, we came to the right place.
We had been told that it would take about 20 minutes to come from the airport to the villa, but it had taken more than an hour. The driver wanted that we should pay him for the whole trip, which we refused. He became angry, and we ended up paying him most of the demanded amount. We could not take any more that day.

It was a nice villa and the lady, who welcomed us, was very friendly. The room was nice too, so I should be glad. But when I saw that there were big waves on the sea, so that it would be impossible to go out to snorkel, for me it was the straw that broke the camel of for that day, and I nearly began to cry. I was SO disappointed. My calm husband said that worse things could have happened, and he was right.


MUSCAT

After unpacking we found a place, where we had some lunch, hailed a taxi and went to Muscat to look at the city. The way to the city wasn’t something to talk about, a lot of traffic and several roads crossing each other. But the city is pretty.

We went into the old souk and from there we took a walk around in some of the narrow streets
in the old city.




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Then we strolled around near the harbour. I had to rest a little and sat alone on a bench, when an Arabian taxi driver stopped, and asked me in nearly perfect English, if he could help me with something. We had a little talk, hubby came, and the taxi driver was very eager to show us Muscat. We accepted, and he drove us around and told us a lot about the city and about himself. He worked for the Sultan in the morning, but later in the day, he often drove taxi. He has visited several European countries as a part of the Sultan’s company. Very interesting to talk with him about the Sultan and his life and of course also to see more of Muscat.




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By now we were being hungry, and our driver asked us, if we want to try some Oman food in a
restaurant, he could recommend. We said yes, and he drove us to the restaurant, spoke with the owner and told him, whom he should phone to bring us back to the villa, when we have had our meal. We had told him about our problem with taxi drivers not speaking English.

It was an authentic Oman restaurant, where the guests normally were sitting on the floor while dining. But they had a table, which people like us could use. Funny experience, and we had good and cheap food. No alcohol was served, but we knew that.



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The next day we decided to hire a car. It was too difficult with the taxi drivers, who could not find the villa. It also had been difficult for the driver from the last evening to find the place, even though he spoke some English. The owner of the villa told us that it was usual that many foreign workers do not know the names of the streets.


to be continued......
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linne
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by linne »

When the car was delivered, we went out to see the famous mosque in Muscat. It’s one of the biggest in the world and very luxuriously furnished. It was allowed for everybody to come in, but you should go on a blue runner rolled out at visiting hours. Of course you also need to be properly dressed, women wearing a scarf.

The mosque and the surroundings were very impressing.



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Near the mosque was also a large library and seats with computer screens, but surprisingly few users



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It was still too windy to go out to snorkel, so after the mosque we went to a supermarket and bought different goods among that some food for the evening. We had decided not to go out, but to prepare the meal in the villa and eat at the terrace with a view to the water. Also we could buy beer in the villa, which we couldn’t in a restaurant. A very cosy evening in the dark listening to the wawes.



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linne
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by linne »

The next day we started on our big roundtrip, where we have planned to see a lot of attractions.
We didn’t succeed in finding them all, because it wasn’t easy to find the way- not many signs and only a few people were able to speak English or German.

We were going south driving along the coast, and it was a very beautiful way with mountains, small fishing villages, nice beaches, idyllically river beds, sinkholes etc.



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and at some places people had built shelters




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Finally we ended up at the destination for the day
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linne
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by linne »

TURTLE BEACH RESORT

On a certain beach the green turtles regularly come ashore and lay their eggs at night.
I hoped that we would be able to have the experience to see it and have rented a hut in a resort very near the place. According to the resort it also should be possible to see coral reefs within their lagoon.

The hut was not exclusive, but sometimes we like to stay on this way.


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In the evening we had a buffet, which was included in the price together with breakfast.


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After the buffet it was time to drive to the place, where the sightseeing of the turtles started.
Everything was organized from a large research center (with a hotel too). We have ordered tickets from home, and just had to pay them. You were not allowed to go out in the area yourselves. You had to follow a guide. There were many people there, and we had to wait, until it was our turn. We could not be sure that we would see a turtle, so it was so exiting to follow the guide, who brought a special torch. It was strictly forbidden to disturb the turtles for example with a flash.

After perhaps half an hour’s search the guide signalled to us that we could come nearer, and we saw a big turtle in a whole, who has laid her egg, and now was covering the eggs with sand. So exiting to see! But the search wasn’t finished, the guide found another whole, where a very big turtle were laying her egg. I cannot describe, how fascinating it was to see these small golf balls coming out of the turtle one by one. I have seen it in TV, but it is something else to stand in Oman on a beach in the night and see it in reality.

As I told it was strictly forbidden to use flash to photograph. But an Indian female tourist in a long shirt could not resist the temptation and took a picture. The guide warned her, but she just took another one. Then the guide took her camera despite her protests. I liked that the guides really took care of not disturbing the turtles.

But we also would like to take a photo and see more turtles and found out that it was possible to join a trip at sunrise too. Not much sleep that night!

At four o’clock in the morning we were ready again. A little sleepy but excited, if we would see turtles this time too. We did! We saw two, who was ready to go back to the ocean after having covered the eggs.




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And then we had another unforgettable experience. Some of the eggs were hatched out and the baby turtles were on their way to the sea, while a large flock of gulls followed them and occasionally dived to snatch one of them. One of the baby turtles couldn’t find the way to the sea and took the opposite direction, and we were all following, what happened. A guide came and turned the turtle to the right direction, and it helped. But just about a meter before it reached the water, a seagull dived after the turtle, and you could hear a collective sigh from all the spectators. But happiness when we saw that the baby survived!



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The turtle beach


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When we came back to the resort, we rested a little, and then had our breakfast.
Our plan was to take a bath in the lagoon and then take a snorkel trip. But what surprised us was, that none at all was out snorkeling. You did not see any with snorkeling equipment even though there were several people at the beach. So we asked a man at the resort, where the coral reefs were, and went out to some big stones, where it should be. As far as we could see, there were only some dead corals in some cloudy water. Not very pleasant, so again no snorkeling.

Then it was time to pack our luggage and drive to the next destination, a primitive camp in the desert.


But this I will tell about in the next part. It was absolutely not my intention to write such at long topic, but when I begin to tell and show pictures, it’s always difficult for me to reduce the stuff.


Linne





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mindehankins
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by mindehankins »

This is an absolutely FASCINATING trip report, Linne!!! I would never ever be brave enough to venture where you are venturing, so I very much appreciate all the detail. Please don't censor yourself at all - this is just amazing. And thank you!
(and I'm so glad baby turtle made it to the water!)
cocosmom
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by cocosmom »

Line, don't reduce it, it is great and so are the pictures..
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toni
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by toni »

Please continue with the lengthy trip report. It's so interesting! Your English is excellent too :D

I was wondering in the one picture at the mosque, are those faucets for washing feet ?
I see that you have to remove your shoes; forgive me if I'm guessing incorrectly.

I am always impressed with people who go places where the language barrier can be so difficult and for me frustrating. The drive to the villa would have made me cry by the end.

Love the pictures too. Looking forward to more details. Thanks for taking the time to post!
PA Girl
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by PA Girl »

For me, trip reports can never be too long or have too many pictures. I love reading about your interesting trip. Did you bring your scarf from home?
Terry
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by Terry »

Linne,
Fascinating trip report. Well done.

I have seen the sea turtles hatch and crawl to sea in Florida and Mexico. It is amazing that they make it.

We have talked about a trip to Dubai and your trip report has made us want to go more. Not so sure about Oman though.!!!

My daughter just returned from Vietnam and an amazing trip down river on a house boat. That is a beautiful country!
Maggy
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by Maggy »

Hej Linne

What an exciting trip. Great pictures. Thanks for sharing.

Hoppas allt bra med dig :D !

Karin
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CBama
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by CBama »

Really enjoying your report!
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linne
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by linne »

toni wrote:
Your English is excellent too


I was wondering in the one picture at the mosque, are those faucets for washing feet ?
I see that you have to remove your shoes; forgive me if I'm guessing incorrectly.

Thank you for the compliment about my English, but I have to admit that it take a long time for me to write a report, because I need to look in the dictionary many times.

For example. We have an expression, which says “ that was the drop which made the cup run over”
which I found out, I have to tell as “ the straw that breaks the camel’s bag” . Have never guessed that without a dictionary.


And yes, the faucets are for washing the feets!

You are not allowed to go into a mosque with shoes. On one of the pictures from Dubai, there is a lot of shoes outside a mosque. It was so strange to see the different people entering the mosque for one of their daily prayers.

You see a businessman in an elegant suit and polished shoes coming and putting his shoes outside next to a laborer with worn sandals! Don’t know if people always find their shoes again.

PA Girl wrote: Did you bring your scarf from home?
No I bought it in the souk in Dubai. I had a smaller scarf in my luggage, but the day we were in the souk, I was freezing a little. There were a lot of small stores selling scarfs, and I found one in Cashmere wool to a low price. I was so happy for that scarf during the vacation. It was so warm, and later the same day we were on a sailing trip, where I used it too.

I have been in a Mosque before in Kuala Lumpur. I didn’t have a scarf with me, but I borrowed this

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Terry wrote:Linne,

My daughter just returned from Vietnam and an amazing trip down river on a house boat. That is a beautiful country!
I have wished for several years to come to Vietnam to see the spectacular nature. But then you are advised to take Malaria tablets, and I have found out that they are not good for me.


Maggy wrote:Hej Linne


Hoppas allt bra med dig :D !

Karin
[/quote]


Her alt vel. Så dejligt at ”se” dig igen

Hilsen Linne
mindehankins
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by mindehankins »

Actually, Linne, the saying is that "it's the straw that broke the camel's BACK." Meaning the same thing as your cup quote: you can hold up for just so long, when one tiny thing is just too much.
Keep these reports coming! Just loving them. You're a brave lady :)
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shoemak38
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by shoemak38 »

great report :D
DonnaM
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Re: A TR from Dubai and Oman, part 2

Post by DonnaM »

Great trip report! Thanks for taking the time to write it!
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