Back to Melbourne via HK

Just for a little information for you so you know my next movements. My contract finishes up here in Doha on the 15th January. I fly out that morning to Hong Kong for a week with some girlfriends for some shopping and general shenanigans. On about the 20th Jan I will then be flying to Melbourne where I’ll be staying with my lovely Uncle Roger and his darling girlfriend Andrea. I may take a road trip to Adelaide to visit my two good friends Lauren and Rebecca and have a look at the great ocean road as I have not yet been along it! This is all depending on employment however!
I will be in Melbourne for at least 6 months. At this stage I have nothing else planned other than a big party with my family in New Zealand in July. For all of you still in Melbourne I still have the same mobile number so we will have to catch up so I can tell you all about what I have been up to and you can share with me all that I have missed out on in the last 7 months! Look forward to seeing everyone soon!


Christmas and New Years

Oooooohhhh I’m so excited. Only one month exactly till I go to Egypt! I have always wanted to go there and I have finally booked my ticket and tour and I’m going. A 14 day tour in Egypt with 4 great chicks! Will tell you all about it when I get back! Will be there for xmas and new years, so exciting.

Torch Relay

To my excitement last month I received a text message from Q-post the local postal service, to say that I had been selected to run in the torch relay for the 15th Asian Games! Yay!!!
The Doha 2006 Torch Relay is the longest relay in the history of the Games; travelling over 50,000 kilometres to 15 countries and regions in more than 50 days


Torchbearers selected to carry Asian Games' Flame through Qatar.

In an overwhelming response to the call, Qatari residents in the thousands applied to be bearers of the Asian Games Flame through the host country of the 15th Asian Games. The Torchbearers will carry the Flame to its final destination at Khalifa Stadium where it will ignite the Cauldron and officially open the Games on 1 December 2006.

The final selection has been made and 1,000 Torchbearers, members of the community, sponsors, athletes, celebrities and VIPs will relay the Asian Games Flame from 25 November, when it arrives on Qatar's shores, carried by Official Torch Relay Ambassador H.E. Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al-Thani. Qatari residents from 67 countries and regions will carry the Flame through areas including Al Shamal, Dukhan, Al Wakra, Al Khor and finally to Doha and on to Khalifa Stadium for the Opening Ceremony.

Don’t worry there will be lots of pics! I am running on the 1st December, the day of the opening ceremony and mum and dad will be here to catch it all on flim!!

Hi there peoples, thought It was time I wised you up a little on this country that I live in! Thanks to the help of Wikipedia of course - some random info just for you....


Qatar

Qatar officially the State of Qatar is an emirate in the Middle East and Western Asia, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south; otherwise the Persian Gulf surrounds the state.

History
Qatar forms one of the newer emirates in the Arabian Peninsula. After domination by Persians for thousands of years and more recently by the Ottoman Turks, and finally by the British, Qatar became an independent state on September 3, 1971. Unlike most nearby emirates, Qatar declined to become part of either the United Arab Emirates or of Saudi Arabia.

Although the peninsular land mass that makes up Qatar has sustained humans for thousands of years, for the bulk of its history the arid climate fostered only short-term settlements by nomadic tribes. Clans such as the Al Khalifa and the Al Saud (which would later ascend the thrones of Bahrain and of Saudi Arabia respectively) swept through the Arabian peninsula and camped on the coasts within small fishing and pearling villages. The clans battled each other for lucrative oyster beds and lands, frequently forming and breaking coalitions with one another in their attempts to establish territorial supremacy.

The British initially sought out Qatar and the Persian Gulf as an intermediary vantage point en route to their colonial interests in India, although the discovery of oil and other hydrocarbons in the early twentieth century would re-invigorate their interest. During the nineteenth century, the time of Britain’s formative ventures into the region, the Al Khalifa clan reigned over the Northern Qatari peninsula from the nearby island of Bahrain to the west. Although Qatar had the legal status of a dependency, resentment festered against the Bahraini Al Khalifas along the eastern seaboard of the Qatari peninsula. In 1867, the Al Khalifas launched a successful effort to quash the Qatari rebels sending a massive naval force to Wakrah. However, the Bahraini aggression was in violation on the 1820 Anglo-Bahraini Treaty. The diplomatic response of the British to this violation set into motion the political forces that would eventuate in the founding of the state of Qatar. In addition to censuring Bahrain for its breach of agreement, the British Protectorate (per Colonel Lewis Pelly) asked to negotiate with a representative from Qatar. The request carried with it a tacit recognition of Qatar’s status as distinct from Bahrain. The Qataris chose as their negotiator the respected entrepreneur and long-time resident of Doha, Muhammed bin Thani. His clan, the Al Thanis, had taken relatively little part in Persian Gulf politics, but the diplomatic foray ensured their participation in the movement towards independence and their dominion as the future ruling family, a dynasty that continues to this day. The results of the negotiations left Qatar with a new-found sense of political selfhood, although it did not gain official standing as a British protectorate until 1916.

The reach of the British Empire diminished after the Second World War,especially following Indian independence in 1947. Pressure for a British withdrawal from the
Since 1995, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani has ruled Qatar, seizing control of the country from his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani while the latter vacationed in Switzerland. Under Emir Hamad, Qatar has experienced a notable amount of sociopolitical liberalization, including the enfranchisement of women, a new constitution, and the launch of Al Jazeera, the controversial Arabic language satellite television news channel. Qatar ranks as the eleventh richest country in the world per capita.

Qatar served as the headquarters and one of the main launching sites of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
In 2005, a suicide-bombing killed a British teacher at the Doha Players Theatre, shocking a country that had not previously experienced acts of terrorism. It is not clear that the bombing was committed by an organized terrorist group, and although the investigation is ongoing there are indications that the attack was the work of an individual, not a group.
The United States Armed Forces Unified Combatant Command unit for the Middle East theater, known as CENTCOM (US Central Command), has its headquarters in Qatar. Qatar also hosts a large United States Air Force base.


Quran

The Qur'ān literally "the recitation"; also called "The Noble Qur'an is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe the Qur'an, in its original Arabic, to be the literal word of God that was revealed to Muhammad over a period of twenty-three years until his death. Muslims regard it as God's final revelation to humankind and view it as the closest thing to a part of God in the world. Muslims also call the Qur'an the "Final Testament", "The Book", "Book of God" or "The Revelation."

The Qu'ranic revelations were originally memorised by Muhammad's companions as Muhammad spoke them, with some being written down by one or more companions on whatever was at hand, from stones to pieces of bark. Compilations of the Qu'ran began under the Caliph Umar, but it was Uthman who decided upon a definitive copy and destroyed all other versions. All Muslims use the same Qur'an with no differences among the sects. The Qu'ran has never changed in substance since. Muslims generally consider it to be the most beautiful book in Arabic.
The Qur'an consists of 114 chapters (surahs) with a total of 6236 verses.


Blood Money

Qisas (blood Money) is an Islamic term, money paid as a fine to the next of kin of somebody who was killed. It literally means "equal" or "balanced".
It is money paid as a fine to the next of kin of somebody who was killed intentionally or unintentionally. Islam has not prescribed any specific amount for Diyat nor has it obligated to discriminate in this matter between a man or a woman, a slave or a free man and a Muslim or a non-Muslim; however its quantity, nature and other related affairs have been left by the Qur’an upon the customs and traditions of a society.

Islamic and Arab tradition

The law of Diyat was in force in Arabia before the advent of Islam. The Qur’an directed to pay Diyat just according to this law both in case of intentional as well as un-intentional murder. In Islamic and Arab traditions, blood money is the fine paid by the killer or his family or clan to the family or the clan of the victim. It is unlawful for a believer to kill a believer except if it happens by accident. And he who kills a believer accidentally must pay Diyat to the heirs of the victim except if they forgive him. The tradition finds repeated endorsement in Islamic tradition; several instances are recorded in the Hadith, which are the acts of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Blood-Money tradition has found its way into legislation in several Islamic countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Pakistan. Some of these countries also define, by lawful legislation, a hierarchy of rates for the lives of people; religious affiliation and gender are usually the main modulating factors for these Blood Money rates. Some examples are presented below.

In Saudi Arabia, when a person has been killed or caused to die by another, the prescribed blood money rates are as follows

· 100,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
· 50,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
· 50,000 riyals if a Christian man
· 25,000 riyals if a Christian woman
· 6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
· 3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman.

Blood money is to be paid not only for murder, but also in case of unnatural death, interpreted to mean death in a fire, industrial or road accident, for instance.
So if someone has a car accident, even if it’s not their fault and people in the cars involved lose their lives it is likely they will have to pay sums of money to the families of those people who lost their lives.



Cannot Run Here

Bec Jess and I decided to go for a run Monday night so we met up at the Qatar sports stadium. We found a small running track and started jogging around it. To our surprise when we got to the other side of the track a man came up to us and told us that we were not allowed to run on the track as there were men training and it was club policy that women were not allowed to be present when they were training.

Maybe we would be too much of a distraction for them!

Ok so once again there has been delay with my blog postings as I have had another holiday journal to write. This time it was to Oman for 5 days. Such a beautiful country. I have not added photos with each entry just a whole random selection. More to come on the time I have missed since the last entry. Hope you are all doing really well!

Day One

Flight – Qatar airways 7:40am to Muscat arrived 9:50am

The view out of the window as we began our decent into Muscat was breathtaking. In the lightening morning the clay brown mountains emerged from the morning cloud and appeared taking up the entire view below. At one stage the plan turned and my window came face to face with the seemingly endless beautiful view.

The airport was very fast and easy to get out of. Once again it was a great thing to be a Kiwi, as with Turkey I didn’t have to pay for a visa like the Australian and American traveling with me. This does however have one downside as I don’t get a cool sticker just a measly old stamp in my passport!

Just when we thought we had suffered enough having to endure Ramadan for the past month meaning we could finally eat in public during daylight hours. Eid, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, had begun in Doha that morning but in Oman, as we painfully discovered, they had managed to get it wrong and therefore they still had one more day of Ramadan. This means no eating and drinking in Public and that most of the shops are closed during the day.

We exited the airport and went in search of the allusive mini busses that Steph was determined to find to add a little culture to our trip, and they are dirt cheap. We were harassed by at least a dozen taxis on the way out of the airport gates and after waking along the highway footpath to what we though was a bus stop (actually advertising) we gave in and climbed into a taxi, not before asking the price and checking this against the Lonely Planet recommendation. None of the taxis in Oman are metered so you have to do your bargaining before setting out on your journey.

I had been out for Ifta the night before at the Ritz Carlton, a lovely evening with spectacular food and surroundings. However 4 hours sleep was catching up on me and I regretfully nodded my head on numerous occasions, missing the drive to the lovely cornice Hotel where we would be spending that night.

We walked through the door of the dodgy hotel, checked in and went up to the room. There were only 2 beds so they brought up a mattress and put it on the floor for our third person, what service. I was falling asleep all over the place and opted to have a quick nap while Steph and P.K. went across the street to check out the fish market. They arrived back with bananas for lunch and we started to plan our afternoon.

We set out along the cornice in search of the walled city of Muscat from our hotel in Mutrah. It was about 2km walk along the shoreline and it was a reasonably warm day. We spent a while sitting in the shade of a tree cooling down and trying to avoid these large hornet things which were patrolling the area, and our thirst temptations as it was Ramadan.

There was a museum inside the gate of the city which spanned the width of the road but the area was disserted save for a guard whom I tried to get to strangle PK or point his gun at him for a photo. He was not going to comply!

We continued from the gate through some old traditional houses into the centre of Muscat. There was almost no-one around and the city had an empty feel about it. Almost everything was closed, but we managed to find a shop to buy some water. When we tried to drink it in his shop however he became very concerned that police would show up and he would get in trouble because of Ramadan, I though it would be ok inside the shop when he had just sold it to us, what did he expect us to do with it?

We walked along to the Sultans Palace and took a while to find it as we had expected it to look rather more spectacular. Down on the water a group of young boys were trying their luck at tropical fishing with reasonable success, showing us how they kill the fish by swinging it around hook in mouth on the fishing line and hitting it on the ground, gross.

From there we took a taxi to Al Bustan a famous hotel on the list of 1,000 places to see before you die. We tried to get into the private beach area but were turned away by the security guard when we couldn’t come up with a room number. Walked outside onto the large verandas and roof to take pictures of the beautiful view. Tropical and enchanting.

Took a cab to LuLu Hypermarket to get some lunch. All of us were very thirsty and almost couldn’t stand the teasing of purchasing a cold can of drink and not being able to open it until we got back to the hotel. At my attempt to open the can, the ring pull snapped, so I took to it with my key as though it was the last drink I was going to have. The three of us sat in our crappy hotel room eating butter chicken and Pringles, breaking fast at least 2 hours early!

We sat for a white flipping through the pages of the LP and letting our lunch settle, then it was out again to look around the Souqs. We found frankincense which was interesting as Oman is considered to have the best quality frankincense and was a gift given to baby Jesus.

Frankincense or olibanum is an aromatic resin used in incense as well as in perfume.
Frankincense is tapped from Boswellia trees through slashing the bark and allowing the exuded resins to harden. Tapping is done 2 to 3 times a year with the final taps producing the best resin. High quality resin can be visually discerned through its level of opacity. Omani frankincense is said to be the best in the world, although quality resin is also produced in Yemen and along the north coast of Somalia.
The name for this resin likely comes from “incense of Franks” since it was reintroduced to Europe by Frankish Crusaders. Although it is better known as “frankincense" to westerners the resin is also known as olibanum, which is derived from the Arabic al-lubán ("the milk") a reference to the milky sap tapped from the Boswellia tree. Some have also postulated that the name comes from the Arabic term for "Oil of Lebanon" since Lebanon was the place where the resin was sold and traded with Europeans. Compare with Exodus 30 : 34, where it is clearly named levonah, meaning either "white" or "Lebanese" in Hebrew.
The lost city of Ubar, sometimes identified with Irem in what is now the town of Shisr in Oman, is believed to have been a centre of the frankincense trade along the recently rediscovered 'Incense Road'. Ubar was rediscovered in the early 1990s and is now under archaeological excavation.
Frankincense is used in perfumery and aromatherapy. Olibanum essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of the dry resin. Frankincense was lavishly used in religious rites. According to the Bible's Gospel of Matthew 2:11, gold, frankincense and myrrh were among the gifts to Jesus by the magi 'from out of the east'. The growth of Christianity depressed the market for frankincense during the fourth century CE. Desertification made the caravan routes across the Rub al Khali or 'Empty Quarter' of Arabia more difficult. Additionally, increased raiding by the nomadic Parthians in the Near East caused the frankincense trade to dry up after about 300 CE.

Our next destination was Bayt Az-Zubair a museum which was closed unfortunately, due to Ramadan, earlier on in the day but had said it would be open by 9pm. We told the taxi to return in an hour. The museum was still closed in fact so we wend across the road to the art gallery which I was sure had lights on and a sign out in front a few minutes before. I knocked on the door hardly expecting to have some one open it who was hardly expecting to find me on the other side of it. The owners kindly showed us in and we very much enjoyed taking in some of the local art work and souvenirs.

We walked to the palace area where we had been earlier in the day and sat there taking photos and trying to get the best night settings on our cameras as we had a while to wait before the taxi came back. We then went across the road to a small coffee shop to get some drinks. The streets were filled with kids running and biking and playing games. They loved seeing us and would repeatedly say “hello, how are you” and run away laughing. One small boy came over to us and shook my and P.K's had but wouldn’t shake Steph's, P.K. thought that was hilarious and maybe the highlight of the trip!

It was then time to head back to our lovely residence and get a good sleep for the 2 day tour we started the next day.

Day Two

After a reasonably unattractive breakfast of greasy omelet, flowery bread and condensed milk in our coffee, yuck!, we checked out of the hotel and jumped into a 4wd with our driver Sulaiman.

We drove towards Sinaw to visit the souqs but decided to turn back as it was the first day of Eid and likely to be closed. Instead we continued on to the next stop on our journey which was Ibra.

To Ibra - gateway to the Sharqiya Region. Many watchtowers on the surrounding hills pay silent tribute to its past strategic importance. Remains of grand fortified houses and forts abound. A testimony to its past close trading links with East Africa are the falaj system, financed by influential merchants residing in Zanzibar, and their fine houses built on returning to their hometown.

On the way we passed the city of Fanja where we could pick out old irrigation systems that had been set into the waddi. Oman is very mountainous and there is a lot of rainfall. During the rainy months of December and January the valley fills with water. The Omani's have set up intricate water ways to capture all this water flowing down from the mountains and direct it into their homes, water ways and gardens.

As we continued to drive we witnessed the magnificent sight of the mountains turning into the dessert. We stopped at the village of Al-Mdayib which was fascinating. An ancient old city that was now mainly ruins but upon which a new city had been built. We met a group of young boys all dressed up for the holy celebration of Eid who were having a great time lighting small fireworks and running away from them as they erupted. They threw a couple into an old tower and then proceeded to take us up to it and after clambering over walls on planks they laid against them we made it to the entrance of the tower. Absolutely pitch black and the stairs were kinda squiggly which was a little unnerving. I had about 5 young kids behind me in the dark so I had to keep going up though it was pretty scary and I wasn’t really sure why I was doing it! Trying not to touch the walls I made my way out into the day light and saw the view of the entire city and then the dessert and the mountains stretching out on either side, with date plantations running through it. On the way back down the tower stairs I was taking photos with the flash to try and put some light on the steps, at one stage I took a picture and there was a bloody bat in the frame flying straight towards me! I got out of there pretty fast! When we came out of the tower we went into an old room and there were more bats, dead and alive all over the place, so grody.

Back in the car and we stopped off at Al Qabil for a lunch of traditional stewed meat and Biryani rice. Then we dove to the Wadi Bani Khaled, one of the largest wadis in Oman. Nestled deep in the mountains, it is a true oasis. Water cascades down the gorge forming cool blue-green pools, fed by underground streams flowing from within the surrounding limestone hills. Perennial flowing streams of spring water carried in aflaj (man-made channels) cling precariously to the rugged terrain and supports villages in the area.

Along the way there was a group of Omani’s slaughtering a goat on the side of the road, apparently they bring it down to the wadi to wash it. Don’t know how effective that is as it then sits out in the sun with flies all over it while they wash the bloody pieces. Gross! The wadi was packed, again as it was the first day of Eid, a massive holiday in the Muslim religion. People everywhere picnicking, swimming, rock jumping and walking up the gorge to see the caves. We did a bit of a climb up one side of the gorge to check out the view.

We passed Al Kamil heading towards the coast and stopped to take pictures of the cliffs in the setting sun and then drove on to the turtle camp where we would be spending the night. We sorted out our room and then went and hung out with Sulaiman. Dinner was at 7pm and consisted of beautiful tender lamb, tika chicken rice and lentils. After dinner we managed to sneak in with the locals for a spot of shisa smoking before getting ready to go to the beach to see turtles laying their eggs. We climbed into the 4wd and drove to a private beach as the main beach was too full, being Eid. We had not been told to bring a torch so it was pretty difficult to walk around as it was pitch black. The sand was uneven and unpacked from the turtles digging their holes so every now and then you would lose a leg into it. We saw 4 enormous turtles but unfortunately they were not laying. Our group was quite large and there were lots of noisy children and people using their torches and camera flashes although we had been advised not to as it distracts them. We stayed on the beach for an hour and the guides then told us to go back to the camp and that we would have another opportunity to see them in the morning at 4:30am.
Back at the camp after being mesmerized by the breathtakingly clear starry sky and seeing some shooting stars, we decided to sleep outside on large wooden slat beds. We pulled our beds apart and took everything outside. Some rude Americans next to us piped up about our use of the camera flash in the dark as we didn’t realize they were there. All the camp lights were turned off after midnight and I had a hell of a time trying to pee by moonlight in the toilets as there was no light anywhere.

Day Three

It was very dewy during the night and there were lots of bugs so I wrapped my head up in my shawl. Which ended up being a good idea as the pillow was wet when I woke up and I would have had cold wet hair. Steph had set ser alarm for 4:30am as we were able to go out and see the turtles again. There didn’t seem to be anyone around but we got up and ready to leave the camp, found Sulaiman, in the dark and wondered around trying to figure out what was going on. No one could find Ali the man who was supposed to take us to the beach. In the end it was starting to get light so Sulaiman took us to the beach. Unfortunately by the time we go there the tide had come in and all that was left on the beach were some turtle tracks, egg shells and fox prints. Not giving up Sulaiman then took us along to the main beach. A crowd was gathered on the beach so we went to investigate and found a large turtle digging a hole. There were lots of people standing all around it and they all thought they were conservation experts, telling each other what to do where to stand and not to use their camera flash, while doing stupid stuff themselves. Very funny to listen too. The turtle just continued digging its hole and nothing much more was happening. We had spotted a bucket full of babies on the way in and so went back to look at them. There were probably 60 little babies, 1 day old all swimming around and climbing all over each other. So cute and tiny. We were able to pick them up and so took lots of pictures with them.

We came back to the camp a little disappointed that we had not seen any egg laying but happy to at least have seen some little babies. We had a breakfast of cheese, eggs and cornflakes and baby turtle….. just kidding!

After showers and collecting up all our stuff we packed back into the 4WD and were back on the road towards Sur. We stopped there to see an old shipping yard that is not longer highly operational. An ancient port and seafaring town which once played a major part in the trade between Oman, East Africa and India. It started its trading activities with the African coast as early as the 6th century. Today, craftsmen still build dhows following traditional designs without the aid of drawings. We had a chance to walk around the yard and were shown some miniature replicas of the large decorative dhows.

We then drove along the coast to Qalhat - one of the oldest towns and seaports of Oman. Built by the Persians, it was a major and prosperous city during the 13th century and the main port of trade with the Interior, famous for its exports to and imports of spices from India. We stoped at the enigmatic Bibi Mariam Tomb standing high on the cliff top. It wasn’t specifically spectacular but was an interesting stop and another reminder of how ancient this civilization was and the way they lived so many years ago. There are forts all over the country and we often wondered what it was exactly that they were guarding against.

Frequent civil wars between the sultan’s forces and tribal factions left the country vulnerable to the outside hostilities that eventually came in the form of the Portuguese. Alarmed by Oman’s naval strength ad anxious to secure Indian Ocean travel routes, the Portuguese launched a succession of attacks against Omani ports; by 1507 they managed to occupy the major coastal cities of Qalhat (near Sur, and mentioned in the journals of Ibn Battuta and Marco Polo), Muscat and Sohar. By 1650 Oman became a settled, unified state of considerable wealth and cultural accomplishment, with influences extending as far as Africa and Asia. Many of Oman’s greatest forts were built during this period including the impressive Nizwa Fort which we were to see later on in our journey.


From there the journey went off road. At this time the only coastal road between Sur and Muscat is a dirt road over the mountains. The other main highway goes through the centre of the country which is the way we went down. There is currently a road under construction and we could see the developments and the infrastructure as we drove along side it in the dirt. We stopped off at Wadi Shab which means gorge between cliffs. Very picturesque with turquoise water and lush green palms and vegetation. The orange cliffs complete the view glowing in the sun high above the water and trees. I was desperate for the loo and at the though of having to wait 10 – 15 mins to find some smelly dirty toilet in some random village I set off in search of a suitable cover.

Along the coastline we passed Fins and Bimah with many tiny coves tucked beneath the cliffs and stretches of white sandy beaches lapped by an incredible turquoise sea. Near Dibab is a huge sinkhole known as Bait Al Afreet - "house of the demon" - with clear green water. Concrete steps lead down the sides making swimming possible. This was the most beautiful sight and so inviting for swimming but we had to press on to get back to Muscat. Unfortunately our driver was missing out on the Eid holiday with his family and seemed to be in a great rush to get us dropped off. The drive back was a little uncomfortable as was on uneven dirt roads and he wasn’t taking his time. The view from the top of the mountains was breathtaking. We drove though a large gorge that reminded me of the photos I have seen of the grad canyon. The rock is an orange colour and they are huge!

We were dropped off at Muscat airport where we bid farewell to Sulaiman and went to collect our car from the hire company before setting out rather unsuccessfully into the unknown to find some local food, not takeaways! Ended up eating at KFC as we couldn’t find anything suitable. Steph directed us to the beach and we clambered out to have a walk along the sand. The beach stretched out as far as we could see in either direction and the tide was way out providing lots of space for people to walk and play. There were people everywhere enjoying the mid afternoon sun and playing in the water. We had booked a hotel but decided to drive down to Nizwa as it was only 4pm and we were going there the next day anyway. This would give us more time to explore before having to bring Steph back to catch her plane home. The drive down was almost all in the dark and so there wasn’t much to see. We had found an English radio station but it soon went out of range and it was back to Steph's question time! That’s how we spent most of the time traveling, taking turns coming up with questions that we all had to give answers too. When we arrived in Nizwa we checked into our guest house and then headed into the town. There was a large fort in the centre of the town and there were lots of people walking around. Played soccer with some young local boys who were very impressed with my skills at being a girl while the other young girls looked on eager to join in, but reserved and giggling!! So cute. Steph was in love with the Omani children and I was convinced that she was going to try and take one home! Brought fresh juice from a stall and then walked around inside the fort eyeing out the souqs and finding places to return to when open the following day. We found a number of stores with large amounts of pottery and local souvenirs all sitting outside in the open with no one guarding them. Nice to see that there is trust in a society. From there it was back to the hotel to sleep.

Day Four

Woke up at 6:30am and went down for a lovely breakfast at the guest house then it was out to explore Nizwa. Again because of the Eid holidays most of the markets were closed but we did manage to visit a lovely old fort that had been partly restored and was amazing. There were hundreds of rooms and it was fascinating to see how they had set up the home relating to the times. The wadi water system would have streamed into the fort providing water, toilets and showers through out. There were also kitchens, bedrooms and lounges that we could make out. There were stairs everywhere also on the roof and the view across the city was magnificent. We would have spent an hour or more walking up and down the stairs and exploring every inch of the fort. On the roof, stair cases led up to look out points and we had races up the side stairs. Brought souvenirs from the shop at very reasonable prices and then went to find the animal market. It was almost over but there were a number of trucks left housing some noisy little calves. People had come to purchase them and were poking and prodding the poor things trying to choose a fine specimen. They were making a lot of noise, especially one that was chosen, pulled out the back of the truck, tied up, dragged along the ground and thrown into the boot of someone’s car! I hope the cow did a nice big poo in the boot!!! They are only 2-3 months old, people buy them young and keep them for a couple of years before eating them. Almost went off beef.

We then drove out to Tanuf to see an ancient falaj or aqueduct built into the cliffs. Much of Oman’s bottled water comes from this small village. The channels, cut into the mountain sides, running across miniature aqueducts and double-deckering through tunnels, are responsible for most of the oases in Oman. The precious water is diverted firstly into drinking wells, then into mosque washing areas and at length to plantations, where it is siphoned proportionately among the village farms. There are over 4000 of these channels in Oman, some of which were built over 1,500 years ago. We climbed the channel and walked a fair way along it before turning back as the drop would have been over 100 meters and the walls were not that thick to walk on. Managed to get the car bogged in the stones even after we had laughed at another car that had been bogged and thought up a new route to insure we didn’t do the same thing. Of course PK was driving and not using his brain as usual. There was a lot of wheel spinning and some terrible smells coming from the tyres which we later realized was more break pads as PK had forgotten to remove the hand break.

The next destination was Bahla to visit another fort and a local pottery factory. On the way we stopped to explore some amazing ruins. You could see shelving and walls within the mud and straw moulds.
Bahla had a fort which was being renovated and we couldn’t find the pottery factory which was most likely closed anyway as was the souqs and all the shops in the area due to Eid. P.K. did provide some entertainment which his lack of driving and listening ability and getting lost in the maze of back streets. Upon asking why they were so skinny and it was stupid as you could get your car through. Steph gently reminded him that it was not likely that cars had been invented when when these houses were built!! Ha ha ha

We drove back to Muscat, asking and answering Steph’s questions along the way. We dropped Steph off at the airport and tried to book a room at the Salwadi Beach Resort for that night so that we could do some snorkeling the next day. We set out for the 1 ½ hour drive north to the Resort. There were not many sign posts and the map was not great. When we hadn’t seen a sign for a while we turned down this very dodgy road with no street lights! Got out to ask for directions at a small dairy shop. One gentleman offered for us to follow him but in the end with little help in direction we decided to keep driving. After about 20 mins we started seeing signs directing us to the right place.

Upon requesting a room we were told that they were full. Then they said someone had just cancelled and we could take the room. We had found out about the place in the Lonely Planet and the suggested rate for the room was 20-23 Omani Riyals ($85 AUD). Seemed like they were a little out of date as the best price we were given was $50 OR ($185 AUD) what a rip! But P.K was over driving and there was nothing else in the area so we decided to stay. Then the clincher came, there was only one bed! Ha I tried to tell the nice hotel man that we were brother and sister and could not share the same bed but he just laughed at me! GREAT!

There were heaps of people walking around and a large crowd at dinner watching a band on stage. Entertainment was arranged for a number of tour groups who where there for the Eid holidays. Dinner was out of our budget so we drove up the road in search of some kind of sustenance. Unfortunately the only things we could find were some dodgy “chicken” burgers, some gross stale sweet bread, processed triangle cheese and shitty looking packets of scary unsanitary chips. We took our feast back to the hotel room and ate, some of it. I opted for a melted muesli bar in place of the chicken burger! We headed out for a walk around and to check out the “entertainment” the band was pretty terrible and the dancing was extremely cheesy. Lots of older American and English people spinning around on the dance floor!
We booked in a session of shisa and sat there taking it all in.

Day Five

We woke up about 10am and had a breakfast of the cheese and gross bread! So gross!!!! Then went for a stroll out to the beach area to check out the scene. Enquired about snorkeling which was also a rip and far more than suggested by Lonely Planet but decided to do it anyway. Went and checked out of the hotel and then boarded a boat out towards some islands just off the coast. The snorkeling was great, lots of very colourful fish only the water was a little cloudy due to the number of boats that obviously flocked to the area. After two or so hours in the water the boat came back to pick us up and take us back to the main beach. We showered and got ready to make the trip back to Muscat.

The next planned stop was Barka to have a look at the interesting sounding town and try our luck at witnessing the bull fighting, or bull-butting as they call it, which was supposedly starting in November but we hoped there might be a training session or something. The fights move around the country but seeing as this was the area it originated we gave it a go. As we drove up to the ring we could see trucks pulling up and unloading these massive bulls with strange humps on their backs, they are called Brahmin bulls and are specially raised here by local farmers. The local men gestured for us to wind down our windows and invited us to return at 4pm when the entertainment would start.

We dove to the other side of the small town to investigate a fort, yes another one. Getting out of the car we spotted that it was near to the water and so we decided to take a stroll down to the water. We didn’t get far before we started smelling the fish sheds that were near to the beach. Thinking it would pass we continued walking and were hit with a whole batch of it as we kept walking. It got worse and worse and we had to turn back before even making it anywhere near the beach. I practically ran in the other direction as it was probably the worst smell I have ever smelt!!

The next thing on the agenda was lunch. I was not looking forward to this as most of the food we had had in Oman was reasonably disappointing and seeing that we were in a small town I didn’t like my chances of anything gourmet!
I decided on chicken fried rice which was ok, well in light of the breakfast I had had was like eating at the Burj!! HA!! But not too bad, the kind of food that you don’t think about, just eat and know that you are building immunity!!! Heehee

At about 4:30pm we headed back to the bull ring and found it teeming with mostly gentlemen in their national dress, possessing walking sticks that they used to prod the bulls. The fighting machines were the ugliest, largest, smelliest, pooey bumy-ist bulls I had ever seen and we didn’t sit in the front row for fear of the direction that their bottoms were pointing as they were tied to branches in the ground around the outside of the ring. One of the bulls near us had the sneezes and it was the funniest thing I have ever heard!!
The bulls were lead one at a time from each end of the circle into the center of the ring to flight. I’m not really sure how they win or what exactly they were doing but it seemed that if the bull lost it went home as one was taken out of the ring each time and loaded back into trucks. There wasn’t much excitement in the stands, a reasonably quite event aside from Mr. Sneezy and we kind of wondered what the point was as its illegal to bet on the bulls?

From Barka we drove back to Muscat and went in search of a movie theater to fill in some time before going to the airport. The only movies that were on finished too late to reasonably get back to the airport so instead we played some pool and table soccer.
It was then time to go to the airport, return the hire car and check in for our flight back to Doha.

We were so tied and were happy to get onto the plane for our short flight home. Oman is a beautiful country and out of the three Middle Eastern countries I have seen I would defiantly recommend Oman as a must see. It’s very picturesque with its mountains, beautiful lush green palms and desert sands. The beaches are stunning with crystal turquoise water and the locals love camping so there are lots of facilities. The local people are very friendly and love to interact with tourists. It was a fantastic holiday!





Other Memories of the Trip

Piles of hole on the beach – Steph freaking out! Don’t know what the piles were from, crabs or something but they looked like load of piles of doggy dun its. Grody!

Demerit points – for all the wrong things that were said!

Right PK!!

Sneezing in the sun – PK sneezes when ever he comes into the sunlight from a darker place??? Ummmm ok…..

Only Omani taxi drivers – in Oman there are certain professions which only Omani’s are allowed to do such as policemen and taxi drivers.

Every Omani gets a plot of land in the area they are registered in at one stage in their life. They can build a house on it, use it as farm land, what ever they like.

Doors and stairs obsession

Cush – “I want to wash my hands,” Steph “why what’s on them,” Cush – “Oman”
Down and up – tahead, fork! (tTe Arabic translation for the former) With the driver making very naughty suggestions at what the words meant and laughing at us and thinking P.K. lucky with two girls.