Let's Talk About Oman

Oman is definitely my favorite Middle Eastern country that we have visited thus far. It has beaches, mountains, and beautiful people. Although the dress is more conservative, and there isn't as much food variety (for me anyway), it is a country that we would love to go back to. The people in Oman are very friendly in comparison to other Gulf countries. They greet you with warm eyes and have no problem striking up conversations with foreigners. Oman also has calm highways and side streets where all drivers follow traffic signs and rules…something that never happens in Kuwait.

The grandeur (and simplicity) of Omani homes and buildings remind me of Agrabah…that’s the city in Aladdin for non-Disney watchers. I’ve been playing my Aladdin playlist non-stop since we’ve come back!

Wadi Al Shab

We woke up early on our first full day to make the hour and a half drive from Muscat to an oasis in the middle of nowhere. When you arrive at the base of the mountain there are small boats waiting to take you across a small body of water. The hike begins immediately after the short boat ride. We arrived at the first pool after about 45 minutes of flat land hiking, crossing boulders and small streams. When you first set your eyes on this place words like 'beautiful' and 'amazing' just don’t have the weight to them to describe what we saw. It was a surreal moment to be in this place, and totally worth all of the work to get to it. The fresh water pool is crystal blue down to the deepest depths and slightly freezing. This is where I sat on the side while the others continued because I know my limits when it comes to swimming. AJ says you have to swim for about 10 minutes to get to the second pool. From there you swim through a cave entrance with a 25-foot waterfall. Everyone else went through the pools and came back to meet me before making our way down.

 

 

 

 

Souk

The souk is a traditional Arab marketplace where tons of random artifacts are sold. You can find anything from scarves and jewelry to fabric and gold lamps. The prices are typically negotiable as long as you are a good bargainer. We walked around the souk for about an hour and half before the heat got the best of us. We stumbled upon one store where the owners started opening packages and dressing everyone up Arab style. (I'm sure this is a tactic frequently used when foreigners are walking through) A kuma is a hand embroidered, custom fit hat that all of the Omani men wear. These caps originated in Zanzibar, Africa which apparently has historical ties to Oman. The men wear just a kuma or some dress it up even more with a matching massar (wool turban) on top. AJ already has a turban from our desert safari in Dubai, so he decided to just get the kuma for 2 rials (about $5). He wore it around the souk and it was so neat to see Arab men nod to acknowledge him, and one group even complimented him and Joe.  

 

 

 

 

Breakfast of Champions

No one does breakfast like America (whoo, something our country has right!). It is actually kind of sad because breakfast is my favorite meal so there is nothing but disappointment here. Breakfast tacos, sausage, waffles, grits, bacon, flaky biscuits…ugh such a foreign concept around these parts. I stumbled upon D’Arcy’s Kitchen from my Trip Advisor stalking that I do before trips. It is a hidden gem in Muscat that totally made my day for TWO mornings. Yes, we ate there back to back because breakfast is important! This place has the sweetest employees, the cutest setup, and the most “normal” breakfast that I’ve had on our vacations here. Shout out to D’Arcy’s!

 

 

Beach

We traveled to two beaches, Quram and Qantab. The first beach we visited was Quram which is about 10 minutes outside of the capital city of Muscat. This beach was really nice and went on for miles and miles. It didn’t have the typical layout of a beach because the tide comes up really far so there isn’t any dry sand. Nonetheless, we had fun taking pictures, looking at seashells, and watching the exciting life of crabs.

 

 

 

Qantab beach was the best of the two public beaches in Muscat. The drive takes you away from the city up into the mountains. At one point, we were certain that we were lost because it seemed like we were surrounded by mountains on all sides. We turned off the main road and went through a beautiful mountain landscape to find a small town placed in a valley. This beach seemed to be untouched by anyone outside of the people that lived in this town. It was perfect. Well…almost! This beach had regular sand, but it also had tons of rocks at the water’s edge. Ouch! We relaxed here for a while before making our way back through the mountains into town.

 

 

Mohammed Al Ameen Mosque

We saw this beautiful building on the first night we arrived as we drove to our hotel. I’m still convinced that Princess Jasmine lives there. We discovered that daylight doesn’t do this place justice, so we visited at night. It was relatively empty and quiet except for a few young men who were practicing their prayers. I would love to go inside next time!

 

 

The next blog post will be in 2017 after our winter break in Africa!