Sinbad and the Seafarers

Sinbad and the Seafarers
Muscat, Oman

13 - 17 April 2004 -Maggie and I took a little break and went to a neighboring country, Oman.

Sinbad the Sailor in legend, for Maggie and I, Oman is a place of stories from our childhoods. Sinbad is, however, a myth with roots in Oman! In past times, the Omani coast was a place of Portuguese Explorers, pirates and their buried treasures, and above all, historical forts.

After we decided to go, it was time for trip planning so it was over to Oman Air, run here in Qatar by Ali bin Ali Travel Bureau. The folks there arranged our hotel room at the Muscat Intercontinental as well as our flight. The flight turned out to be a circuit type that flies Muscat-->Bahrain-->Doha--> Muscat, so going to Muscat is fine but the return has you sitting on the tarmac at night for an hour and a half in Bahrain while the cleaners clean up the plane with you on board.

As far as the hotel is concerned, the Muscat Intercontinental is 28 years old and does not look it in the interior or exterior with the exception of the rooms, which are a bit dated. It was very clean and served us well. Service was outstanding and the staff very friendly, even greeting us by name after our late-night arrival on the 13th.

13 April 2004, Doha/Muscat -We took an evening flight to Oman from Qatar, and we realized Anton had picked up food poisoning in Doha. On arrival we passed through immigration/customs, and grabbed a cab to the hotel. We saw the Grand Mosque on the way, which was lit up and looked awesome. Travel Log

14 April 2004, Muscat, Oman - In the morning we picked up car, went to the National Museum in Ruwi, drove to the Muscat Corniche, saw the Merchants Houses, the Mutrah Souq (most interesting on the Arabian Peninsula, the Sultans Palace, and the Mirani and Jalali Forts, we had lunch at the Bandar Marina and then headed the other way, North of Muscat! We drove to the date palm orchards on the Batinah coast, saw some camels and then returned. Back at the hotel cleaned up and then had drinks down at the beach and dinner at Trader Vics. Travel Log

15 April 2004, Muscat, Oman - We woke up and Maggie slept in, went and explored the gym, and lounged at the pool. Anton went off to dive a local shipwreck (Oman is considered one of the top 10 dive locales in the world!). After an early dive Anton returned to the hotel in the late afternoon and we had a late lunch together. We left and searched for the Oman Fine Arts Center (we thought we found it...), and then did some grocery shopping for the next day at the supermarket to stock up on water (critical in the gulf) and food supplies. We then headed back to the hotel but drove right past it and found the Oman Fine Arts Center! We then headed to the hotel for dinner at Senor Picos and then crashed. Travel Log

Oman Overview, Between the 16th and 19th Centuries, Omani Sultans ruled over a trading empire that went from India all the way to the East Coast of Africa. By 1622 Oman was important enough for the Portugese to take it by force but the Omanis kicked them out by 1650. According to many accounts, Oman changed little between then and the 1970 Palace Coup that put Sultan Qaboos bin Said in power. He is the current ruler, and has turned the country around. Based on what Maggie and I heard from all the folks we spoke with, the Sultan is a tough character but fair-All seem to admire him and take pride in their country! Oman, as a result, is a real pleasure to visit.

Sunset in Muscat

Intercontinental Hotel, Muscat
This is the view off the beach behind the hotel we stayed at.

With the flight for 2, round trip and 4 nights in a double room, it worked out to be about 3310.00 Qatari Riyals (US$ 907) which was well worth seeing trees and mountains for. This was including the "Airport Room Service Charge" of QR 250.00 that was done up on a separate receipt... even though we did not stay at an airport :-)
Intercontinental Muscat

Europcar, Muscat
Toyota Landcruiser-Prado

As we intended to travel very far, and off the beaten path (areas rated 4 wheel drive only), we rented this and were quite satisfied. more

Muscat "Bulk Photos" Page - This is an area with only the pure photos, no descriptions etc. These photos can be found in from this main page, or the individual "Day" pages from our travel log. Bulk Photos Area

Currency
•	The currency in Oman is the Omani Riyal. It is subdivided into Baisa or "Baiza". Paper notes are 100 and 200 Baisa and 1/2, 1, 5,10, 20, and 50 OR notes.
•	The Omani Riyal is quite expensive. One Omani Riyal is worth US$ 2.60 !!!! For the Qatari Riyal the rate is 9.49 Qatari Riyal to One Omani Riyal.
•	Accomodation is quite expensive in Oman so you are best off booking a room with flight to get a better deal-Maggie and I normally do NOT do this but did in this case and saved a substantial amount. Travelling is cheap for rentals (relative) and if you are easygoing, you can use the buses which are EVERYWHERE.

Maps and Guides

For this trip, Maggie and I went with the old-standby, the Lonely Planet Guide to Oman and the United Arab Emirates, 2000 ed. It was good in that there was plenty of descriptions of how to find stuff and what to watch out for. Some things were plain wrong or dated though. As far as maps, for Muscat itself, we used the, <gulp> hotel map since it was about the best. For Oman, we just used the cutouts in our trusty Lonely Planet Guide (which mentioned plenty of maps you should buy but we did not need them) Keep in mind that Maggie and I are not afraid of stopping to ask directions from just about anyone we see to find our way along, even in the remotest of locations, and always carry extra water, gas, first aid kit, and toilet paper. On occasion, we find an opportunity to use some or all of these items !

oman flag-click for info!

Three horizontal bands of white, red, and green of equal width with a broad, vertical, red band on the hoist side; the national emblem (a khanjar dagger in its sheath superimposed on two crossed swords in scabbards) in white is centered near the top of the vertical band.

Khanjars

One of the most distinctive components of men's traditional Omani dress is the curved dagger or Khanjar. They are worn on important occasions and in rural areas still every day. Traditionally the handles were made of rhino horn or Ivory, although today, they are made mostly of wood, plastic or antlers.
Khanjars differ mainly in two designs, the more basic one with four rings and the Sayidi Khanjars with five rings, which about two generations ago were worn by the Al- Busaid ruling family members. Regular Khanjars are decorated entirely, or almost entirely of silver thread, the intricacy of the thread pattern and the skill of execution are the main determinants of
value. Sayidi Khanjars are often covered entirely with silver sheet with no or little thread.

Maggie

16 April 2004, Muscat, Oman - Exploration time, Anton and Maggie Style ( Over 800 kilometers which is about 497 miles, and alot was off-road). We went to Nizwa and saw the famous Souq and fort there, Bahla, the Jabrin Fort and then left for the high country. The fort at Bahla is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We then raced for Jebel Shams, which is in the high mountains in Oman and ended up at the top (elevation 2000- meters or 6561 feet). There is what is supposed to be the second biggest canyon in the world next to the Grand Canyon, and it was awesone-lots of photos! The last 41 kilometers are dirt and rock paths so it was real fun with the Prado Landcruiser. We then came back down and went to Wadi Nakher (meeting and giving a lift to a farmer and his children), Misfah, and back to Muscat stopping at the famous travel standby (McDonalds) when we got back to Muscat. Skipped evening drinks and went to bed DEAD TIRED. Travel Log

17 April 2004, Muscat, Doha - Woke up late (07:30) which was no surprise after the previous day. Had the car washed (the actually give you a ticket for several hundred US $ for a dirty car, no exceptions), and went to the National Museum in Muscat proper. We returned the car to Agnelo and met Ahmed who drove us back to the hotel. Ahmed is very proud of Oman and rightly so-He should work for the tourism authority! We lounged by the pool until about 3pm, got the bags from the room, Anton broke his toe on the bags, and we checked out. We took a cab to the airport sat for a bit, and then fly home to Doha, landing very late at night. Travel Log