Oman…

What do you know about Oman?

Right. Probably nothing, or next to nothing. Which was the case with us, and which is also the reason we decided to go there. (Also, we wanted to catch a boat to India from there, since it’s the closest country in the Middle East to there. But no sir, not possible. Reasons for that require a seperate post about travel issues, I suppose..).

We got into Oman, or Muscat, to be precise, at 5 AM by plane. It was hot. There is no Couchsurfing and almost no Airbnb. And no hotels in walking distance from where the (very expensive) taxi dropped us. After 1 hour of walking in the musty heat, I managed to escape the wrath of my wife (40 degrees at a crazy humidity with a backpack on after only 2hrs of sleep in a plane is no fun situation, in her defense) by finding a hotel that we could afford. Although we almost passed out at first because of the strong smell (“That’s to make the ghosts go away, sir…”), we managed to get into our bed before actually doing so.

What else? Not that much, to be honest. We were forced to stay for an entire week, due to our passports being processed for the required visa at the Indian embassy. We rented a car, and set about to discover Oman. I’m not sure we did, even after driving close to 2000km, and I’m frankly not sure it’s even possible. We saw 90% hard-core desert (the ac was almost killed by the heat), and probably about 400km of (sometimes very beautiful) beaches. Shame you’re not allowed/supposed to swim at a single one of them.

Sounds pessimistic, and that’s how it felt, too. We could not get rid of the impression that the oil ressources somehow make tourism superfluous.

Fun stuff / facts, though:

1. Getting a small snack at the gas station will cost you more than filling up your car.

2. Green sea turtles can weigh up to 190kgs, and get to 200 years of age. Highlight: Watching them lay eggs and the young ones hatch at the beach at night.

3. Out of 1000 baby green sea turtles, about 3-5 survive. (The crabs waiting at the beach for the babys to find the ocean reminded me of a Nazi Blitzkrieg, somehow.)

4. Only Omani citizens are allowed to drive taxis. (Indians to pretty much everything else, though). Maybe that fact is what makes them so horribly expensive.

5. The Omani Rial is one of the most highly valued currencies in the world. One Dinar will set you back CHF 2.5, or USD 2.8. That’s quite tricky, ’cause you seem to be paying “so little”.

 

Our favorite spot in Oman was Wadi Shab, no doubt about that. Not too far from Muscat, this green valley shows a strong contrast to the surrounding desert, and actually holds amazing beauty – if you’re willing to walk/climb the 50 minutes to the fountain. Check out the little video we made.

[youtube video=http://youtu.be/xufDI7B3EZM]

Yes, it was as much fun as it looks here. Probably more.

All in all, we left Oman (by bus to Dubai) with mixed feelings. Nice people, amazing beaches, impressive desert – but a strange uncomforting emptiness. That’s what describes it best, for us: It’s….empty.