My friend Lindsay came on holiday from Australia just in time for my break from school! It was great to see her and catch up and wonderful for her and Felipe to get to know each other before the wedding. We decided to take a little road trip over to the capital of Oman, Muscat (Oman borders the UAE to the east). Normally I'm a meticulous planner before any trip but this time I'd been so preoccupied with completing everything for the end of term I'd barely booked a hotel. So with our gps ready we hopped in the car and set off on our 5 hour adventure!
The drive there was pretty cool, considering as soon as you get out of Dubai everything is desert and looks completely different. Not to mention you start encountering much more Arabic and much less English. We made it to the Omani border no problem. We had to walk in to get our visas, while we were filling out the paperwork we noticed a form someone had started and then abandoned - in one of the first boxes "type of passport" this person had written "normal", haha, no words. When we approached the counter with our passports and paperwork the woman assisting us was caught off guard by Felipe's passport from Chile. She said it was the first Chilean passport she'd ever seen and had to call her supervisor over for help! He also seemed quite confused and asked us multiple times what country if was from. Finally they had to pull out some reference book to get the information they needed! We made it through though and our journey continued...
When we arrived in Muscat we found it to be lovely, beautiful beaches and very nice architecture. It's not as showy as Dubai and has a more laid back, natural vibe and we found it to be a great contrast. Not to mention the Omani people are extremely friendly! Ladies do have to cover up a bit more though, it's definitely not as permissive as Dubai. It's best to have shoulders covered and avoid short shorts.
We were pleasantly surprised when we checked into our hotel. It was a nice 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, more than expected! And at a very good price. Upon arrival we were hungry and looking to get a feel for the city so we decided to inquire at reception. We walked downstairs and Lindsay asked an employee there, "If you had one night in Muscat what would you do?", the guy looked really uncomfortable and didn't have a clue how to respond. His eyes kept going back and forth and I don't really think he understood what we were looking for. There was an awkward silence and then we simply asked if he could recommend a place to eat nearby. He told us we were quite close to a hotel called The Chedi and we should head there. We asked if we could walk and again he looked confused. He said yes he supposed we could walk there and so we set off with vague directions of how to get there...
As soon as we started walking we immediately understood while although our destination was very close walking was not recommended/ he looked at us like we were crazy for asking. It was not extremely pedestrian friendly and we ultimately found ourselves walking along an unlit dirt road, having to jump over into the brush whenever cars drove by. Luckily we were all able to find the humor in the situation and laughed our way through it. As we neared the end of the dirt road we encountered a stunning hotel in front of us. Come to find out The Chedi is a five star luxury hotel...
We walked in, started exploring and made our way out toward the pools (following signs for restaurants). We stopped for Felipe to take our picture when we were approached by a guy in a chef's hat. He offered to take a picture of the three of us so we said of course. He then asked us where we were eating and we said we weren't sure so he started to tell us about each of the restaurants and recommended the restaurant by the long pool. He then walked us there and he and Lindsay began chatting about Australia (because he was clearly Australian). Once we got to the restaurant he got us a table and told us he hoped we enjoyed Oman and was off. A few minutes later some sparkling wine was served to us and the waiter said it was "compliments of Chef David", we were all so impressed it seriously made our night, if not our trip ha. We though it was so nice, such a simple gesture on his part that took no effort yet was so incredibly thoughtful and just nice. We immediately decided we loved Oman. Needless to say we talked about Chef David and his kind gesture many times over the weekend. We had wonderful sushi and wine by the pool and agreed whatever we did the next day, The Chedi would be part of our itinerary.
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and set off to explore. We went and saw the beach and the coastline, some old forts and the souq (a market). We knew we'd be touring the mosque the next day and so I was in search of an abaya. I figured I might as well purchase one because I'm assuming I'll tour other mosques while I live in the UAE. I found a nice one for a good price and I'm now the proud owner of my very own abaya:)
We then grabbed lunch and headed back to the hotel to shower and change and of course head back to our favorite spot, The Chedi! This time we started by the long pool, had a couple drinks and an appetizer then moved inside for some fine dining. The food was excellent and the pricing reasonable (I love Oman!) We had a good laugh because although none of us knew what to expect from our trip to Oman we definitely didn't expect it to include fine dining at a luxury hotel.
The next day was our last so after breakfast we hurried over to the mosque to check it out (you can only visit until 11am). We arrived just in time to have a quick look around and in a word, it was stunning. Upon arrival I was complimented on my abaya by some local women working there. They said they loved the gold with the black and that it was "bling bling" haha, and inquired as to where I'd bought it and for how much. I told them the souq and asked if the price I'd paid was good and they assured me it was a good deal.
The drive there was pretty cool, considering as soon as you get out of Dubai everything is desert and looks completely different. Not to mention you start encountering much more Arabic and much less English. We made it to the Omani border no problem. We had to walk in to get our visas, while we were filling out the paperwork we noticed a form someone had started and then abandoned - in one of the first boxes "type of passport" this person had written "normal", haha, no words. When we approached the counter with our passports and paperwork the woman assisting us was caught off guard by Felipe's passport from Chile. She said it was the first Chilean passport she'd ever seen and had to call her supervisor over for help! He also seemed quite confused and asked us multiple times what country if was from. Finally they had to pull out some reference book to get the information they needed! We made it through though and our journey continued...
When we arrived in Muscat we found it to be lovely, beautiful beaches and very nice architecture. It's not as showy as Dubai and has a more laid back, natural vibe and we found it to be a great contrast. Not to mention the Omani people are extremely friendly! Ladies do have to cover up a bit more though, it's definitely not as permissive as Dubai. It's best to have shoulders covered and avoid short shorts.
We were pleasantly surprised when we checked into our hotel. It was a nice 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, more than expected! And at a very good price. Upon arrival we were hungry and looking to get a feel for the city so we decided to inquire at reception. We walked downstairs and Lindsay asked an employee there, "If you had one night in Muscat what would you do?", the guy looked really uncomfortable and didn't have a clue how to respond. His eyes kept going back and forth and I don't really think he understood what we were looking for. There was an awkward silence and then we simply asked if he could recommend a place to eat nearby. He told us we were quite close to a hotel called The Chedi and we should head there. We asked if we could walk and again he looked confused. He said yes he supposed we could walk there and so we set off with vague directions of how to get there...
As soon as we started walking we immediately understood while although our destination was very close walking was not recommended/ he looked at us like we were crazy for asking. It was not extremely pedestrian friendly and we ultimately found ourselves walking along an unlit dirt road, having to jump over into the brush whenever cars drove by. Luckily we were all able to find the humor in the situation and laughed our way through it. As we neared the end of the dirt road we encountered a stunning hotel in front of us. Come to find out The Chedi is a five star luxury hotel...
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and set off to explore. We went and saw the beach and the coastline, some old forts and the souq (a market). We knew we'd be touring the mosque the next day and so I was in search of an abaya. I figured I might as well purchase one because I'm assuming I'll tour other mosques while I live in the UAE. I found a nice one for a good price and I'm now the proud owner of my very own abaya:)
We then grabbed lunch and headed back to the hotel to shower and change and of course head back to our favorite spot, The Chedi! This time we started by the long pool, had a couple drinks and an appetizer then moved inside for some fine dining. The food was excellent and the pricing reasonable (I love Oman!) We had a good laugh because although none of us knew what to expect from our trip to Oman we definitely didn't expect it to include fine dining at a luxury hotel.
The next day was our last so after breakfast we hurried over to the mosque to check it out (you can only visit until 11am). We arrived just in time to have a quick look around and in a word, it was stunning. Upon arrival I was complimented on my abaya by some local women working there. They said they loved the gold with the black and that it was "bling bling" haha, and inquired as to where I'd bought it and for how much. I told them the souq and asked if the price I'd paid was good and they assured me it was a good deal.
After the mosque we hit the road back to Dubai and had a quick trip back! We had a little confusion at the border though as it wasn't clear where you needed to go to the get the exit stamp. We figured it out (after looping back around) and finally reached the entry point to the UAE. The guy at the border greeted Felipe in Arabic and Felipe greeted him back in Arabic (pretty much the extent of our Arabic, unless you count numbers and colors I've learned from the preschool ha). He then tried to continue speaking to Felipe in Arabic and Felipe said he didn't speak Arabic; the guy was confused (many people here think Felipe is Arabic). The guy then said "you don't speak Arabic and I don't speak English, that could be dangerous" but he was laughing so we knew he was friendly and joking with us. He then asked for our passports and said "cocktail" and smiled. It took me a second to get it but then I said "Oh! A cocktail of passports" and he said yes laughing (I was carrying a US passport, Felipe a Chilean and Lindsay an Australian). He then wished us well and we were back in the UAE and back to Dubai in no time!
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