Gladlee of Guernsey
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Gladlee of Guernsey
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Oman 2016 - January 25th to February 22nd
Monday 25th - Tuesday 26th Just settling into our apartment for these couple of days, buying a few essentials and preparing for our visitors. Yes, we are on holiday, but are having visitors. Jan and Al from Cyprus are coming to stay with us for about 10 days and it will be their first time to Oman. Rons ex boss, the owner of International Oil & Gas has let us have an apartment and a 4 x 4 for the duration of our stay so life couldn't be any easier for us.
Tuesday night sees us visiting our friend Ahmad. The brief story on the "Brothers" is that one drunken night Ron and Ahmad decided that they were twin brothers. A female camel plays a significant part in the story - a long drunken story. Since our departure from Oman Ahmad has taken on a number of other "Brothers" each one represented by a different animal. One year his birthday cake included all his brothers representatives!!!! Easy eh! Wednesday 27th A quiet day doing a few bits of shopping and preparing for Jan and Al to arrive tonight. Thursday 28th
Today was day one on the tourist circuit. A drive down to Muscat to see the Sultan's Palace and then on to the Marina Bander al Rowdha for lunch - it's one of the few licensed places so we can have a drink with lunch. Nice easy day so Jan and Al can recover from the late arrival the night before. In the evening we go to one of our favourite restaurants - The Belapais which is cheap but very good. Jan gets treated to their very special coffee at the end. Made at the table the glass gets a lining of sticky caramel, there is orange liqueur in it which is drizzled flaming down a spiral of orange peel. The smile on Jan's face lasted for days. Friday 29th
Today we take a trip to Sifah - one of our old favourite beaches to visit. Unfortunately the development and now a proposed future development means that the area is pretty much totally fenced off. We did manage to sneak through to the beach but again fairly well spoilt with lots of trash and people driving on the beach, it was also very windy. Really nice drive though enjoyed by all. Saturday 30th Sawadi for lunch. Muscat Hash.
A different direction today and a drive west to Sawadi. Lunch at the Sawadi Beach Hotel which again happens to be licensed. Guess what though - the bar had no beer!!!! Who ever heard of that? Anyway, lots of birds to see for those interested - Julie and Al that would be. Late afternoon sees us back to Muscat and attending the Muscat Hash for the first time in nearly four years. An indoctrination for Jan and Al into the differences to the Cyprus Hashes. Shorter but much more difficult terrain. Lots of people still there that we knew and everyone a bit surprised to see us back. Sunday 31st A nice quiet day today with a visit to CAYC beach to do a bit of sunning and snorkeling. The water is still a little chill but not too bad. Al, who has dived in the Med was amazed at the range of fish that were to be seen just snorkeling. In the evening we all head off to the Jebel Hash. The second of the hashes in and around Muscat this one is a little more adult than the Muscat Hash which is more family oriented. Again a good few people who remember us and again a little "eye opening" for Al with the terrain. Monday 1st February Mutrah Souq and dinner Trader Vics.
Head to Mutrah Souq today - one of our favourite places when the cruise ships are NOT in. So colourful and interesting. Though the photos look like it is night time it is actually early afternoon but the Souq is under cover. Managed to get a few bits and pieces for our forthcoming fancy dress gig in Cyprus - Arabian Nights. In the evening we treat ourselves to the best restaurant in town - Trader Vics at the Intercontinental Hotel. Always a great meal here. Washed down this time with a couple of carafes of Sangria. Tuesday 2nd - Wednesday 3rd
A two day trip to show Jan and Al a bit more of the country. This trip out through Bidbid and on to Ibra and the top end of the Wahiba Sands for a picnic lunch. On then to Ras Al Hadd where we stay at the Ras Al Hadd Resort Hotel. Resort may be a slight exaggeration but nonetheless it is enjoyable.
The next day we head back along the coast with our first stop being at Wadi Tiwi. Always a great spot for a picnic and it did not disappoint this time either. After Tiwi we headed further up the coast to see the now famous "Sinkhole" and then on to Quriyat. First of all along the beach track to do a bit of bird watching which did include a couple of Osprey. After that we were on to the fish market where they were in the process of auctioning the days catch including a number of substantial Tuna. On back to Muscat where we managed to talk Al into having a burger at Hardees (our favourite burger place in Muscat).
Thursday 4th - Friday 5th The next of our two day trips sees us "going over the top" as the saying goes. This means a fairly tough off-road journey through Wadi Bani Auf, on to Snake Gorge and then climb the mountain up to about 7,500 ft - still off road. We think Al enjoyed it but not sure if Jan did. She managed to do 90% of the trip with her eyes closed. Such a whimp - only a 2,000 ft drop off on her side!!!
From the top we are back down the other side on Tarmac road and into the town of Nizwa where we spend the night. For some reason the hotel manager recommends the Turkish restaurant down the road rather than the one attached to the hotel?? It was good though.
After doing Nizwa we head off to Jebel Shams. Jan is a bit better on this trip as the drop offs are only about 1,000ft. We head up as far as Oman's "Grand Canyon" at about 8,500 ft which by any stretch of the imagination is quite spectacular. Unfortunately this morning it is also fairly cold with a nippy breeze blowing. We therefore decide to head down the hill a little for our picnic lunch.
Saturday 6th A nice easy day today. Another trip to CAYC beach for a bit more sunbathing and some more snorkeling for Julie and Al. From there we are on to the Muscat Hash - yet again another 'eye opener' for Al and Jan as to the type of terrain we hash in here. The evening is finished off by another trip to the Belapais restaurant. Sunday 7th Sultan's Grand Mosque. Jebel Hash and dinner at Al Ghazal Pub, Intercon Hotel. Jan and Al return.
A nice quiet day today as Jan and Al are heading off tonight. 2.00am at the airport! So, a visit to try and see the Sultans Mosque but unfortunately they have now changed the visiting and we can only see it from the outside. Jan and Al's final hash in Oman sees us going to the Jebel Hash where Al has his "squeaky bum" moment at the top of one of the climbs when he realises that he has to come back down it again! What goes up must come down as they say. We finish off the evening with dinner at the Al Ghazal pub in the Intercontinental Hotel and watch a bit of football while there. A late trip to the airport and Jan and Al are back to Cyprus after their adventures. Monday 8th A very quiet day today after the late night when pretty much all we do is have lunch with Fauz and his wife Shahira. Lots of catching up on things and a nice lunch in the Turkish restaurant in Al Kuwair. Tuesday 9th A bit of a home day doing a bit of shopping, cleaning, washing etc. Wednesday 10th Today we head off to Wukan which is a small village at the end of Wadi Mistal. We drive through the Ghubrah Bowl which is where we had our Muscat Hash camping weekend some years ago. Ron had remembered visiting Wukan before but not particularly the road. Julie did remember it and called it "interesting". Again this was an off-road experience where you would not want to meet anyone coming the other way. Very steep, narrow, dusty track. Followed of course by a climb up the 611 steps to actually get to the top. The view makes it all worthwhile though.
In the evening we called by Ahmads apartment but as he was out we decided on the next best thing. A drink at the Gulf Hotel. Actually the Crowne Plaza but everyone still calls it the Gulf.
Thursday 11th - Saturday 13th This weekend we have been invited to stay with Roger and Sharifa - friends from the Muscat Hash - at Sharifas family house in Ibra. Ibra is about 200Km from Muscat almost on the edge of the Wahiba sands. Other hashers are also here and we are about 14 in total. Beautiful old house, great weekend with both old and new friends.
In the evening, everyone enjoyed the local Indian takeaway. Definitely sweat inducing food! After a walk round the old deserted village of Ibra on the Friday morning, everyone then headed off to the Wahiba sands for a lunchtime picnic with Richard and Roger providing the entertainment by having to dig out the 'beached' Jeep up on the dunes.
On the way back from the Wahiba we all head for the Horse Festival. A once a year extravaganza that put the stamp of approval on the whole weekend. About a hundred or so horses and riders performing some hair-raising stunts and riding. Friday night was BBQ at the house with Tim bringing enough food to feed an army. The thing was that everyone had brought their own food so it looked like Tim and his wife Abti would be feeding on BBQ for days to come. Saturday morning sees everyone heading back to Muscat after Breakfast. A brilliant weekend and many thanks to Roger and Sharifa for hosting us all. Saturday afternoon/evening sees us back with the Muscat Hash.
Sunday 14th Sunday is a fairly quiet day after the weekend. We are still however hashers and so head off to the Jebel Hash for some more punishment. We do however temper that with another visit to Trader Vics for a Valentines dinner. Monday 15th This is the start of our final week and had thought we might be struggling for something to do. How wrong can you be!! Tonight we are invited for dinner with Kay and Phil, camping, hiking and bird watching friends from when we were here 4 years ago. A really nice evening and as we had been invited to stay overnight with them having a drink or two wasn't a problem. So we did. Again really good to catch up with friends just as though we had never been away. Tuesday 16th
This morning we head off to Qurm Park in Muscat just to have a quiet wander round and for Julie to see what birds are around. After that we head to Starbucks for coffee and cake. A rare treat. This evening we have been invited to the Civil Aviation club as guests of our friends Abdullah and Nadia. Unexpectedly half the Muscat Hash are there as well. We have also talked Ahmad to coming along and is great to see everyone together. Wednesday 17th Today we head up to the Saiq Plateau to see if anything has changed. Not much has. We did our usual hike here down into the Wadi and along by the old deserted village. Nice photo of Julie looking out over the old village. Bearing in mind that we are up at about 8,000ft it was really no surprise that the temperature was a bit on the cool side for our picnic.
Thursday 18th
Today we have headed out to Wadi Dayqah for a day out and yes - the compulsory picnic. We first came to Wadi Dayqah long before the dam was ever built and were very nearly caught out by a flash flood. Once we got to a safe location we then watched the water level rise by about 20ft in less that 20 minutes. A sobering day we well remember. Now of course there is the dam which apart from making things much safer for the village did take away a really nice hike along the original river.
This evening we are invited out to dinner at one of Ron's previous staff. Umesh was in charge of the Telecomms division (and still is) though now he is the company manager in place of Ron. A few other staff guys are also invited with a view to trying to talk Ron into returning. It didn't work. Friday 19th Today is lunch with Fauziah and her husband Brodie. They had been in Muscat when we were last there, left and went to live in Switzerland and then returned to Oman to the same house and job. Oman just seems to hang on to people like that. Fauziah was part of Julies Bridge group. A very nice lunch with another young family invited as well. In the evening we are having our last dinner with our best friend and Rons twin brother Ahmad. He takes us down to the Lebanese restaurant just below where he lives. Great food. We even think we have managed to talk him into coming to the Hash on Saturday which he hasn't done in years. He could never find where they were being run without our help!! (And he did turn up). Saturday 20th Our last hash with the Muscat Hash for this trip. Lots of thank you's and goodbyes being said and promises of a return one day. Also one or two of the hashers possibly planning to come to Cyprus to hash with us there. Sunday 21st Similarly today our last hash with the Jebel Hash.
Monday 22nd - return Cyprus. A very early trip to the airport (2.00am) for our flight to Abu Dhabi and onwards to Larnaca. We get back just after mid-day and by 3.30pm we are out with the Larnaca Hash. Talk about gluttons for punishment!
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