Isn't it beautiful!??!
Eid Mubarack everyone! Our first break from school is underway for Eid, the Muslim holiday. What to do with four days away from school? Well apparently I chose a little bit of everything!
Thursday morning, I flew to Muscat, Oman and came back Friday morning. I was only there for about 24 hours. The flight is only 45 minutes each way and only cost about $175 USD round-trip. Not bad at all.
With only 24 hours in Oman, my friend Shannon and I knew we definitely wanted to hit the huge souk there. Other than that we really didn't have anything in mind.
When we got to Muscat, we dropped our things at our hotel and hopped in a cab to the souk. We shopped around.. It is quite overwhelming.. People and things everywhere! The things people sell here range greatly from clothes to knick-knacks, to antiques, to art and jewelry. As you pass by each store or stand, you have the men working there trying to push their products on you... "Feel this pashmina, real lamb's wool", or "Here, smell this oil, the best in the world". The one that always cracked me up was the men wanting you to buy frankincense and myrrh. Unless I see baby Jesus, I don't need any.. get outta my face with that! They say how nice it is to burn it in your house.. Great, I really need my house smelling like Christmas Eve mass.
Anyway, Shannon and I shopped around for about an hour or two until they closed for the afternoon. Everything here, in Oman or Abu Dhabi, closes for a couple hours in the afternoon. I call it 'Siesta', but obviously that isn't the correct term for it. Shops usually close around 1pm and re-open around 4pm. We got some food and took pictures of the scenery. The landscape is fantastic! Mountains by the sea with little villages nestled in the valleys. Quite beautiful!
After we finished taking some pictures, the BEST thing happened. We got into a cab with the most sweet, generous, and amazing driver. His name was Saeed. I guess I should note here that Saeed was Omani. Most of the cab drivers in Abu Dhabi are Indian, Bangladeshi, or Pakistani, and most barely speak English. In Oman, they still employ their own people, so all our drivers were Omani and spoke very good English. Saeed knew that we were obviously tourists and offered to take us everywhere! We went from the Souk to the Seaside, then to Old Muscat (which was the "city" years ago - Now the city is newer and nicer on the other side of the mountain, but when you go to the other side of the mountain into old Muscat you can really see the history of what used to be). We saw old forts, the Sultan's palace, and the seaside. It was beautiful and so great that Saeed took us all the way there, stopping the taxi anywhere we requested to take pictures.
I will say one of the oddest things to get used to here is the currency exchange... I turned in 800 UAE Dirhams at the airport and was given 77 Omani Rials. Basically it is 1 Rial x10= dirhams. With this being said we realized how expensive taxis are in Oman. Everything else in Oman seemed to convert to being reasonable or cheap. Basically there are no meters in the cabs, it is generally a 7 Rial ride inside the city. 7 Rials = 70 dirhams! In the Abu Dhabi, you can basically ride across the city for anywhere between 8-20 dirhams! So I guess this is where you really realize the value of a good driver like Saeed. After taking us all over Muscat, we asked him how much we owed him and he told us "Whatever you feel like giving me"...
Saeed dropped us at the hotel and agreed to pick us up again at 5pm to go back to the Souk to shop some more. During this time, we went to the pool, and I was able to assess what I wanted to buy when I went back. He picked us up at 5pm, looking dapper. He had gone to the barber and gotten a fresh shave for the Eid gathering the following day. He dropped us off and said he would be back at 7:30pm to take us to a place he likes to eat dinner. We shopped and I bought gifts to send home to my family for Christmas. And then Saeed took us to a restaurant where we could eat. We picked our own fish and they cooked it for us. It was really good. Saeed was waiting outside for us when we were finished and we went to the hotel. Although checking out a bar would have been nice, it was the Eid weekend, meaning no alcohol could be served anywhere. Saeed offered to come in the morning to take us to the airport.
The next morning I woke up and it dawned on me the Saeed had offered to come get us on his holiday! That was so generous of him. Not only that, he showed up with traditional Eid breakfast for us that was made in his village! Awesome!
This is why I love traveling. Not because of the scenery or the food, but the people. Say what you want about the Middle East, or what goes on in the news. I have felt nothing but warmth and welcoming from the people here. Some are just as fascinated with me as I am with them. They want to know about the USA and my blue eyes. I want to know about their customs and families. It is quite remarkable that you can come to a place that is so different with people that are so different and the one message that resounds in your head after all the experiences is how people are all the same.
So if you aren't much of a reader and skipped over the text, here is my trip in pictures and concise captions!
Also, my apologies for the crappy pictures. On my to-do list: Buy a nice camera to document my travels with! The iphone camera just will not do anymore!
Shannon and I in the taxi after landing in Muscat.
Finally got another passport stamp!
The Grand Mosque as we drove past. We normally would have stopped but it was closed to tourists because of Eid.
The souk. Many, many hallways like this.. You can get lost in this place.. Every shop looks similar, every hall looks similar... It was fun to bargain and haggle and I came away with some great gifts for my family. I can't post them on here because it will ruin the surprise!
Two things I bought for myself. A wall hanging, and a Buddha for my collection.
Right across the street from the souk was a beautiful view of mountain, village, and sea!
We also saw old forts nestled in the mountains.
We ate outside in a little cafe.
I had the spring rolls. They were amazing, if you can find them on the plate. Apparently french fries are a universal food, as they are thrown on top of every dish here.
Just like Abu Dhabi, the stray animals are everywhere. This cat was under our table and not happy to have his picture taken.
The entrance to Sultan's Palace. Nothing here is quite as grandiose as in Abu Dhabi, but it is actually quite majestic. Once again, the iphone pictures just don't do it justice. Also, Saeed reminded us that the Sultan is higher up than the Sheik. Not sure if that is true or not, but I love how wherever you go here, people show great patriotism and love for their country and their leaders.
This is the view from the back side of the palace.
Saeed and I in front of an old boat near the palace:
This is the entry/exit way between new Muscat, on one side of the mountain and old Muscat on the other.
One of the Sultan's boats.
Saeed pulled the cab over partway up the mountain so we could take a picture of the view behind us. I love the sea!
Omani Rials. They don't use coins. The bottom one is a half Rial.
Choosing our fish for dinner. Ok, I didn't choose it, we let Saeed and the man behind the counter choose for us since we had no idea what to choose! We ended up eating hammor fish and it was delicious. You choose it whole and they de-bone and cook it for you. We also had calamari and hummus and huge bread!
And here is the traditional Eid breakfast Saeed brought us from his village to eat on taxi ride to the airport in the morning. It was some sort of rice with a tangy chicken gravy with raisins and dates in it. It was very good, although I probably would have preferred it as a lunch or dinner meal!
And last but not least - a view of MY HOME, Abu Dhabi, right before landing back at the Abu Dhabi Airport!
Abu Dhabi Time
Me in front of the Burj Khalifa:
Those are most of my Dubai pics so far. Stay tuned for my next post which will show pictures from my first desert safari!
