Travel Blog: Musandam, Oman

Two weeks ago, I got the sudden chance to take a trip to Oman. Someone had bought two tickets from a limited period offer but her friend could not go in the last minute, so I was asked and I jumped on the opportunity!

Luckily, she asked me one day in advance, so it saved me many days' worth of hypertension in the form of nervous anticipation and excitement. I am never able to sleep well on the days leading to "The Trip Day". Back in the primary school days of class trips, I was afraid that I would oversleep and be left out! But now that I am older and have found digital alarm clocks quite reliable, it is more of a "OMG!! I can't believe I'm going on a trip!! OMG!! *faint*" or "Did I remember to pack everything???"

So early in the morning I set out with my stuff, the sun bright and hot (at maybe 45 degrees)! My friend with punctuality issues was late as usual. But we managed to flag a taxi and made it on time to the meetup point. We were actually early and the bus left nearly 30 minutes AFTER stipulated time. (Shuri, people usually tell you a time with a buffer level to cater for latecomers, it doesn't mean you have to go right on time...). Being the early birds, we grabbed 2 prime locations on the bus and made ourselves comfortable. Unfortunately, a bunch of 12-15 guys - same race, same age group - got in and started making the biggest racket, laughing and talking away loudly in their ethnic language. Now I've seen and been in too many similar situations like this, so while we had the chance, we shifted over to the other bus, with more cultural diversity and better behaved people. Turns out it was a good idea, even though we ended losing our perfect seats!

Mountains are a rare sight here. These are the crumbly sort of mountains made of sandy soil and rock flakes. Nothing significant grows on it.

 The drive through mountain-land.

At the port, getting comfortable on the dhow before sailing out.

About a 2-hour drive later with many camel sightings, we reached our destination: Musandam. I would not notice till after the trip, that I lost my specs somewhere on the way, maybe in the taxi, or the bus or at Macdonalds! We were immediately shuttled to a dhow (a traditional 2-tier wooden boat). The lower deck was occupied by the hooligans, so we moved upstairs. If looks could kill (and with the temperature as high as it was), we would have blown up in flames and died - what's with certain cultures who just would NOT stop staring, not even to blink :O Call me racist, but I find it a very disgusting habit. And no, it's not just the male creatures in one country doing this, it's actually ALL the countries located in close proximity near the Indian Ocean, with my wonderful country included. Retards, who can't tell a lollipop apart from a woman, I thought. My traveling companion took it quite well with her "Who gives a fuck? Let them stare" attitude.

The blue sea!!

The upper deck, with comfortable louge chairs for free tanning. No thanks, I'm brown enough ;)

Docked for snorkeling and swimming.

Stunning views of the fjords, overlooking the sea.

The trip on the dhow was very enjoyable. The sun was bright. The views were simply stunning. The sea was dark blue. The wind was soothing and made the heat a lot bearable. The world looked so beautiful. I was thrilled to be there. Crappy food was served on the boat. There were moments where I felt seasick. But I managed to keep the food down by drinking lots of Gatorade and chewing gum.

We docked close to the shore for 2 hours, where the "tourists" were allowed to swim and snorkel. There was nothing worth admiring in the sea bed. No colourful corals, only murky waters and coral-like structures covered in slime. No rich marine life that was worth looking at. So I got rid of my snorkeling mask and instead enjoyed swimming. Most people enjoyed themselves. Swimming gives the liberating feeling of being weightless. The oglers were busy ogling.

On our way back, the dhow once again anchored in the deep sea to allow the people to have some fun at fishing. I look down on the act, as it involves removing a innocent creature from it's natural habitat and killing it, just for the thrill of it. So I spent my time upstairs enjoying the scenery. Usually, this tour is known to have dolphins follow the boats, but we saw none. Soon we were back at port and we were once again ready to travel by land, back to the resident country. On the way we stopped at a gas station for a toilet break. And those toilets are definitely worth mentioning as they were unisex toilets, where no living creature would want to seat their asses. Goodness knows what infectious microorganisms it harboured.

Local architecture.

This country has the most interesting and creative roundabouts.

Funny signs spotted: "Royal Saloon" situated right beside "High Class Wedding". There was nothing of high class about it.

Back at the point of origin, it was dark. We were sun burnt, sticky, salty, stinky, hungry and tired. I find out I have lost my spectacles somewhere, and the shades were no longer helpful. I call home to find out my family members have gone on a long distance trip and I didn't have the house key with me. NOT a perfect end to an otherwise perfect day. I ended up following my friend to the hospital as she was developing a cough. After her appointment, we took a taxi back home, with a detour at Macdonalds to binge ourselves on food. My fries had no ketchup. Then I stayed at a neighbour's place, clearly troubling them late at night, until my family was back.

What a trip! I loved the change of scenery.