A visit to a Neighbor
In between my major trips I satisfied my ‘wanderlust’ by visiting neighbouring countries to my workplace – Dubai. One such country that I have been to on different occasions is Oman.
Flight to the capital Muscat from Dubai takes around an hour. Normally, I would take an early morning flight so I could have the entire day to explore the city. This is made convenient from the back seat of a taxi as this was the only option of transport on a very last minute decision to escape the normal day to day routine at home. On one occasion, I managed to visit and look around the Oman National History Museum, as well as I had a glimpse of the outside of the Royal Palace, but then left the rest of the time to the decision of the taxi driver to ‘show me Muscat’.
On another pre-planned trip I visited Musandam, an exclave of Oman that is reachable by a car journey through part of The United Arab Emirates. On an organised tour, the route crossed the Emirate of Sharjah‘s State Border to Musandam in the Sultanate Of Oman. Travelling through the beautiful Hajah Mountains with their roads with hair-pin corners the route ended at Dibha Port where a traditional dhow cruise ship took us along the local deep waters for 6 hours. Once on board, there were frequent stops for different activities such as diving off the boat, riding on a Banana boat, snorkeling or diving with equipment.
On another occasion, I visited Khasab a city which is the local capital of the Musandam peninsula and has frequently been dubbed the “Norway of Arabia” because of its extensive fjord-like craggy inlets and desolate mountains capes. After this, a boat trip to view dolphins and to visit the Telegraph Island. The name “Telegraph” comes from the British telegraph-cable repeater station that was built on the island in 1864. It was apparently abandoned in the mid-1870.
This island is now regularly visited by dhows carrying tourists to view the ruins and to enjoy the waters around it. I couldn’t forget this place, as it’s where I lost my precious earing while taking photos in the area.
