Eid in Oman

Hey, everybody! Happy Eid Mubarak! It's been over a month since my last (and only) blog post, so let's get this show on the road.

The Crazy Canucks decided we wanted to do some traveling during our four day Eid weekend. Initially, it was going to be a group of 9 of us going to the neighbouring country of Oman, but due to passport issues, car issues, and insurance issues, it ended up being only five of us squeezed into one petite lime green Suzuki Swift.

If you're not familiar with the car, this is what it looks like.

                                        
I don't know if it's meant for five people, considering that there were several occasions where driving over a simple speed bump turned into an offroad adventure. Oman also had hills that pushed our poor Little Suzuki That Could to the limits. Regardless, Nick, Jazmin, and Mateen made the best of the situation and got to know each other on almost an intimate level on our very long car ride.

The plan was to head out at 6:00, pick up Mateen in Al Ain, and arrive at our hotel some time in the early afternoon. Google promised just over a five hour drive, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. An early start was definitely a must.

We arrived in Al Ain and were welcomed into Mateen's abode. This fine fellow, who is a gentleman and a scholar if ever there was one, treated us to a five-star breakfast of his own creation. We're talking eggs, toast, sausage, and even smoothies!

And away we go!

Once our bellies were full, our bewildering drive got underway. I say bewildering drive, because along the way to and from Oman, we had all sorts of mayhem to deal with, from construction, to detours, roads that no longer existed, signs that straight up lied, and border crossing experiences that tested our patience.

Our first hiccup befell us once we entered the area between the borders of Oman and the UAE apparently affectionately referred to as the Dead Zone. It's as desolate and barren as it sounds. However, though there may not be much in terms of civilization, there certainly is a beautiful serenity to its emptiness.

I was screaming inside my head in fear of Nick dropping his phone every second that he hung out the window in order to take this picture. 

Thank God Mateen decided to come along, because we would've been completely lost without his GPS. The Google Maps directions I'd printed out the night before would not have sufficed at all. Without that GPS, we'd probably still be stuck driving in circles somewhere in the Dead Zone. Nobody would ever find our bodies. Honestly, I'm pretty sure the Dead Zone is like the equivalent of international waters - anything goes out there. At least that's my theory.

Once in Oman, we stopped for a memorable bite to eat in a traditional Arabic restaurant. But while the chicken dish I ordered certainly was delicious, it wasn't the food that made the experience memorable.

We sat on the floor in a small carpeted cubicle of sorts, laid out the protective sheet for our food, and ordered our grub. The peculiar thing about this restaurant was that there were no women, and Janelle and Jazmin got stares from both customers and staff alike. In fact, we were the only non-Arabs in there, period. The only non-accusatory response our presence got was when some guys across the hall from us asked with a smile if we were Americans, as we clearly stood out. The server also brought the silly foreigners some forks and knives with which to eat.

I didn't mind the attention, though. I was used to it after Korea. The the thing that irked me was when we were told to shush after we started laughing at Nick for shooting a video on his phone with the camera facing away from us. I didn't understand why we got in trouble when the cubicles around us were just as loud. I couldn't help but think it was because we were foreigners, but hey, the food was delicious.

Now Google had said the drive from Abu Dhabi to our hotel in the capital, Muscat, would take just over five hours. However when you throw in breakfast at Mateen's, getting lost a couple times, waiting at the border to get our Visas and to get our passports stamped, stopping along the way for gas, washrooms, and food, we didn't arrive at our hotel until almost 11 hours after leaving home.

After checking in, we decided to reconvene in the lobby after some well-needed rest. Poor Janelle was the only one able to drive because of insurance issues, so I was glad to be able to lie down for a bit.

Nap time!

Mateen took an extended nap on our cab ride to the souq.

An hour or so later, we took a surprisingly expensive taxi ride to the popular traditional market, the Muttrah Souq. Jazmin bought a dagger, while Mateen bought a cane and a dagger. (I'm ashamed of myself for not getting pictures of 1) Mateen and his pimp cane and 2) Jazmin and Mateen dueling it out.)

We headed back to our hotel with a friendly taxi driver. I sat in the front seat and got a bit of an  audio commentary of our tour of Muscat courtesy of our new friend. According to him, only local Omani's are allowed to work as cabbies because that way they can share their knowledge of their city with tourists.

We were joined for dinner by Karan and Alicia, who had flown out to Oman the previous night, and caught up with our good friends. The group shenanigans continued in the hotel room afterwards until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. It had been a long day, and the next day would prove to be almost just as long.

Mateen the photo ninja snapped this one and caught Alicia and I unawares.

We headed out for the Oman Dive Center and went for a swim. The place was stunning. Fun times were had, courtesy of Alicia's waterproof camera. (Pictures to come soon, I hope.)

Once fun times were over, it was time to head back. The drive back proved to be just as frustrating with its own share of construction, detours, misleading signs, etc. We got home around seven hours later, ready for bed.

The funny thing is that while the drive to and from Oman may have been exhausting (and I didn't even drive), I'm glad I did it with the people in that car. We had some good laughs, the view was gorgeous, and it was certainly a memorable experience.

Having said that, though, I'm definitely flying next time.

Til then, Oman!

Cheers

PS: Thanks to all the Crazy Canucks for taking most of these amazing pictures! If there are any sub par pics in here, they're probably mine.