It 17:50pm here in Muscat and its 27 degrees!! We've been lucky with the weather these past few weeks but all that looks set to change tomorrow or Friday, more on that later.
Its been two weeks to the day since my last post so here are some of the highlights. Last Wednesday the Red Arrows paid a visit on their way to the Dubai Air-show. It seemed like half of Muscat was out to see them display off the beach by the Intercontinental hotel. Overall a great afternoon out and I managed to get some great photos.
3 days later Dad's Arabic course was running a trip to the town of Nizwa for a look around its souks and impressive fort. What many people don't know is that Oman was once a major trade hub for the whole region, one of the most important commodities Oman traded was frankincense which is still being produced in the south of the country today. Old forts dot the country on what used to be the old trade routes across the interior of Oman down to the coast. Nizwa fort is very well preserved and offers amazing views out across the town of Nizwa. The information boards throughout the fort give you a great idea about the fort's role and how its defences worked. Including murder holes for pouring boiling date syrup to false floors for attackers to fall through!
The top of Nizwa Fort
Looking west from the fort's wall's
Looking north-East from the fort's wall, the mountains in the background
are part of the Hajar Mountain Range
One downside to travelling around in Oman is the very long distances between places. As a result, driving is essential if you want to get out and do anything. Luckily, the roads networks in Oman are extensive and very well maintained so driving for the most part is a largely comfortable experience. With the long distances its a nice bonus that fuel is very cheap here. The picture below is the petrol pump display after filling up our Mitsubishi Pajero on the way home from Nizwa. We filled up with 47 litres of petrol for £7.50 (equivalent)!!!
£7.50 for 47 litres......... go on then :)
Luckily, Matthew and I are able to drive out here, so we've been out and about in the Pajero. As we'll probably end up going off-road on some of our future trips Dad took us to practice on some empty sandy brush-land just down the road from our house. We had a great time and I can't wait to try it again soon.
Me and the Pajero during our off-road practice,
So now we come to the last few days and my definite favourite highlight of the last two weeks. Learning to Kite-surf!! Matthew and I signed up for 6 hours of lessons on Alzaiba Beach about 40 mins from home. On Monday we started with learning how to control the kite in "the wind window" and how to use the kite to "body drag though the water.
Me and Matthew and our instructor, Oleysha, exit the water at the end of our Monday lesson
Me and Matthew
Yesterday proved to be quite challenging. The aim being to stand up on the board! Not as easy as it looked as I found out..... I managed a few 2 second attempts but the others largely ended in horrific face plants :/. Matthew managed a few longer attempts but we both still need more practice
Me preparing to attempt to stand up
And a few seconds later......
One of my better attempts :)
Unfortunately progress on kite-surfing has to be delayed for the next few days. The wind has died down and we're expecting a huge storm on Friday. Oh well, something to look forward to after the storm has passed :).
So what's next? Alongside kite-surfing, Matthew and I are going to be completing our PADI scuba diving course. The online course is now complete, all that's left is to head down to the dive centre for our confined and open water dives. After that, hopefully we'll be able to get some scuba diving in with Dad. Next weekend we're off to Dubai to watch the "Dubai Rugby Sevens" and take a look around there. Can't wait!
So that's it for this entry, thanks for reading everyone and see you next time :).
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