Oman - oh, man!

We had an awesome time in Oman, a tiny country of only 3 million people that gets very few American tourists but should get many more. It's an interesting example of a wealthy, friendly, peaceful Middle Eastern country that still has very conservative Islamic values.

In addition to the adventures I highlighted in the other posts, we had a lot of fun in Oman.

Our first day we spent driving up to the Jebel Shams, the highest mountain in Oman at 10,000 ft. It gave us some great views of the Grand Canyon of Oman - much like the Grand Canyon of the US but a little more narrow and with a few more goats and a lot less people. We spent the night in Nizwa, the traditional cultural capital of Oman.

Our second day was spent at a really nice beach resort, snorkeling and then relaxing. Nearby this beach, apparently a large portion of the economy comes from smuggling. Iranian pirates bring goats across the Gulf of Oman in speedboats and trade them for American cigarettes from the Omanis. The Omanis accept this arrangement both because it nets them goats and because (according to the guide book) "piracy is ingrained in the region's cultural heritage and the local people do not want to frown upon the past". I do not know the current goat-cigarette exchange rate though.

Our third day we drove through the desert sand dunes to an Omani beach where we saw nesting sea turtles. This was surprisingly cool. These huge sea turtles swim away as far as India, southern Africa and Australia during the year, but come back to nest in the same beach they were born at in Oman. During the peak season, there can be hundreds of turtles nesting on the beach every night. We saw about a dozen, but it was very cool. Once they got to the beach, they would let you come up and watch them dig a big hole, lay their eggs, and then bury them. Most nights baby turtles hatch and then swim off into the ocean, but we couldn't see any. We did have a guide who was exactly like Borat though. Niiice...

Our last day in Oman we drove along the scenic coastal road back up to Muscat, the capital city. We stopped for an hour and played in a huge limestone hole in the ground called the Demon's Crater. In Muscat, we toured the Sultan's Palace, mosque, and surrounding grounds which were beautiful. We then shopped in a cool market, or souq and got some Omani souvenirs. Finally, we went to a great Indian restaurant on a hill overlooking the city. We topped this all off with an M&M Blizzard from the Dairy Queen by the waterfront near our hotel.

After a week in Oman, I was quite impressed. It was amazing how quickly we got used to sheiks driving around speeding on desert roads in the saloon cars (non 4x4 vehicles, or sedans), the eerie but majestic sound of the call to prayer from the mosques five times a day, or the sight of women in burqas crossing the street as we listened to hip hop music on our ipods in our Hertz rental car. It was also amazing how culturally fascinating, scenic, and extremely friendly Oman and the Omani people were. While it was unbelievably expensive to visit, I still look forward to visiting again some day.