London calling

We arrived last night and made our way on the tube to our apartment in Paddington. 

Our apartment is a generous title for our room.  It is a studio (another word for tiny) apartment - neat, tidy and comfortable in a typical old block.  

We were so thankful our room was on the ground floor.  Our bags are heavy.  Most of these old blocks have no elevators and many floors. 

It is in a great location - quiet with shops and restaurants down the end of the street and Hyde Park a 10-minute walk away.

This morning after a yummy brekky of a latte and croissant (and we aren’t even in France yet) we walked to Hyde Park and wandered round (and round).  Walking past Kensington Palace Jim says ‘ Didn’t Di live here, she probably hated all those people in her front yard’.  

The park was beautifully green, how could it not be with all the rain and cold weather England has been having.  Saturday week is the first day of summer but it is more like the first day of winter.  It is cold with temperatures between 10 & 14 degrees.  Lucky we have some winter clothes with us.

Tonight we met up with Dianne, a friend (and neighbour) from Tawonga.  She is visiting London with her sister.  They came to see the Chelsea Flower Show.  We had dinner at a typical English pub.  It seems so natural to meet up with friends all over the world. 

Tomorrow we are catching a bus to Cornwall to visit our friends Karen and Dave whom we met 10 years ago in Fiji.  They were travelling for a year back then.  Since then they have married and had two children Jack and Lola.  We are very excited to be seeing them again after so long.  On Friday we are going camping with them for five days.  The fun continues.

Tell you more after camping, till then!  Love to you all. 

Reading the menu at one of the many locals

The old black cab

Hyde Park

An English icon

And another

Street scape

In front of our apartment block

Back in Dubai

The bus trip from Oman to Dubai was uneventful except for the coffee stop and border crossings.  The coffee stop was at a service centre just like in Australia.  You know the ones, the really boring ones with all the fast food franchise outlets on the highway. 

The border crossing consists of getting an exit stamp from Oman and an entry stamp into Dubai and then another two checks just to make sure you really really do have an entry stamp.

It seems like the scenery changes as soon as you hit the border – leaving Oman with its rugged mountains to the mostly flat deserts of Dubai. 

Overall the food has been disappointing in both Dubai and Oman.  I was expecting tasty middle-eastern food stands of felafel's and kebab to be on every street corner.  More so in Oman than Dubai there was the doner kebab shops but it is served on a plate not in flat bread like Australia serves it up and no tabbouleh.   You have to buy that at the supermarket (mostly).  We did find a restaurant serving true Omani food but Jim wasn’t keen because there are no tables and chairs, you sit on the carpet with cushions and with his knees – ouch.  I wasn’t keen because it is mostly meat and mutton (goat) at that.

It appears that both countries have embraced the western style fast food outlets in a big way and the malls are full of cafes and upper market franchise. 

Yesterday we went to Aquaventure – a water park.  It is in the grounds of the Atlantis resort on The Palm.  Seen from the sky The Palm looks like a palm tree and each frond has residential living of villas and apartments - man made like all of Dubai.  I know I have said it before but Dubai really is a surreal place. 

Aquaventure was good fun.  It was 39 degrees so it great walking around in our swimmers, going up and down slides and floating around in plastic tubes.  There was lots of screaming and laughing with the slides.  Kenny & Jim went down the Leap of Faith a couple of times.  They said the first time was scary.  It is a near vertical drop that plunges (through a tunnel) through a pool of sharks, fish and stingrays.  Lisa has been down it before and didn’t really like it so wasn't keen to do it again and my excuse is I have a head cold and sinus so was not keen to do anything too extreme. 

I blame the heat and cooling for the cold and sinus.  Your body goes from being heated up (outside) to being cooled down (inside) constantly.  It can’t be good for you.  

Today is a rest day, I am trying to get better before we get on the plane on Tuesday.  Kenny & Lisa have gone into school to catch up with reports and Jim is in heaven - he is watching the rugby Brumbies vs Waratahs. 

Part of the lagoon 

One of the lagoon beaches

Approaching the slides

Leap of faith

Kenny having a go with Jim's new toy

Happy little aquaventureres after a fun day - Jim practising with the flash

Last day in Oman

Oman is a country of natural beauty – on the ground and under the water. 

Today, being our last day in Oman we went on a morning boat trip for dolphin watching and snorkelling.  It is off-season now, too hot the locals say for tourists.  The busy season is October to March, just like India and just like India this is great for us because there are no crowds travelling at this time. 

There were five of us on the boat.  A guy from Denmark, who says he may have lived in the middle east in a past life because he can identify with the area so much and two (male) flight attendants from KLM on a stop over – now they were entertaining.  They loved the fact that their fins (flippers) matched their swimmers and they commented that my fins also matched the trim on my swimmers, bright blue.

There were dozens of dolphins.  We watched them play for half hour then motored on to the snorkelling spot, past Qantab beach where we spent time the other day on the beautiful beach of Oman Dive Centre.  The snorkeling was fun, shame about the amount of dead coral but we saw three turtles and many interesting fish. 

This afternoon I visited the ‘beauty parlour’ near the hotel for a leg wax and ended up having a wax, manicure and haircut.  I haven’t had a haircut since the day before we left Australia, it was long and badly needed a trim. 

Two Filipino ladies ran the salon.  Oman is the same as Dubai in that aspect that the country is run by an Asian imported labour force. While one lady did my nails the other did my hair.  She washed, cut, blow waved and straightened my hair – all for $13.80.  What a bargain and what a great job she did, I must say.  

Jim thinks otherwise – when I walked back into the hotel room he says “Oh my God”.  I replied ‘don’t worry after the next wash it will be back to its natural messy state’.

Tomorrow morning we are catching the 6am bus back to Dubai to spend the weekend with Lisa & Kenny before flying out to London on Tuesday.  How exciting!!

Dhow cruise boat - next time round perhaps

A few of the dolphins

Snorkelling spot 

No sunnies, no bunny ears - what is going on Jim?

We went through the arch - spectacular scenery

After the beauty parlour

Another country, another fort

Planning our trip to Oman from Dubai we couldn’t decide what we wanted to do.  

We thought we would do a few day trips to visit a wadi, the beach and maybe a city tour – that would be about it.  Not realizing (till we arrived) that the country has a history of forts.  At first we were reluctant to visit any after seeing so many in India but then decided it would be offensive not to acknowledge the history of a country so yesterday we asked Salim to drive us to Nakhal Fort, an hour’s drive from Muscat.  It is a 17^th century fort and one of 16 maintained by the Ministry of Tourism.  

It was definitely worth the visit.

After the fort Salim suggests visiting the natural springs of Nakhal and the hot springs of Al Kasfah, at Al Rustaq in another village not far.  

The hot springs were 46 degrees centigrade.  The outside temperature was 36 so we weren’t planning to go in, therapeutic or not.  Not that I was allowed, being a lady and all.  Bathing was for men only.  Remember what country we’re in.

Returning to Muscat we stopped at a roadside fruit stall for watermelons this time and once again Salim was keen to share his purchase.  This time we definitely declined the offer.  The cucumbers are still in the mini bar fridge – there is no way a watermelon is going to fit in.  The stall owner (Ute owner) gave us a huge chunk of watermelon to eat.  Watermelon boy (Jim) was in heaven.

Nakhal Fort - entrance 

An artistic shot 

From the top of the fort

Natural springs being cleaned - notice the umbrella sun shades

Natural springs downstream

The hot springs - I only put my foot in

Locals sharing a watermelon

The watermelon stall or ute

Wadi sight seeing

Oman people are renowned for being friendly and generous.  Salim was friendly and helpful yesterday but today he was geniuely generous. 

Our first stop for the day on our way to Wadi Shab and Wadi Tiwi was a road side fruit stall.  Salim bought a large bag of onions, cucumbers and a few rock melons.  He insisted we take 1 rock melon and 4 cucumbers.  We couldn't refuse.  Next Salim stopped for a drink and he returned with drinks and a fruit bun for us.  

A wadi is a valley normally dry except for the rainy season.  There are many in Oman and a couple permanently have water. 

Wadi Shab was spectacular.  We paid for a 2 -minute dinghy ride across the wadi to the other side – too deep to walk across.  It was a 45-minute trek to reach the end of the wadi.  At times it was a bit difficult to pick a path through the rocks.  I’d suggest if anyone else does it, take a guide.  

We were lucky we had the place to ourselves.  We passed people walking out of the wadi but no one was walking in except us.

We finally made it to the end and had a swim in the beautiful clear water.  The pools were in the middle of steep ravines.  It was awesome.  The bottom of the pools were covered with white pebbles and little fish were nibbling on our legs while we were swimming.  For lunch we ate the whole rock melon.  Salim gave us his pocket knife to take with us for lunch, another kind gesture. Along with the rock melon we ate fruit, choc and nut biscuits.  The biscuits were yummy even if they were covered in melted chocolate.  We thought they were choc bits not chocolate coated.  We were walking in 38-degree heat.

Wadi Tiwi was 7km from Wadi Shab near the village of Tiwi.  To get there we drove through narrow windy roads through the village.  On both sides of the roads there were banana trees and date palms.  Wadi Tiwi was not for swimming but still picturesque with village homes perched on the banks.

Jim noticed that Salim drove on 140 for most of the day even though the speed limit is 120.  Salim did say he could safely stop if a donkey or camel runs out in front of his car at 140.  Not sure what rulebook he got that out of.

The 4 cucumbers are in the mini bar fridge maybe housekeeping would like them.

Salim & I 

The road side fruit stall

A fort - one of many 

Bammah sinkhole on the way to the wadi

The coast line

The start of Wadi Shab

I finally got to take a photo of Jim at Wadi Shab

Wadi Tiwi

Oman Sunday 12 May

We arrived in Ruwi yesterday afternoon.  

It was a 6-hour bus trip from Dubai.  Ruwi is 7kms from Muscat, Oman’s capital where most of the sights are.  We chose this hotel from Trip Advisor only because it was within walking distance from the bus stop.  The hotel is comfortable but with the heavy traffic between the different areas, it is a bit of a hassle to get around.

This morning we took a taxi and viewed a few of the city’s sights.  Rocky outcrops surround this part of Oman.  In fact it was carved out of a mountain.  It is amazing scenery.

We were keen to get to the beach by mid morning as it was getting hot so Salim, the taxi driver suggested Qantab Beach.  It was 20kms away from Muscat over steep long winding roads.  The beach was spectacular.  It was in a resort called Oman Dive Centre.  The entrance fee was 2 Rial ($5) each.  We spent the afternoon there enjoying the crystal clear waters of the Sea of Oman and swimming amongst the schools of fish.

This evening we went back to the Mutrah area to walk through the local souq (market).  We had dinner at a café in front of the souq overlooking the port.  A dinner of green salad, hummus, pita bread and doner kebab chicken – the local fare.  The hummus was really good.  Then we had to sit in a taxi with heavy traffic to get back to the hotel.  Most people venture out at night because it is cooler and all the shops shut between 1 & 4pm hence more traffic on the roads later in the day.

I hope you have noticed the quality of the photos has improved.  Jim has enjoyed being the photographer but unhappy with the limitations of the iphone so we decided to splurge and bought a camera in Dubai before we left on Saturday.  Jim needed a project so now he can play with the camera and master its functionalities.

PS. No Skyping allowed in the Sultanate of Oman - site is blocked due to be social network being unsuitable but Facebook is allowed ????????

View from our hotel window

Old Muscat

Oman Dive Centre - I was unaware of this being taken 

And this - Jim very rarely lets me takes photos of him

Secret mens business outside the souq

Souvenirs, inside the souq (local spelling)

Barracuda Run

The Barracuda Run was carried out successfully with no arrests.

We headed off to the Barracuda Resort an hour's drive from here to buy supplies, you know what I mean wink wink say no more! at 10am.  Kenny thought if we went early it wouldn't be too busy. 

On the way to Barracuda Kenny tells us there is an urban myth that goes ' locals are known to run into your car along the highway on the return trip back to Dubai, making you stop your car to get your details for insurance, then they insist that you give them your you know what otherwise they'll call the police' and it is a jail able (no such word but I like it) offence.  

The highway is a flat and smooth road with a speed limit of 120kms.  On the sides of the road we saw donkeys and camels and sand and more sand.  Sand blows across the road so much that bobcats are used to push it back into the desert.  

 

Barracuda is actually a resort (of sorts) on a beach (of sorts).  Besides the obvious there was a beautiful deli where I indulged in nearly all the taste tests available.  I didn't need morning tea after all the little morsels that were on offer, cheese, dips, pesto, chutneys and crackers.  After the deli we entered the main building where you know what was kept.  It was quite busy so being there early didn't make any difference.  Looking into people's trolleys you hope they were not planning to come back for a while most were full.  The prices were a couple of dollars cheaper than home, varying between $5 and $10 depending on what you bought. 

After delivering the you know what home safely we went to the local mall for lunch at PK Chang's, an Asian restaurant, a favourite of Kenny's.  We shared scallops, salt and pepper prawns, pan seared shrimp dumplings and vegetable spring rolls.  It was yummy, just like yum cha.  No you know what - not allowed in public places.  How bizarre!

  

Skiing in Dubai, can you believe it!

It is Thursday evening and Kenny & Lisa's Friday night.  Surprising how quickly the week has flown.  Tomorrow we will do a barracuda run with them, which is a sly grog run to buy alcohol over the border.  I must admit I am a tad nervous, hopefully we won't get pulled over on the way home and put in jail.  I'll let you know more after the event.
Apparently all the expats do it.  It is acceptable to drink in your own home but not in public places.  Alcohol is only sold in restaurants attached to hotels.

On Monday we had a busy day sight seeing.  We started the day travelling on the bus & metro which is efficient and cheap. We made our way to Dubai Mall to go up to the world's tallest building 'The Burj Khalifa'.  The view was amazing from the 128th floor, thank goodness it was enclosed.  My fear of heights wasn't too bad considering.  Jim loves to stir me about it as you can imagine.

By the time we had a token look around the mall and I mean token it was huge, shops and more shops. Not much fun when your budget is limited and I'm not a window shopper even at home.  After lunch
we were back on the metro and off to the Burjumann to go on an afternoon/evening city bus tour.  It was great fun.  The driver and guide were young Pakistani's and very entertaining.  The bus was double decker with the top level open.  The tour was from 4pm to 8pm.  The tour ended back at the Dubai Mall watching the fountain show.

Today we went skiing.  I know its hard to believe isn't it, skiing in the desert.  Dubai prides itself on its tourist attractions, the biggest and best of everything.  You have probably all heard of the indoor ski dome.  Being the skiers we are we thought we have to have a look and a ski.  It was good fun.  The ticket was for 2 hours but 10 runs in an hour was enough.  There was even a cafe called Avalanche Cafe, in their dreams.

View from Burj Khalifa

The only 7 star resort in the middle east

Atlantis Resort - notice all the greenery

Fountain show at Dubai Mall

Burj Khalifa at night 

Ski Dome