OMAN for the weekend

Maybe you have never heard of Oman. It is a country that borders the UAE. We took a weekend trip there in February (I think) and it was really neat to see a similar but different Arab culture.




For probably the first time in my life I slept in and we got off to a bit of a late start. Whoops!











 It was about a 6 hours drive across the border to Muscat, the capital city of Oman.
We got to see camels crossing the road on the way there.

The city was on the ocean and it was really pretty there. We had some lunch and headed into the souk (local market). It was kind of touristy but it was fun. Then we walked down the corniche, along the water, and saw some sweet dhow boats.

We had some yummy supper (at Arab TGIFridays, lol). We also saw the Muscat mosque, which is supposed to be pretty fancy.











The next day we visited the beach and found some sucky sea creatures and sea shells before heading to Jebel Shams.

The drive there was nice and mountainy, a good change from mostly flat Abu Dhabi.








We got a bit lost in a random palm tree forest but we finally made our way to the hotel on top of Jebel Shams where there were goats (one in particular named Devin Sawa, check out the hair) to welcome us.





Jebel Shams is the Grand Canyon of Arabia and it was really cool to see. It is not quite as big as the American version, but impressive nonetheless. Also, there are goats everywhere. Who doesn't love goats? One time I got attacked by a goat in a petting zoo so I don't really love them, but these goats were cool. Plus, they styled their hair just for our visit.







Anyways, we hiked around in the canyon for a couple of hours (me wearing birkenstocks, much to the amusement of the random German tourists) taking in the views and trying not to fall to our deaths. It was beautiful and fun.













Of course the dorky photoshoot with my ipad had to be done:
1 - did I mention I have an ipad
2 - where's my camera anyways?





On the way home we stopped in at a random castle and did a tour. There were secret rooms and prisons (separate for men and women) and it was fun to explore and hide on each other inside.

Overall, it was a great weekend and I really enjoyed Oman. If I was here for longer I would go back and do some beach camping and fun stuff. The people in Oman do not have the sense of entitlement like they do here. They actually work and contribute to society and this makes them much friendlier and more helpful. They were pretty cool.