If you ever get the chance to visit Oman, I HIGHLY recommend it. It is beautiful, the people are incredibly friendly, and surprisingly, it is tourist/English-speaking friendly.
We live in Switzerland, in the heart of Europe, and almost three years on we still have trouble reading some signs and food packages, or communicating to complete the simplest transactions, yet in Oman everything was in Arabic and English. Everything.
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| Doesn't the Arabic look like two guys in a canoe? |
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| Joe and the Food Stuff Sales sign. |
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| Without that cute face distracting you. |
The best sign was when real life happened just as the sign described:
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| We saw this sign then... |
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| ...this happened! |
A herd of camels literally crossed the freeway right in front of us! A truck parked diagonally blocking both directions of travel, then a herd trotted across the road, some camels were being ridden, some not. It was the craziest (coolest) sight! In fact we saw a lot of camels in Oman:
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| As common as cows by the road. |
And of course, being from Switzerland, we had to sample Camel Milk Chocolate.
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| It was delicious. |
There were a lot goats, too. Some like to pose:
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| Photo courtesy of Joe. |
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| Entrance to our accommodations. |
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| Maureen and I shared a room... |
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| ...with a gecko who oversaw our night's sleep. |
We hiked all over:
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| Peek-a-boo! |
With only one mishap:
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| Only a couple of dislocated fingers and... |
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| ...a gash on my arm. |
Because of our expert driver/tour guide/nephew extraordinaire we got to see these incredible views:
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| This was my favorite view. |
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| After driving down a mountain...sometime it felt like it was literally straight down. |
Even in the heart of Oman, you can still get WiFi, just remember to use it wisely.
Again, I can't recommend Oman enough. It was really an amazing experience. Come on to Oman!
Today's poem is an Ode to Oman:
Oh Oman!
Thank you for your craggy mountains
that tower above deep canyons
and sparsely populated valleys.
Thank you for the mountain goats
that roam freely among your
rock-rolled faces.
Thank you for the camels that
traverse your scrub-dotted terrain.
Thank you for the date palm trees
that signal the inviting
oasis villages.
Thank you for welcoming
travelers from afar
with your English signs,
readily offered dates
and Cardamom coffee
and camel milk chocolate.
Oh Oman, you are simply beautiful.
©2020, Bridget Magee. All Rights Reserved.