G’day Folks! I have been working through my trip of earlier this year with you on Sundays of late, and finally I have reached what I considered the ‘second leg’ of the trip, moving on from South Asia (first leg) to the Middle East. My time in the Middle East would see me visit Oman, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. First stop was the capital of Oman, Muscat.

And this is a place that left me with very mixed feelings. On one hand, I had a weird-ass time there where a lot of things went wrong and I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone somewhat, on the other hand it really is a beautiful place, clean, stunning location with history behind it and seemingly a very bright future. So here’s the little story over two parts of my time in Muscat.

I flew from Karachi to Muscat on Oman Air. Check out the above video about that experience! The flight was fine, although there was quite the argument on board over seats before take off. Arrival at Muscat International Airport was a slow experience at immigration, after a sensational approach across the Gulf of Oman with the mountains alongside. But immigration, in a quiet airport, took a long time for non-citizens of Oman. Each person seemed to need five minutes to be processed. Visas are generally required for Oman and I got mine well in advance online – I don’t THINK they are available at the airport.

Once through immigration which took over an hour, I found myself in what felt like an almost deserted airport, to a waiting taxi I’d booked ahead of time. The drive into town is a strange one because Muscat is a city spread out from the airport to the Old Town/Corniche and beyond, there is not real centre. We sped past the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, one of the biggest in the world and one I would visit later.

When I arrived at my hotel – the International Hotel Muscat, which was a very decent hotel and a  good budget find – I was shooting for the vlog and as I entered the lobby I walked up to reception. There was a girl there in the corner who I hadn’t got in the shot but she ran to me to tell me not to film her and that she can’t be seen on video. This was the start of the weirdness that enveloped my five days in Muscat.

Chatting with her later something seemed to be up, she was clearly full of anxiety and my first thought was that something bad had happened to her in Muscat. After checking in she came to me to tell me this was a very bad hotel and she didn’t feel safe here, so I agreed to chat with her later. And the story I got was BANANAS. It involved a man she met in Albania who she believed had murdered ex-Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, she’d also had her bag stolen in Albania which didn’t have anything valuable in the money sense but it had important things for her (she never told me what) and was soon suggesting that I go to Albania for her (or with her? It wasn’t clear obviously) and get her backpack back. From maybe the police who were probably in on the whole thing. Have you ever regretted meeting someone and listening to their story very quickly whilst traveling and quickly devising exit scenarios in your head?

Turns out this girl had mad accusations (false) about one of the reception staff as well. And well, I soon was regretting majorly reaching out. So much so that coming in and out of the hotel I was doing everything I could to sneak around and not be noticed. Apparently reception had had a lot of issues with the girl and were very relieved when she agreed to go to another hotel a few days later.

That wasn’t the only weird or ‘bad’ thing I encountered in Muscat. But the BEST thing I did was probably taking a snorkelling trip the Daymaniyat Islands to see the sea turtles. This deserves a post of its own I guess at some point down the line. Or sooner! Anyways that was the second day in Muscat and it was brilliant. The islands are a good 45 minutes or more from the pier, quite a way from where I was staying and I would rely on ubers quite a bit in Muscat although I did use the public buses a bit.

The islands are beautiful but this was one of the best snorkelling experiences I have ever had. The water was beautifully warm and I did indeed see a number of sea turtles! Brilliant! But the day was a little soured when I used the toilet on board our small trip. I put my foot on the floor and it being a boat, it was a bit slippery. My foot slipped across the floor and I tumbled. I was ok but I did bump my ankle which was bruised and I limped a bit for a couple of days because of that.

That was only the start. The next day was time to explore the Old Town and Corniche. This day was probably the worst. The palace was an interesting design and colourful, but on the corniche there was a fort I climbed. Coming back down the steps from the fort, I missed a step and took a bit of a tumble. My DSLR was over my shoulder at the time, not how I would advise people to carry valuable cameras because it fell a lot further than I did. It tumbled 15 metres down the steep rocky hill. It pulled up better than I did I guess, well the filter was smashed but it had protected the lens which was incredible. The lens was fine. The touch screen was all cracked, and yet… it all still worked!

As for me, well I’d ripped a bit of skin off my right arm which I needed to bandage and disinfect for a week or more afterwards. I had cuts on my left arm and shins as well. However, I was okay. I actually was able to continue on touring and vlogging that day although I didn’t realise in the tumble I guess the microphone cord must have stretched too far and now wasn’t working. But I was looked after and helped by a couple of friendly and super kind Pakistani guys who were at the fort at the time.

It’s incredible how when you need a hand, someone is there. For all the bad people in the world, there are many more kind human beings. On top of that I waited and hour for a bus back to my hotel, and when it finally came it didn’t stop! Why? There were a number of us waiting for the bus. Because – the bus doesn’t take new passengers if all the seats are taken. So there’s a tip for you! Possibly a Covid rule? In the end I got a share taxi back to the hotel. Alive! Yes, a bad day I guess but at the same time, it could have been so much worse and as I couldn’t find my disinfectant and so ended up using hand sanitiser on my wounds (let me tell you, it works but it KILLS) I reflected that all in all more good came from that day than bad.

I will be doing a full sight-seeing post on Muscat as well as one on the snorkelling, but before I conclude this post I will talk about the other thing that went awry in Muscat. I walked a long long way – many kilometres to a bus station in the sun, and bought a ticket for the next day on a bus to Dubai. Or so I thought. I was there at 6am or so for the bus the next day and it turned out I had bought a ticket to somewhere that sounded a lot like ‘Dubai’ but was in fact in Oman. I was whisked to another bus company but it was too late their bus had gone and their afternoon bus was full. So I had an extra day in Muscat. It was a crazy morning but you have to roll with it. A misunderstanding yes – they happen. I got a refund but I didn’t get a refund on the night I’d paid for in Dubai (the hotel). Such is life.

So there you go. A case of things not going right, but I guess no real harm done either and it’s all part of travel. Next two posts will show you just how amazing the place was – well one will be about the snorkelling. Thanks for joining me today, take care wherever you may be in the world – and May the Journey Never End!