Afternoon at the Creek

A few weekends ago John and I visited Dubai Creek Park, a pleasant green space along the shores of Dubai Creek.  Parking is free but there is an entrance fee of 5 Dhs to enter the gates.

We were surprised to find such a quiet place in Dubai.  It was nice to get away from the crazy traffic and relax.  The grass was so well kept that we took off our shoes and walked on it like a carpet!

At Creek Park there were lots of families using the playground equipment and having BBQs.  There is a cable car that runs along the creek, as well as a Dolphinarium, bird show, and a place called Children's City, but you have to pay extra for these attractions.  You can also rent bicycles, or ride a pony or camel inside the park.  However, look out for camel pee... John and I accidentally stepped into a puddle of it on the grass, gross!

I hope to go back again some time to enjoy some peace and quiet, but next time I could do without any bodily fluids from camels!

Middle of nowhere, Oman

Before coming to Oman, I read a lot about the stunning mountain landscape of the country.  When I found a traditional Omani village in the mountains called Misfat Al Abreyeen, I knew we had to stay there.  Misfat is a few hours away from Muscat, not too far from the former capital of Oman, Nizwa.  The road there is mostly flat except at the end where you have to drive up the paved mountain road that snakes several kilometres up to the village.  Parking was a bit of a nightmare because only locals can drive their cars into the village.  You must park your car on the side of the mountain road before entering the town gate.  Luckily the road was wide enough and had a barricade on the side.  I'm glad I wasn't the one parallel parking on the side of a mountain... John did a good job!

We stayed in a place called Misfah Old House, a small guest house that is a traditional Omani mud brick home.  Upon arriving at the car park, we called one of the owners who met us and walked us up through winding passageways of crumbling mud brick buildings and through a grove of palm trees to the guest house.  We were served dates and coffee on arrival, and then decided to explore more of the village on our own.  We came across abandoned watch towers, date palms, villagers swimming in the falaj (water channel) that flows around the mountain, and kids playing drums in celebration of the Eid holiday.

Snack on arrival

Accommodation at Misfah Old House is basic, but comfortable.  We slept on mats and had a shared bathroom, but amazingly the place had air conditioning and wifi.  The place includes half board, so you get dinner and breakfast included in the price of your accommodation.  Dinner was served up on the roof, buffet style.  We had rice, cooked vegetables, falafel, hummus, chicken kebabs, salad, pita bread, and cake for dessert. 

Simple but comfortable

Exploring the village

Abandoned watch tower

Walking along the falaj

Mountain view from the roof

It was nice to spend some time in a quiet place, far from the big cities of Muscat and Dubai.  While enjoying the view of the mountains from the rooftop of the guest house, I thought to myself how crazy it was that I was sitting in a mud brick house in the middle of nowhere in Oman, a place that was nowhere on my radar until very recently.  It's funny how life takes you to places you've never imagined you would go...

Swimming in sinkholes and wadis, why not?

First stop on the Omani road trip outside of Muscat was the Bimmah Sinkhole, also known as Hawiyat Najm Park.  This sinkhole is around 30 metres deep, and a popular stop off the highway on the way to Wadi Shab.

We decided to join many other visitors there for a quick dip, after all... how often can you say that you've gone swimming in a sinkhole?

After that, we made our way to the famous Wadi Shab.  A wadi is a valley with an intermittent stream, or a dry riverbed that only contains water after it rains.  When you arrive, you pay 1 Rial to the boat guy to sail you across to the other side of the sand, where you can begin walking through the valley.  After around one hour walking through sand and climbing over boulders, you reach some streams which you must wade through if you want to continue on.

The last pool of water looks like nothing until you reach the end, where you find a path between some rocks.  If you swim through the narrow passageway, you will reach a secret cave.  We made the mistake of not having a waterproof bag with us, but luckily our stuff didn't get too wet.  Wadi Shab is a place I'd recommend for nature lovers to visit, but if you're not keen on climbing over large rocks or swimming, then I would skip it.  Definitely an interesting place to spend a few hours!

Oh man, Oman!

I have to admit that despite being the geography nerd that I am, I didn't know Oman existed until very recently.  After hearing that I was moving to the Middle East, some friends that had travelled in the region told me I had to go to Oman.  Oman is beautiful!  Oman is safe!  You'll just love Oman!  So, for our first holiday of the school year, we borrowed a guidebook, hopped on a bus, and headed for the border...


Oman is located right next to the UAE, so we didn't need to fly there.  To get to Muscat, the capital city of Oman, by bus from Dubai you need to buy tickets one day in advance from the Oman National Transport Company office in Deira next to the Ponderosa/Caravan Restaurant.  The bus we took left at 7:00am, and we had to be there a half hour before.  Luckily, tickets were cheap... only 90 UAE Dirhams ($27) for a round trip ticket with an open return date.

On the back of the bus ticket it claims "All our fleet are fitted with speed limiters for assuring safe journeys."  Vehicles here have speed warning beepers that start to beep once you go over 120 km/h, and that bus was beeping for most of the trip.  Luckily, the driver got us to Muscat safely in around 6 hours.  The annoying part about the bus ride (aside from the beeping) was that we had to show our passports a bunch of times and get in and out of the bus at various checkpoints and have our bags checked and passports stamped.  We got Omani visas on arrival for 50 Dirhams each (around $15).

Since taxis aren't metered in Muscat and the city is quite spread out, we decided to rent a car through Thrifty at the airport.  We used Thrifty when we rented a car in Australia, and they gave us a car pretty quickly without much hassle.  Canadians can drive in Oman with their Canadian licenses.  The roads in Oman are brand new, and there wasn't much traffic outside Muscat, a city of around 1 million people.  Gas was fairly cheap and getting around was easy as we brought our GPS with us.  If you want to get around Oman, I'd highly recommend renting a car because there didn't seem to be a lot of public transportation options in between cities.

Here's where we went in Muscat...

Muttrah Souq

This crazy place is a labyrinth of food stalls and shops selling every typical Middle Eastern trinket you'd hope to buy, and more.  Need an incense burner?  Genie lamp?  Flying carpet?  Gold camel statue?  It's all here.  Just make sure you come during the opening hours, from around 8am-1pm, and 5-9pm.

Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

The Grand Mosque is definitely grand.  It's huge and so beautifully designed that you can't help being impressed.  The mosque is free to visit, and open to non-Muslims from 8-11am.  You must visit wearing appropriate clothing (men need to wear pants, women need to cover their heads and have arms covered to the wrist and legs covered to the ankle).  Inside the mosque is the world's second largest piece of carpet which took 4 years to make (the biggest one is now in the UAE at the grand mosque in Abu Dhabi... leave it to the Emiratis to make something bigger and better)!  There is also a huge, stunning chandelier which is made of 8.5 tonnes of Swarovski crystals, and is 14 metres high.  It used to be the biggest chandelier in the world until it was surpassed by one made in Qatar.  The mosque was a peaceful place to visit, and a must-see in Muscat!

Qurum Beach

We visited the beach at low tide, and it was surprising how far we could walk out to the Indian Ocean.  It wasn't your typical beach though, as not many sunbathers could be found.  Being so conservative, you didn't see locals out in typical swimming attire.  Women were walking around taking selfies on their ipads in their abayas and men wore shorts and t-shirts and played soccer.  Some people were swimming with clothes on, which is what I did!  It was nice to take a dip in the Indian Ocean to cool off.

Muttrah Corniche

This coastal road was great for people watching and admiring the harbour of Muscat and surrounding mountains.  The royal yacht, owned by the Sultan of Oman, was parked in the waters.  It's one of the biggest yachts in the world... I can only imagine the luxury inside.  It looked like a cruise ship!  The corniche is nice to stroll around but unfortunately upon closer look, you can see that the water is polluted with lots of garbage... too bad!  The souq is located along the route, as well as many juice bars where you can grab a nice cup of refreshing lemon mint water.

While Muscat was an interesting place to spend a few days, we wanted to get out and see more of Oman.  Let the road trip begin!  ...