Day 5 Feb. 21 Muscat

Feb. 21

We slept in until 7:30. So up, showered and off to breakfast.  At 9:00 we left for the Grand Mosque, also known as Al-Ghubrah.  This piece of modern Islamic architecture was a gift to the country from Sultan Qaboos to mark the 30thnyear of his reign.mmthe Persian carpetmin the main prayer hall,is 70 m X 60 m wide, making it the largest carpet in the world.  It took 600 women four years to weave.  One has to follow a strict dress code before allowed to enter.  Long pants,to your ankles, long sleeves and women must cover their hair.  You must remove your shoes and take care,not to touch the Quarantine. We toured around and our taxi man said he would wait for us.  This place is phenomenal.   The gardens are also gorgeous.  Many, many petunias and snapdragons. True to his word, he was parked when we came out and drove us to the opera house.

 After a tour there (the first place so far that has charged- $2 Riel) we stopped at the French chocolate shop for a drink.  I had the date caramel latte frappe , OMG even better than the date shake. We walked back from the opera house, a good 30 minute walk. It was 1:00 pm and I was dripping with sweat. After a cool shower it was time for a rest.

4:00 means Happy Hour. We are rationing our rum as alcohol is not for sale in this country. Some hotels sell it to be consumed on the premises.  We will buy more at duty-free on our way to Dubai.

Day 4 Saturday, Feb. 20 Muscat

We started today with breakfast around 7:30.  My mantra for the trip is ‘small portions’.  So, I started with watermelon, pineapple, and a small banana.  I had coffee with a lot of milk (too strong for me), small chicken sausages in a tomato sauce with peppers and a bit of Bruce’s omelette.

At 9:00 Risbert picked us up for our personal tour.  We learned that he works here in Oman at Avis Rent a car at a couple 5 and 6 star hotels.  His wife lives with him for a month or so and then travels to Mumbai to stay with her mother.  Right now, he is by himself.  We started out by driving by the opera house which we will visit tomorrow. It was closed today and is within walking distance from our hotel.

He then took us to his apartment.  It is a large two bedroom with two bathrooms on the second floor of an apart,eat building that has retail stores on the ground level. He served us tea and chips.

  Then he took us to the hotel(s) we works in.  We took lots of pictures.  There are three hotels: one just for weddings and very special occasions, one for the business traveler, and then one for families.  Next we went to The Ritz-Carleton where the Sultan has a floor dedicated to him.  He said this is where heads of state stay.  We then ended up at the Mutrah Souk- finally shopping.

The first shop was called the Silver House.  Imagine I found a ring I had to have.  He started at 12 Riels and I bargained down to10 Riels.  We continued on our way until Bruce found a shop selling saffron.  He ended up with two jars of Saffron for 5 Riels. Frankincense grows in southern Oman. I also remembered Donna saying that frankincense was good to get rid of mosquitoes.  We found frankincense sticks made in Oman (5 packages for 5 Riel).  Then the man was showing us lumps of frankincense you can eat fr stomach problems.  I told him I use the oil.  Well, he had oil for sale too. 60 ml for 3 Riels.  By the way 1 Riel is worth $3.64.

It was closing time for the afternoon.  We will go back again.  They have some lovely scarves and other little trinkets.  We then off to lunch. Risbert took us to an Indian restaurant (buffet) near his home.  We enjoyed chicken curry, mutton curry, various kinds of rice, fish in a sauce, dhal and of course garlic and plain naan bread.  Ice cream and fruit for dessert.  He would not let us pay!  Simply saying we are guests.  It was around 3:00 when we got back to the hotel.
Time for a rest and Happy Hour.

Day 3 Oman Countryside Feb. 19

We were up at 7:00 and off to breakfast.  Actually we were up all night as Thirsday night seemed to be a night for partying.  A regular weekend here is Friday and Saturday.

Risben picked us up at 9:00 and we headed out of town.  Our first stop was at the dam.  A great place for picture taking,  then we headed to Sink Hole Park.  We had chicken tikka sandwiches that Gillian's cousin had brought. Yes, I went down the steep steps to experience a fish spa for free.  They seemed to like Bruce and Gillian better.  The water was cool and so turquoise like.

Next, we visit several wadis.  We got lost a couple of times and ended up in small villages on very small steep roads.  We made it back home after stopping at a hypermarket to buy some Coke around 5:00 pm.

After a couple rum and cokes for Happy Hour we walked about ten minutes to a restaurant.  We chose to eat outside as the temp. Is around 20 C.  Perfect.  Maribeth and I shared a Greek salad and a chicken shawarma.  Pretty good!  Bruce had the mushroom steak, mashed potatoes and veggies.  People at almost every table were smoking hookahs.

Day 1&2 Travelling Day Saskatoon-Muscat

February 16

Day 1

We were up at 5:30.  Time to shower and do last minute tidying.

David picked us up at 6:40.  At the airport we learned that our bags will need to be cleared through customs in Calgary but will be tagged all the way to Muscat.

Our flight was on time and good.  In Calgary there was no line through customs so we were having our second Timmy's of the day when Gillian and Maribeth arrived.  We bought a bagel with cream cheese for our lunch as there is no meal service to Chicago.

In Chicago we got our boarding passes for the rest of the flight and went for a drink and snack.  Bruce and I shared pulled chicken tacos and I had a Corona. 

The Swiss plane is nice but the arm rests do not go up all the way.  The service started with zesty ranch snacks with an open bar. I chose a red wine.  Then we had dinner: spinach ravioli, carrot/lettuce salad, cheese and a brownie.  I had another red wine which I managed to spill part of- on me.

Tried to sleep and did doze off a bit. Breakfast was a croissant with yogurt and juice.

We arrived in Zurich on schedule and had a little over an hour to walk around and find our gate.  Managed to just have a Star Bucks salted caramel coffee.  There were many cute things to buy but resisted. 

The flight to Muscat is not full so I moved back a row so we each have two seats. Much better.  This flight is 5.5 hrs to Dubai and then it continues one more hour to Muscat. The long day caught up with us.  We all slept until Dubai.  Of course we managed to wake up for the dinner service- polenta with a beef stew and carrots and beans with sour dough buns.  For dessert it was a plum cake that I remember having a similar one at Andrea's parents place in Germany.  Before landing we had chocolate ice cream.... It was kind of an ice cream/mousse mix. Delicious! Coming into Dubai the lights of the city were beautiful.

We stayed onboard and after the plane figured out why the power went out onboard we left.  We are behind schedule about an hour.  

The 40 minute flight fly by.  We landed and breezed through customs. Stamp, stamp we are ready to go! It is pouring outside.  The guy from the hotel is holding a sign with my name on it.  Good thing as it is very crowded with local people of all ages.  He asks us to wait while he gets the van.  We must have waited 30 min.  Good time to people watch.  The drive to the hotel was a good 40 minutes with no traffic.  Check in was efficient.

Our room is lovely but FREEZING.  Bruce turned off the AC and they brought a small heater to our room. We ordered Coke from room service to go with our duty free spiced rum we bought in Zurich.  Need to start the holiday with a toast.

We then crashed..... Mind you it was close to 2:30 in the morning.  At 9:30 Maribeth called.  Yep we slept.  We would hate to miss the breakfast that is included in our room price.  So a quick shower and we are ready to go.

Breakfast is perfect- many choices including an omelette station.  Today I had fruit and French toast with a bit of cheese and a piece of pound cake.  Tomorrow I will be more adventurous.

Preparations

One of the best parts of going on a vacation is the process.... The researching and booking of flights, hotels, and excursions.  It must be the teacher in me..... Kind of like creating a unit plan.

As the trip gets closer it is time to apply for visas.  Basically, these are permissions to visit a particular country.  They require a form to fill out, a fee, and usually two passport size photos.  For this trip they are required for : Oman, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, and Cambodia.  We used to have to actually send our passport to the embassy and wait for the visa to be added and then wait for our passport to be returned.  Now many countries have eVisa (all done online) or you can simply apply at the airport when you arrive.

This blog will allow me to record details so that when I get home and are ready to create my Mixbook it will be a much easier project.

VISAS

We have three weeks until we leave.  We need visas for several countries.  The good news is that recently the application process has changed.  Now it can be completed online instead of sending the actual passport to the specific embassy.

This post will discuss the process and cost of each visa.

Oman
Apply online
5 OMR = $18.55

India
Many strict rules
Must apply no sooner than 33 days before entering
The file size has to be limited
$139.24 for 2

Sri Lanka
$100.90 for 2

Vietnam
You must get a letter of invitation
Fill out a form and hand it in at the airport
$179.26 for 2


Oman Visa
Sri Lanka Visa
India Visa
Cambodia Visa
Vietnam Visa
$  36.21
$100.90
$139.24

$179.26
$455.76 Prepaid

Itinerary

itinerary