Another fine morning ...

So, it's been another week of work, entertaining visitors from London, work, sunset swimming in the sea, work, running around town trying to change a 1996 $100 bill (failed!), work and, this evening, chilling out in my room with a triple bill of Case Histories and BBC comedy ...

It's a funny rhythm, a slightly schizophrenic swinging between being cooped up in an office banging away at a computer and then, LITERALLY two minutes later, walking towards a swimming pool for an evening cocktail ... living in a holiday destination rocks!

So, my fun new thing this week was going on one of the dolphin watching cruises. A typical tourist thing to do, but since it's completely off season, we had the boat to ourselves and were able to get the guy to do whatever we wanted. It started off very sedately, slowly edging out of the marina tucked into one the bays on the east coast - beautiful speedboats, yachts and some of the old-style wooden dhows ...

But that was just for the first five minutes. Once clear of the marina we sped up and the proper fun started, on a speedboat bouncing along on the waves, gripping on for dear life to avoid being thrown over the edge. And then all of a sudden ... throttle down, sunhats back on, and there we were, pootling in the ocean watching dolphins gracefully surfacing and sliding back down into the water. A magic half hour ...

Once the dolphins had dived off to fish, we came back along the coast and saw all the beautiful nooks and crannies that nature has carved out of the earth - the hidden beaches you can only reach by boat, the crystal clear water, the weathered rocks, and the mountains looming almost over us. Fishermen, turtles, and a cooling wind blowing in our face ... what a blissful way to spend a morning before diving back into the humidity and extreme heat of town ...

The Pad - Sneak Preview!

Well, I managed to take some photos of my new pad - won't actually be moving in until I get back from the UK in August (in sha allah), but here are a couple of images for all my lovely family and friends who will be visiting soon!

OK, so here's looking from one end of the dining room into the flat - the main living area is open plan, with the living room going off to the right ...

... and leading directly out onto the balcony. The patio doors off the living room and two of the three bedrooms open right up, so that when the weather isn't too hot they can stay open to make one big indoor-outdoor living space. Perfect for someone like me who hates being cooped up inside, and making it a great party flat!

Then there's the view - I'm afraid it was a bit hazy today (and I had to rely on the crappy phone camera), so you can't really appreciate the fact that the sea is on the horizon, but believe me, it's there and glittering blue ...

And the "piece de resistance" - a little private pool on my balcony, all ready for lounging with a gin and tonic after a hard day's work (of which there will be many, I'm sure!).

What a lucky cow I am! Just some furniture and pot plants away from domestic bliss ...

The Dark Side

I've realised that Oman may sound like a lot of fun in the sun so far, so I wanted you to know that it's not just a paradise idyll - there are some pretty controversial issues in the Gulf in general, some of which affect Oman in particular. Plenty of other people have written informative blogs about these subjects, so here are links to a few of those that I've found informative, and sometimes frankly shocking ...

1. Human trafficking

There are many thousands of immigrant workers in Oman and throughout the Gulf doing the more menial jobs that locals don't want to do - in fact, I've heard that Oman is almost the only country where Omanis are still the majority. While many of them are here out of choice and managing to support entire extended families back home on the wages they get here, there definitely seems to be a much darker side to local immigration;

http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/housemaids-declared-human.html

http://www.traffickingproject.org/2008/06/gulf-states-condemn-us-human.html

2. Women's rights

Now, I have to say that Saudi Arabia stands out as by far the most conservative country in the region in terms of women's rights and equality of opportunity. Women in Oman have equality in theory at least, and are very slowly beginning to make inroads into public life, although traditional male domination prevails. On the other hand, Saudi women are having to struggle for even the most basic rights, and being able to drive has been taken up recently as one small but significant battle in the long uphill struggle to equality;

http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/05/some-saudis-promote-violence-against.html

http://saudiwriter.blogspot.com/2011/06/lingerie-shop-jobs-for-women-hollow.html

http://www.familylaw-khaleej.org/en/news/women%E2%80%99s-rights-inch-forward-in-me.html

3. Female Circumcision

I had no idea that this was practised at all in the region until I read the blog below, and to find out that the majority of women in Dhofar (in the south of Oman) are subjected to this horrific mutilation was a massive eye-opener - especially when it has been decreed un-Islamic by the highest authorities in the Islamic world;

http://thelinoleumsurfer.blogspot.com/2011/06/save-clitoris.html

http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/2010/08/female-circumcision-in-oman.html

Not happy reading, but I think it's important to know about the good and the bad in all of us ...

Muscat mooching ...

Well, this week has been much much cooler - which feels like a stupid thing to say when it's still been in the low 40s, but believe me, it makes a difference! It has meant that escaping the heat has become less of an obsession, and I've actually been able to consider doing something other than working (local events keeping me busy) and taking measures to keep cool ... not that escaping the heat is so bad when it involves a pool or the sea!

In fact, now that I am out and about a bit more, I'm starting to properly appreciate how much fun I'm going to have here - it feels like living on holiday, doing all those things that we associate with our two weeks of fun in the sun EVERY DAY. And shed loads of work of course - had a couple of long ones this week - but it seems worth putting in the hours when a beer and a stroll on the beach are only minutes away.

Not that Muscat is cheap, but at the risk of sounding like a big fat cliché, some of the best things in life are free - the beach being top of the list around here. Different beaches in town provide different kinds of seaside fun - umbrellas for your own little picnic, promenades for a stroll in the cooler hours, cafes and restaurants overlooking the sea for daytime mooching and night-time fun ... and all with lapping waves and blue blue skies ...

And then there's a good selection of pampering options too, for when you just can't take any more sun, sea and wind ... I have just discovered Ayana Spa, with its lovely Balinese therapists and yummy traditional products. In fact, as I write I am still glowing from a Moroccan hamam, all natural scrubs, yoghurt and sandalwood body mask and honey facial ...

And the best part? I've found a place to live, and there's plenty of space for you!!! yes you!!! to come and stay. So get saving ...

Coming soon - pics of the new pad ...

When the going gets hot, the hot go swimming ...

Did I mention already that it's hot here? To be honest, it's hard to think about much else for most of the day, we were officially the hottest city on the planet last weekend with a stonking 51 degrees!! [although according to the government here it was only 49, as when it hits 50 degrees everyone gets a day off work!]

Anyway, about the only daytime outdoor activity any sane person would consider doing at the moment involves water in some way, and a bunch of us opted for snorkelling and diving on Thursday. The Dive Centre is down the coast from Old Muscat, and is a nice to hang out even if you're not into the active stuff - you pay a couple of Rials and get to use the beach facilities, swim in the pool, eat in the restaurant, or just kick back in the bar with a cold beer and a shisha ... and there are some cute beach huts to stay in too if you can't bear to drag yourself away from the lapping waves (very tempting) ...

But we opted for the active start to the day, getting there at 8am to jump on a boat and head out for the high seas. We sailed past loads of gorgeous little bays with sandy beaches, 6 star hotels or just rocks falling into the sea, with motorboats and a few of these lovely traditional-style boats (called dhows) tucked away for a bit of peace and quiet ...

When we got to each of our two sites, me and my two mates let all those eager beaver divers on our boat jump off and sink down, then it was our turn to get kitted up (much quicker for us without all the tanks and gubbins!) to have a little peak at the world beneath the waves.

Now, I've seen quite a few corners of the underwater world, and while this wasn't the most stunning by a long way (Komodo and Alor still have it), this was still a pretty wonderful day thanks to a baby manta ray, a giant puffer fish and some rather spectacular corals even in the shallowest waters ... and getting some relief from the scorching sun!

Having said that, despite drinking for England whenever I was out of the water, my head was thumping a bit by the evening and I slept a cracking 13 and a half hours that night, so perhaps I need to rethink the days out under the sun ... or find a hat I can swim in!

Whatever the solution, I will have to find a way to get back into the water as much as possible - I hear turtles and tiger sharks are out there waiting to say hello, as well as a million other creatures of all shapes and sizes ...

Out with the old ...

Last weekend, as well as exploring Arabian fotresses, I got to wander around a couple of the many deserted villages in Oman. The country was generally poor and almost completely cut off from the modern world until the 70s, when oodles of the black stuff and a new Sultan educated in the UK changed everything. Suddenly, with cash flowing in, people abandoned their mud houses to build shiny new houses in the suburbs, leaving whole neighbourhoods crumbling - very atmospheric, but a bit eerie too ...

In places like Nizwa and Bahla, even the old city walls are still standing, but rather than spend money on keeping them in good nick, people are just building around them or putting up lovely new concrete blocks to fill the gaps.

In Al Hamra, the old city is almost completely abandoned, with maybe one house in 100 still inhabited (you can tell them from the rusty AC units hanging out of the mud wall). Anyone is free to wander around the rest of the town, nosing around dwellings that sometimes still have shelves, furniture and ornate doors and window shutters.

I guess it's very Western in a way to romanticise the old, and it's certainly more comfortable to live somewhere with no bugs and AC, but there were so many little places that I could imagine calling home - maybe it's better that they're left rather than pulled down and replaced by modern monstrosities, and does mean that people like me can visit and, with a little imagination, be transported back to ye olde days ...