Well I managed a 450km drive from one country to another without a map.... but not without getting lost :-P
Can you believe that I naively thought that I could rely on the fact that a petrol station would sell a map of the country of which they were located in and also a map of the capital city of that country a capital city that was down the road from the said petrol station... ha! Well I am the fool aren’t I!? I stopped at six, yes six petrol stations and none of them had maps... And now with a little internet map 100m sq of where my hotel was I knew I would be in need of a map... Oh well... off to Muscat without a map... not to mention driving on the other side of the road and driving for the first time in the Middle East... Well nothing like a challenge to make you feel alive..
Well did I mention that the little map I did have had the hotel located in the wrong area? Oh and that Muscat does not allow u-turns? Well I ended up making a 5hr drive into a 8hr drive and I was almost in tears several times... But I did, in the end, make it! Result!
Muscat is a lovely little place and a very pleasant change from Dubai. Cars stop to let you walk across the road (yes, hard to believe for a Middle East resident I know) and locals are everywhere, as opposed to Dubai where I have yet to spot any... People are talkative and are prone to wave at you for no reason other than they want to seem welcoming.
The place is clean and well ordered and although a little quiet it seemed like a nice place to live. However, one thing that became clear to me in Muscat was that I no longer want to travel alone. I don't like this adventure by myself thing... I don't know how people bother.... All I can say is that from August my little Farah will be dragged everywhere with me... As nothing compares to experiencing wonderful things with a wonderful thing!
Please check new picks of my trip:
http://lucas.intercate.net/gallery/muscat?page=1
