Mike's Trip to Oman

This week, Mike headed to Oman (yes the one in the Middle East) for kick-off meetings for a Technical Integrity Audit with the Oman Gas Company. The Omani's are actually very friendly, jovial people, and Canadians and Aussies alike fit right in. You just have to overlook the fact that most of the men are wearing dresses! This was the view from my room at the Crowne Plaza, Muscat: The hotel was shaped like a large cruise ship, and looked over the Gulf of Oman. You could almost see all the way up the coast to Dubai (~200km). The road up the coast is dual carriageway and lit all the way. We were treated to a dinner at the Inter Continental by one of the Sheiks: On the other side at the harbour of Mutra, the Sultan's boat could clearly be seen docked: The coastline is rugged but beautiful (in an arid kind of way):

One of my favourite places was the Mutra Souk, one of the last remaining old Souks in the region. It was fun to barter for things like Frankincence, and GOLD! (Yes I did bring back a few small pressies for the girls, and Jake a Dish-Dasher - the traditional dress the men wear there)

On the Tuesday Night, we were invited back to the home of OGC's chief auditor. His grandson reminded me a lot of my nephew Teddy, he was even wearing Crocs; he took to me and chewed my ear off with the most amazing stories:

On the Wednesday evening, we made time for a quick sight-seeing tour. Here is the 7 star resort of Shangri-La, just south along the east coast from Muscat - it was certainly the playground of the rich and famous:

And finally I did meet a couple of girlfriends there, but their breath was horrible:

The flights on Emirates were all excellent and thoroughly recommended.