Adventures in Muscat

As fun as Muscat was, urban environments weren't the only thing we were looking for so when we got the chance to do something out of town we jumped on it.

Being on the Arabian sea, means that Oman is blessed by an amazing shoreline peppered by incredible beaches which tend to be mostly deserted around the time we were in the country (December).

In the hopes of taking full advantage of this, we drove 2 hours out of town and hopped on a small fishing boat which promised to take us to a beach. And wow, did it ever deliver on its promise!

What we found was a completely deserted beach with the clearest most beautiful water you will ever find on a small cove that seemed to come out of a beach lover's wild dream complete with an existing and already assembled large tent containing mattresses, a board game and chairs for those simply wanting to look at the sea.

Having traveled a bit myself and coming from an amazingly beautiful island, I have seen a fair amount incredible places and this was indeed something special.

The moments spent there and swimming in that place are one of the wildest and most amazing memories I keep with me from my travel. Not the least because by the end of our time there I gashed my foot on a rock and will keep the 3 stitch souvenir for life. But about that you can read on a different story.

And it wasn't just the beach that was amazing, after a fast visit to the emergency clinic to clean, bandage and assess the wound on my foot we decided that priorities are priorities and before going to the clinic to get my foot sutured we should do what we had planned to do in the first place. Enjoy a tremendous lunch at the fisherman's house.

I know it might sound weird to choose lunch over stitching my gashed foot but I am definitely happy with my choice! We were presented with an incredible feast of rice, fresh veggies and the most amazing mackerel I probably ever had. It was brilliant in how simple and honest it felt to sit on the floor and communally eat from the same plate with new friends who kept putting more food on my side of the plate.

The sea, however, wasn't the only adventurous place we discovered in Oman.

Also within a short drive from Muscat is the Bimmah sinkhole.

Though I personally could not enjoy swimming in its waters, just watching the amazing turquoise is an incredible sight onto itself and A put on her brave shoes and swam all the way across this uncanny depression even though she had fishes biting into her and the bottom was nowhere to be seen. So proud!

Still in Muscat you can rent quad bikes and go for a joy ride in the dunes while other even crazier people bolt their 4x4 jeeps up the hill next to you.

By that time my foot was preventing me from going too crazy but A went for it and spent over 30m zooming around on the bike and letting her hair flow in the wind. She was scared at first but when she got the hang of it, she became all smiles and even convinced me to take a short ride with her as a passenger.

Looking back, it hardly seems like we spent under two weeks in this country and I can only imagine the adventures to be had with more time.