Muscat, OMAN, Arabian Peninsula, Middle East

I made it safely to Muscat, Oman. The flight from Hong Kong to Dubai was uneventful, stayed over in Dubai for one night, and this morning took a 6-hour bus across the desert to this beautiful oasis-like city surrounded by desert, mountains, and the sea. Muscat is very reminiscent of Palm Springs in California. A very modern town, totally Arabian architecture, clean, safe, really nice people - mostly all people dressed in traditional clothes - dishdasha for men (bright white ankle-length, collarless gown with long sleeves) and abaya (long and thin black dress) for women. However, I was told that the abaya is not traditional dress but it is the current style. About half of the women wear a burqa or hijab (woman’s mask).

Muscat with a population of just over 600,000 people is the largest city in the Sultanate of Oman. Surrounded by desert and mountains, Muscat is remarkably green, with tree-lined streets and several sizeable public parks with green grass (some fake!), shrubs, and flowers decorating many traffic circles (called round-abouts) and other public areas. Quite a pleasant town and everything seems to in place and perfect! Food is good - shawarma and falafel along the corniche (waterfront along the harbour) is just $0.50 each and really great. Many stands sell fresh fruit juices which are 100% fresh, real, and darn good!