Some Obersvations from Oman

I came down to Oman this weekend, followed by a trip over to Kuwait to do some fundraising. I had my reservations about flying down here but all in all it's quite pleasant (except for the heat but I'll get to that later).

It was a long journey to get here. Started out in Hamburg, transferred to another plane in Frankfurt, flew to Doha, Qatar and then finally on to Muscat. Thank god I was able to upgrade the flight as it probably would not have been as pleasant were I to have been in economy the whole time.

Upon arrival it became clear that this is an interesting place. You first have to buy your Visa to be allowed into the country. This can be done ahead of time but is not necessary. Super easy process and the people are all extremely nice. Once you complete this, it's out to the taxis and on to your hotel. You no longer need to haggle with the taxi driver as there are fixed prices to all the hotels and off you go. Plus, everyone speaks pretty good English.

The drive over surprised me. I was expecting a bit more "middle east". But no, the first things you see are KFC and McDonalds followed by a couple American chain stores, a Porsche dealer and so forth. I could have been on the highway in any southern state in the U.S. The hotel is your typical Hyatt but also nothing you wouldn't run across elsewhere.

The food is just as good as in any hotel and the local specialties are quite tasty. Again, the service is super nice and you can't move a finger without being asked if you need help.

Now, on to the heat. It is hot. At 7 a.m. it was already hot. It's now 9 a.m. and it's HOT. We are suppossed to do some sightseeing this afternoon and I am dreading it. Did I mention that it's hot. I'll update afterwards unless I collapse from heat exposure.