Since we were going to be leaving tomorrow, today was chores and errands day. The first priority was to find a good internet connection. We drove into town at 0900, expecting all the internet cafes to be open since business hours are generally 0800 to 1300. We drove up and down pretty much every street in Salalah and every single internet café was closed. We couldn’t see any hours signs posted in English on any of them. But, all the other businesses were open.

After 45 minutes of driving around, we decided to get groceries, go back to the boat, and head to the Oasis at noon for lunch and internet. We were told they are a wi-fi hotspot, and we had our fingers crossed that was accurate information. We were relieved to find out that are a hot spot. The connection is better than the Hilton’s, and they didn’t charge us anything extra beyond the meal for our internet usage. However, the waiter seemed unhappy with us for being the first ones to arrive and the last ones to leave when they closed for their afternoon break.

Oman is another place that lacks microwave dinners, so Christi made several meals and froze them in small plastic containers for passage food. A fellow cruiser gave us a camel roast that she put in a marinade and froze, all ready to throw in the oven on passage. Camel is a red meat, Continue reading →

Our fuel appointment was scheduled for noon, so we decided to go out for breakfast. The closest restaurant is the Oasis Club, which turned out to not open until noon. The next closest restaurant is Taj Al Meena, about 5 kilometers away, and it was open. There is an open seating area in the middle, and along one of walls there was a head high partition with a series of small doorways covered with a curtain. We were quickly whisked into one of the little partitioned rooms. This one had tables and chairs. We have found out that in “family” restaurants, the open area seating is for men and the rooms are for women/couples/families. Women who choose to cover their faces do so in order that men, other than family members, cannot see what they look like. Obviously, you have to take your mask off to eat. The private eating areas allow the women to eat mask free without fear of a man seeing her face. It is perfectly acceptable for a woman who does not cover her face to sit in the open seating areas at most, but not all, restaurants.

It turned out to be a burger place, so Continue reading →

We had an appointment to get fuel at 1000. A truck was coming out to the edge of the sea wall, and we would tie up to the sea wall to take on fuel. At 1100, we found out that the truck pump had a problem and that they would not be coming until around 1900 (7:00pm). We were happy that we had enough time to go into town and get some sightseeing in. Today there was no haze, and the mountains stood out clearly in the background. The mountains look a lot like Southern California and Baja California, almost looking more like a painting than real.

Our first stop was lunch, at a place called Jarash. We were seated in a large patio area in front. There were many men, but not a single woman in the restaurant, which made us wonder if it was OK for Christi to be there. None of the other patrons or waiters seemed Continue reading →

Today was a busy day at the port. The Sheikh of Dubai’s private yacht arrived this morning. We have no idea if the Sheikh is actually on it or not. It is a flashy multi-million dollar vessel, but we were actually expecting something bigger and flashier. After all, the guy is a sheikh. A cruise ship arrived this morning, as well, and stayed only for the day, leaving before sunset. And in the afternoon, another US military warship arrived. This one was bigger, and had an incredible array of antennas atop of it.

We laid low on Kosmos until 1630 (4:30 pm), then headed into town. We knew nothing would be open until then since today is the Sabbath. On the way to town, we stopped for gas (petrol) for the car. Diesel is USD$0. 41 a liter (about $1.50 a gallon) and gasoline is almost the same. And it is a full service gas station! Too bad marine fuel prices aren’t as low.

We drove around in search of the museum, but never found it. We drove around some more looking for a suitable restaurant. We saw a sign that said “Bin Ateeq Traditional Omani Food”. That was the spot for us. We went in and were ushered into a small private room with a Persian rug and pillows on the ground.

Our food arrived on a large serving tray. The waiter put Continue reading →