First impressions

View from the Crown Plaza hotel 

Arriving in Muscat in mid-August it was quiet, very quiet...in fact for a while it seemed as if we were the only people on our compound, there were no lights on anywhere. With so many people away it did however mean that there was less traffic on the roads and so it was a good time to orientate myself and start driving in the Middle East again, a very different experience than in the UK...lots of changing of lanes and weaving in and out and forget it if you leave too big a gap between you and the car in front, it will take you forever to get anywhere. Assertive driving is what's needed but I still needed to psych myself up to get in the drivers seat. Luckily our tank of a car gave me a sense of protection from what seemed like madness around me.

Sunset at Shatti Beach - The cooler part of the day

My first impressions of Muscat and living in Oman

• Muscat - With its beaches, mountain back-drop, palm trees and brightly coloured bouganevillea, Muscat is a beautiful low-rise city with friendly people   
• The heat - I hadn't forgotten from my Doha days what it is like to live with the summer heat in the Middle East; staying inside until late in the day, living with air conditioning and keeping children occupied when it's too hot to run around outside...these are just some of the things I am having to get used to again. I had however forgotten about the humidity, my hair just hates this weather and no amount of product seem to be able to tame my frizz!
• Eating out - How many fast food restaurants?! They are everywhere! I have yet to find a truly healthy hang out even though we have tried a few restaurants already, Thai, Indian, International, Italian etc we have been reasonably adventurous but I'm not really sure they exist here in Muscat. In fact food has been a bit hit and miss for us and sometimes even disappointing even at the more expensive establishments. By far the best food experienced in Muscat was the traditional food served at the home of an Omani. Local fish, herbs and spices, chicken and coconut curry, traditional Omani bread and rice, delicious!   
• Shopping -No more Tesco and Riverford organic deliveries for me. I have found myself making trips to 3 or more supermarkets several times a week. I can't find everything I want but I have found some organic food and a few health food products (which cost an arm and a leg) but for now we are trying to eat more fresh fish and well washed local produce. I have however heard that Organic foods in Dubai make a delivery to the Wave in Muscat once or twice a month so I shall shortly be investigating. Oh and I am trying to summon up the courage to visit the local fish market too, goodness knows what I'll come back with though... As far as clothes are concerned, well let's just say I think I shall be taking a trip to Dubai a couple of times a year!  

View from our roof terrace

Overall, our first 6 weeks in Muscat have felt pretty much like a long holiday, knowing no one and without too much to do except find our way around. However, since school started a couple of weeks ago I have started to feel like I am actually living here, probably due to having more of a routine and the fact that our shipping finally arrived after 2 months at sea. We also now have a list of things we want to do and places we would like to visit here in Oman and so have started to put some dates in the diary; Salalah; desert camping, boat trips and Opera house visits so watch this space for the pics.