May 11
After weeks in the lush green tropics, we arrived in the Arabian Peninsula in Khasab, Oman, at the south end of the peninsula, the gateway to the Persian Gulf. There could not be a bigger contrast in the desert landscape. However, there was no escape from the heat, which was in the high 90s.
We arrived in port at 10:30 a.m. and were thankful we finally had a strong internet connection. It's time to double-check the travel arrangements that start on the 13th as we say goodbye to our home for these past three months.
We had a quiet morning and started packing. After only three months, it is amazing how complicated packing is. We had a leisurely lunch and prepared for our afternoon tour.
Our tour consisted of a caravan of seven Toyota Land Cruiser SUV’s. We set off on nice paved roads. Our driver spoke no English, so we had no idea where we were going. For all we knew, we had landed on the moon.
After about 15 minutes, we turned off the paved highway and headed straight for what looked like a perfectly vertical mountain. The driver headed for a narrow, single-lane dirt road and headed up the hill with the mountain on one side and an almost vertical steep drop off one side on the other side. The driver was gunning the engine to keep the momentum up the slope.
We stopped at the top of the mountain to see a reservoir on the other side. Was it real or a mirage? One of the drivers gave us some information:
38,000 people live in this area. Muscat is the capital with only 6,000 population. My main occupation is fishing, animals, and dates. They also export a lot of rock to the UAE to form islands. It is only 32 miles from Iran across the Persian Gulf. The country is 75% desert, 15% mountain, and 10% usable land. The mountains are over 300 million years old, formed by three tectonic plates coming together.
At the next stop, we reached a plate with some grass; after the desolate landscape, this was an oasis.
Again, the guide took us to see some rocks with exposed fossils. When we looked closely, the fossils were all over the place. It was stunning.
Some goats and donkeys came over to greet us, looking for food, I am sure. They were very tame and friendly.
This flat area was very out of character, and after the fact, we wondered if it was the creator of a volcano?
The third stop was a dizzying 5,300-ft elevation lookout near a military radar facility. From here, we had a spectacular view of mountain ranges that seemed to go on forever. We were warned not to take photos of the military area.
We finally return the same bone-shaking way back, relieved to see the comfortable, cool ship.
May 12
The final destination of our 90-day cruise was Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which has a population of 4 million and is about the size of Austria. The temperature was 104F. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, but Dubai is the financial center of the UAE.
We arrived in port at 7 a.m.; as I expected, this is a vertical city. However, plenty of smaller multi-story buildings and even more single-family dwellings exist.
This is a truly rich country. In the 1950s, nearby Iran discovered oil, which prompted the UAE to start exploring. Today, the country produces 3.8 million barrels of oil daily, all government-owned. The city is building incredible buildings at blazing speed, using three shifts a day, 24/7. We saw the highest building in the world at 2,717 ft tall, the Burj Khalifa at 163 floors.
We did need to go through passport control, but it was a simple rubber stamp and done with no waiting. We visited Sharjah, the neighboring city with an additional 2.8 million population. Another vertical city. We passed the QE2 ship in the harbor, which is now a hotel and does not move.
Its lifeboats, no longer needed, are in storage on the pier.
We saw the royal mega yacht.
On the river, we saw the 'Dowes,' traditional historic wooden ships well suited to the local waters and weather.
Our first stop was a museum. I am not a fan of museums, but that one was fascinating, the most unique we have ever visited. It featured pottery, weapons, science, astrology, primitive timepieces, engineering, and a lot more. I am not normally interested in museums, but I really enjoyed this one. As you can see, from one of the pictures, there is a "map" of the heavens in the ceiling. This is an actual moving "picture" of the heavens above.
The second stop was the Old Fort, built in 1823 and was a working fort until 1972. It is now another museum.
The third stop was the central oriental bazaar, Blue Souq. It is like a typical mall, fully air-conditioned, but with very small shops.
May 13
Today is disembarkation day. We needed to leave the ship by 9 a.m.
We did our final checkout and caught a taxi to our hotel for one night, as we had an early flight the next day. The motel was spectacular and was able to accommodate our very early check-in.
Once we settled, we took another taxi to catch the Ho-on, Hop-off city tour in the middle of the Red Line circuit.
We marveled at the sights and jumped off at the end of the line to have lunch and cool off at the adjacent big city mall.
After lunch, we took the blue line circuit, which took over two hours and ended back at the end of the line. We rejoined the red line and jumped off at the place where we joined the tour in the morning.
We tried hailing a cab, but it was rush hour, and they were all full. Merry suggested going to the Carlton Hotel across the street. I asked reception to call us a cab, and a few minutes later, a cab whisked us back to our hotel.
By now, we were hungry, so we checked out the five lovely restaurants inside the hotel. We picked a nice Asian restaurant, where we were treated like kings, and had a relaxing evening. We did a final repack and had an early night.
May 14
Our flight was at 6:30 a.m., so we needed to leave the hotel by 4 a.m. The flight stopped for a transfer in Amman, Jordan, before finally arriving in Rome, Italy. Once through immigration, we headed to find the rental car we booked. We were supposed to call a number to get the shuttle to the rental company, but no one answered the number. We were forced to abandon that booking and rent a different car, which put our plans back somewhat.
Once we had the car, we headed for a two-and-a-half-hour journey to Panicale, Umbra, in the heart of Italy. The directions required us to take the Rome ring road and head north on the A1. When we went to the intersection, the on-ramp was closed due to an accident. We tried from the other direction, but the same thing happened. The A1 was not open and was the only way to reach our destination.
We headed back towards Rome, but everywhere we went, traffic was at a crawl. We got off the freeway and tried to find a hotel, but everywhere was booked and inaccessible. After three hours of chasing our tail, we headed back towards A1. It was 8pm, and we had been up since four am, plus the two-hour change. We were dog-tired. We found a Burger King with parking and stopped to eat and regroup. We called Roxanne, who advised us to retry A1 again, no matter how late we arrived, stopping at a hotel if we were too tired.
We set out again after half an hour and some good comfort food. The rush hour was over, and the traffic was flowing freely. We could access the A1 and finally arrived at the Castle at 11:45pm with a warm welcome and a well-earned glass of wine. We talked for an hour and finally fell into bed, totally exhausted.
Watch for the next post of this blog, "The Castle." Refresh this page frequently to see more.
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