Five Hours in A Foreign Country
So the husband got quite a long weekend a couple of weeks ago because of a national holiday, so we decided we were going somewhere out of town.
We googled and found out that Oman is a neighboring country that can be reached with land transportation. And what a pleasant surprise it was when a friend invited to go with his family after called him to ask about visa to Oman.
So the somewhat winding journey began :)
We left from Dubai to Oman border at 8 am, and reached Dubai-Oman border at 10 am. The process at the Dubai immigration was fast although somewhat confusing. There were no signs of which counter to go first.
Things got worse when we hit Oman immigration. There were NO building to queue to get our passports stamped. We were to queue under the dessert sun. Unbelievable.
We googled and found out that Oman is a neighboring country that can be reached with land transportation. And what a pleasant surprise it was when a friend invited to go with his family after called him to ask about visa to Oman.
So the somewhat winding journey began :)
The view when we were near the border
We left from Dubai to Oman border at 8 am, and reached Dubai-Oman border at 10 am. The process at the Dubai immigration was fast although somewhat confusing. There were no signs of which counter to go first.
Things got worse when we hit Oman immigration. There were NO building to queue to get our passports stamped. We were to queue under the dessert sun. Unbelievable.
See?
And the immigration officer worked quite slow. It took us three hours to clear the immigration, from 10 am until 1 pm! Luckily the gentlemen of our group sacrificed themselves to queue. Us, the ladies, waited in the shade. Not that it wasn't frustrating.
Funny thing, actually, that we did not have to show our faces to the immigration officer. The officer just stamped all the passports given to him.
Anyway, the location we headed in Oman was called Mussandam. It is famous for its sea tourism. Basically what we can do in Mussandam is taking a boat trip for the whole day where we can enjoy the scenery, do some fishing, snorkeling, and wild dolphin sight seeing.
We reached the place after one hour drive through this quite breath taking scenery:
Too bad we reached the tourism site at 2 pm, meaning that we could not take the whole-day tour (which started at 9.30 am haha). So we took a half-day tour.
And the immigration officer worked quite slow. It took us three hours to clear the immigration, from 10 am until 1 pm! Luckily the gentlemen of our group sacrificed themselves to queue. Us, the ladies, waited in the shade. Not that it wasn't frustrating.
Funny thing, actually, that we did not have to show our faces to the immigration officer. The officer just stamped all the passports given to him.
Anyway, the location we headed in Oman was called Mussandam. It is famous for its sea tourism. Basically what we can do in Mussandam is taking a boat trip for the whole day where we can enjoy the scenery, do some fishing, snorkeling, and wild dolphin sight seeing.
We reached the place after one hour drive through this quite breath taking scenery:
Too bad we reached the tourism site at 2 pm, meaning that we could not take the whole-day tour (which started at 9.30 am haha). So we took a half-day tour.
The Dhow boat which we used for the tour.
The inside of the boat. That's me with the lovely couple who took us for the trip.
The scenery we enjoyed.
The only wild dolphin I managed to take a picture of.
There were only 8-10 dolphins that day, but they were friendly and they chased the Dhow boat.
The husband. Haha.
The only wild dolphin I managed to take a picture of.There were only 8-10 dolphins that day, but they were friendly and they chased the Dhow boat.
The husband. Haha.After three hours, the trip ended and we have to say goodbye to Mussandam. It took us 1 hour to drive back to the Oman border, and luckily there was no queue at the evening :)
Well, that's my five hours in a foreign country. The driving and the queuing were longer than the being in Oman itself. And although Mussandam is quite highly praised as a beautiful getaway for UAE people, I'll have to say that my home country, Indonesia, offers way much more beautiful places!
Well, that's my five hours in a foreign country. The driving and the queuing were longer than the being in Oman itself. And although Mussandam is quite highly praised as a beautiful getaway for UAE people, I'll have to say that my home country, Indonesia, offers way much more beautiful places!
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