St. Francis Xavier Church – Salalah Oman

Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla – the Vatican’s Apostolic Nuncio (diplomat) to Yemen, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar (strangely he doesn’t look after Oman) – and Dr. Ahmed Khamis Masood Al Bahri, director in Oman’s Ministry of Religious Endowments and Religious Affairs of Oman inaugurated St. Francis Xavier Church in Salalah, Oman.

St. Francis Xavier in Salalah
Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla , Dr. Ahmed Khamis Masood Al Bahri & Bishop Paul Hinder

The event was celebrated Continue reading “St. Francis Xavier Church – Salalah Oman”

WILFRED THESIGER

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger was born on 3 June 1910 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (then Abyssinia) into a life of privilege and aristocratic connections.

Wilfred Thesiger in Oman
Wilfred Thesiger is looked at by an Omani man

His father was the Continue reading “WILFRED THESIGER”

SHISR THE LOCATION OF UBAR OMAN

Over 170kms by road north of Salalah is Shisr, an unremarkable settlement on the edge of the Empty Quarter Rub’ Al Khali in southern Oman. It, however, gained fame as the site of Ubar Oman – (the Oman Government prefers the term Wabar which appears to be the name used locally).

Ubar Tower
Ubar Tower

The archaeological re-discovery achieved a front page Continue reading “SHISR THE LOCATION OF UBAR OMAN”

Oman’s Mwasalat Bus Service Location change for the long distance Bus service including Dubai

Mwasalat Bus Service in Oman has announced changes, below are details of the change, buses involved and a map.

Mwasalat route change announcement
Mwasalat route change announcement

to the departure Continue readingOman’s Mwasalat Bus Service Location change for the long distance Bus service including Dubai

Oman’s Top 5 things to do June

June though its mid-summer is often not as searing as May, that’s often because the rise in humidity also drops the temperature; so Oman’s Top 5 things to do June takes that into account. This year the start of June is part of the month of Ramadhan, and probably the 4-6 June will be Eid, so do take that into account when making plans.
So here are the top 5 things to do in June in Oman.

Bowling at Fun Zone - Muscat Oman’s Top 5 to do June
Bowling at Fun Zone – Muscat

Indoor bowling included in Oman’s Top 5 to do June as its a great activity during Ramadhan as Continue reading “Oman’s Top 5 things to do June”

Travco ‘InterCity’ Hotel in Salalah

Travco, the Egyptian conglomerate which seems to operate under an integrated system looks as if it is focusing on Oman. The company has operated as a low profile tour operated company in Oman for a number of years with much of its business fed in from Dubai.

InterCity artists image
InterCity artists image

As an integrated operator it probably will try to operate in the entire field a client requires and certainly in Egypt as 50% partner in Air Arabia Egypt, various hotel brands Sol Y Mar, Jaz, Nile Cruise ships & ground operator the model worked well, until the down turn in tourism.

The focus in Oman should be a surefooted one, having operated as a tour company in the country since 2006. They intend to open a new ‘InterCity’ Hotel in Salalah. The hotel will be a town based hotel in the main commercial office area which will give it good access to much of the town and region. This will be the first intercity hotel outside Europe, where Travco also own a number of other chains, and suggests that they feel Oman will offer a good alternative to Egypt, as do Orascom who set up Muriya in Oman a few years ago.

Victor the buggy in Muscat from Salalah

Tucked away under the shade of my breakfast source, Lulu in Darsait, I saw this well travelled car. Well travelled not just from Salalah, where I photoed it last week, to Muscat – but after 6 years on the road it has the most kilometres of any non production car.

Elayne in Victor the Travel Bug in Salalah
Elayne in Victor the Travel Bug in Salalah

Victor the buggy is a hand made gem, with a Continue reading “Victor the buggy in Muscat from Salalah”

Arab Horses in Oman looking splendid before an event.

One of my favourite photos is this of Arab Horses in Oman decked out in traditional silver.  Marco Polo wrote about them in his book ‘The Travels’ –  “and the merchants take a great number of Arab horses to that market (of India from Al Balid)”

Arab Horses from the book ‘Walking Through History’
Arab Horses from the book ‘Walking Through History’

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Khor Rori Oman with a visiting group.

Flying down to Salalah after visiting northern Oman our group from Steppes Travel have been visiting some of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Oman.

Khor Rori the UNESCO Site in southern Oman
Khor Rori the UNESCO Site in southern Oman

Some of the group enjoyed Continue reading “Khor Rori Oman with a visiting group.”

Walking Through History – sample of printed book arrives – so the publication is on schedule

I dropped into Al Roya’s office and saw the ‘dummy’ of my book.

Front Cover Book Walking Through History
Front Cover Book Walking Through History

All the pages have Continue reading “Walking Through History – sample of printed book arrives – so the publication is on schedule”