When your expectations and reality don't match: Oman

You shouldn’t believe everything you see (and read) on Instagram.

I fell for it when it came to Oman.

One of my old dreams was getting to this country; I must confess that the posts (and nowadays technology that seems to be reading your mind) fuelled it.

 

When I got there, however…

 

People, with few exceptions, were cold, disconnected from themselves, and quite selfish and greedy.

Some locals (shop owners or employees) tried to scam us (money-wise).

They didn’t seem respectful towards the many expats working in the Sultanate (quite the opposite of our impression in Saudi Arabia).

Unlike in many other Muslim countries (let’s take Tunisia as an example), in Oman, cats (let alone dogs!) are not taken care of – and there are many weak and hungry roaming the streets.

What did we do?

We spent time with many Romanian guys (and Albanian, Belgian, and Brazilian) – the Socca World Cup (luckily!) took place in Muscat during our stay!

The expats were extraordinary to us! Kind, helpful, and bright! We made friends. Each of these interactions helped us continue our trip. It was our most difficult trip from a psychological perspective.

We bought food and fed as many animals as we could! And we blessed them! ♥

 

Prices are high (especially for what you get in return)! They are even higher in the tourism field.

There’s no reason why!

Even ordinary accommodation or outdated (and a bit dirty) hotels were expensive, with a high rating!

We did see Bezness practices even though we thought we wouldn’t.

What did we do?

We researched well and took advantage of promotions.

This time around, I knew how to negotiate with a narcissistic Beznessman!

 

Nature is not all it’s cracked up to be.

I kept waiting for a wow. I had only one in Oman, close to the end of our trip.

Beaches were not as presented on social media. Many were a bit dirty; snorkelling conditions were not good (see the end of this piece).  

The spectacular wadis seemed unreachable by regular car (and we didn’t have time to hike – as the sun was setting early; this is an aspect to consider) or had their regular pedestrian routes closed only for businesses to make another Rial by introducing a very commercial, dirty, and unnecessary boat ride.

What did we do?

We followed our hearts and found those dreamy beaches, too.

Principles are principles. We didn’t bend and left without seeing any wadis. I don’t regret anything.

 

What about food?

Well, it was good, but not our favourite. Omani food was more expensive than other cuisines (and not that tasty).

Plus, it was hard to find restaurants (even in cities!) with seating spaces. Or with clean seating spaces! This leads to a serious lack of comfort during your trip!

What did we do?

We did our homework. If we didn’t find the restaurants neat or clean enough, we left and tried again.

Our favourite restaurants were Filipino, Italian, Turkish, and Syrian.

 

To top the bad things up, we’ve had a storm in the open sea from the second day to our last but one. So, all our water activities were stalled. We needed to change our entire travel plan.

Yes, I know, it wasn’t the best of trips.

However, as situations in life are neither good nor bad in their entirety, I’ve saved the brighter experiences for another article.