First, the Royal or Jabreen Suite in pictures ... all 5,500 square feet of it! All mine ... for one night more at least!
my kitchen
computer room
living room
dining room
balcony ... pool & Gulf of Oman below ... beer & Davidoff to hand ...
bedroom
changing room
sunken bath ...
bathroom ...
Now to today.
I am often asked what I think "luxury" is. Yes, the wonderful hotels with incredible service is a definitely luxury, as is - for instance - a pair of Tod's shoes that you helped design ... but today was all about the REAL luxury in life - the experiences that money just can't buy.
Up at 0500 again ... and breakfast early as Youssef was arriving at 0700 to drive us the 2 & 1/2 hours to Wahiba Sands. It took us longer ... but finally we arrived in the desert and the home of some Bedouin friends of his - Salma Al Wahibi and her family. They have lived in the desert for generations - with no running water & electricity. They have a very simple but happy life in their tents, looking after goats, camels and each other. You must remember that until 1970, most Omanis lived in this way and when the current Sultan took power, along with oil money, he led the country into the 21st century. But some still like the old ways.
We had a great amount of fun - eating dates & halwa (sweet), drinking very strong Omani coffee and finally going for a camel ride ... which hurt my "bits" thoroughly! Never again!
These few hours with the Al Wahibis were memorable ... a REAL "luxury".
From there we drove back to Muscat and to the Muttrah Souk. No visit to Oman is complete without a visit here. The souk has been here for over 400 years and you can buy ANYTHING here ... and I mean ANYTHING!
We went to visit Ali Baba Gift Shop run by the colourful Akhtar Al Bulushi. He deals mainly in silver. It seems that when the Portuguese were in Oman in the 16th century, they used Austrian coins as currency. This was made of silver. So when they left, the "Omanis" melted down the silver to make their own jewellery. Now they mine both silver & gold in Oman.
I tried haggling for an item ... and failed miserably ...
It's the last night here at The Bar Al Jissah ... an we have had a terrific time. The service has been superlative ... and I can't wait to come back here one day ... maybe on holiday!
Song of the Day: Get A Life - Soul II Soul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjCcg123Y8
Weather: Desert HOT!
arrival on the Wahaba Sands
the bedouin tent
youssef (guide & interpreter) ...
with alia and salma
alia
the living room
turbanator
jumping on the camel
off i go ...
hot hot hot
muttrah souk
akhtar
