Sana’a na Muscat
7 February 2005
Our last email we ended off by saying you will hear from us when we’re in Dubai, well, we did not make it that far, or shall I rather say the GS did not make it. It seems that the GS likes to ride on the back of trucks, as this was its second truck ride, this time on a Mercedes So now we’re in Muscat, the capital city of Oman.
The road from Sana’a to Muscat was extremely pleasant and full of wow’s. From Sana’a, we went through some stunning mountain scenery as you decline from 2350m, Sana’a altitude just as high as Addis Ababa. From the little town of Marib, you start entering the real desert. Marib is a farm growing area, a type of oasis. We slept the night in Say’un, a real big oasis town with dry scenery and the green farmlands and plenty of small motorbikes. The next day was from Say’un to the Yemen Oman border, Al Mazyona. There we found that there is a very big difference between Yemen and Oman.
On the road from Thamarit to Muscat, I felt that one of the wheel’s bearings is not so happy, so we slowed down from 120-130 to about 90-100 and slept the night in our tent next to a fuel station/hotel in the middle of nowhere.
The next morning after we left, the bearing felt very ruff, but the next town was Hayma still 120km further on. I decided to nurse the GS to Hayma by riding 2nd gear, 25km/h for more than an hour until the sound became less when we could manage 60km/h. Hayma is 550km from Muscat, and the GS just made it to the town, then the seal broke and the back wheel was full of oil. God sent us once again a truck after waiting maybe 1 hour only. And that’s how we got here.
Thus far Yemen was our cheapest country to visit, we spent R151 per day and travelled just less than 1900km in it. The GS did ok with 17.4km/l. Yemen is a really nice county to visit. Oman is ok but too much of a first-world country and very expensive for us. R16 or $2,60 for 1 Oman Rial is heavy. God took us to the right people at the right time and we are hanging around while the BMW dealer fixes the bike and also gives it a service.
Die midde ooste is vir baie van ons ‘n plek waar ons nie wil wees nie, as gevolg van oorloë en sulke goeters, maar ons geniet dit baie hier. Almal wat hier in Oman is is baie verbaas om te hoor ons het deur Yemen gekom, vir hulle is dit ‘n plek om nie na toe te gaan nie. Yemen is mooier en baie goedkoper as Oman, mense ook baie vriendeliker. Muscat is die grandste stad wat ek al gesien het met karre wat jou mond laat water. Ek weet nie hoeveel van julle ken daardie Hummer jeeps soos die VSA se weermag gebruik nie? Daai ding kos ver oor ‘n miljoen Rand by ons, hier loop so baie van hulle. En die nuwe Porsce 4×4, ag, baie ek se jou. Mastangs en daardie sport Mercs en alles.Taxis is 80% nuwe karre, van hulle is Camry’s en groot Mercs. Die BMW shop hier het die grootste vertoonvenster in die midde ooste, ek reken dit sluit Afrika ook in. Noem dit in die BMW reeks en dit staan hier op die vloer. BMW 1 reeks, X3, X5, Z4, 760i, 6 reeks. Man, alles. Bikes ook, nie alles nie, maar hulle’t darem die 1200GS, 650 Dakar, Adventure, 1100S en ook die Cruiser op die vloer. Maar ek se jou my tjom dis duur, R160 vir die goedkoopste hotel, Kentucky se cheapste op die meneu is R16. Hier is duisende Pakistanies en Indiers, meeste van hulle doen die vuil werk, mechanics ens. Ons het heelwat SuidAfrikaners ontmoet en bly tans by Shauwn, met die oog om werk te soek hier iewerste. Meeste werk lyk my is in UAE, Dubai. Maar ons soek oorals en doen aansoek in alle lande hierrond. Oman se geld eenheid is 3de sterkste hier(seker ook in wereld) Barhain bietjie sterker en Kuwait is tops. Ons sal weer laat weet hoe waar en waneer.
Mooi gaan en alle seën van God aan julle.
18 May 2006
We did not write much about our journey in Oman, I will start from the beginning. When we entered the county at Mazyona, we did not have any idea what was lying ahead of us. We were pretty toured–up by now and quite tight on the budget, cause we took a much longer route than originally planned. We did not expect that Oman would be as expensive as it is. When we arrived at the hotel after sunset, as usual, we asked the price. R160! We asked the guy if we could pitch our tent close to the hotel because we do not have that kind of money for a hotel room. He felt very sorry for us and let us stay in a room for half that price. The next morning we had to endure some road works for the next 90km to Thammarat. The scenery is extremely flat and boring. Never again will I complain about the road to Windhoek! Then came the unfortunate wheel bearing incident.
We spent most of our time in Muscat, spending as little money as possible. We knew the repairs on the GS would be a small fortune. Being in an organised and developed environment was something to get used to again.
After we settled in Dubai, we went back to Oman numerous times because of the friendliness and hospitality of its people, combined with a beautiful country. We’ve been to most areas including Musandam, Nizwa and Sur. You can read more about Oman in our “Back to Oman” section.
