For months I have been telling the manager in Oman that I would come down and visit, but have been unable to do so because of other things that have been going on in other places and how well things are going there.
Last week I finally decided that I had to make time to get there so that I could check in with them and make sure everything was going ok.
I left Monday morning. The flight was at 8.30, so I have to make sure to be at the airport by 6.30. I woke up and called for a taxi, asking them to arrive around 5.40 or so. I got in the shower and my phone started ringing. The taxi driver had arrived and wanted to leave immediately. Problem was, I just woke up and was getting ready. I told him to wait and I would be down shortly. In the mornings drivers don't have a whole lot to do, so he actually waited around. If I tried that at night the dude would have left and not told me he was leaving.
I got to the airport and drank a cup of coffee, got a bottle of water, and then went to the holding area. The plane boarded shortly after.
The plane ride was really easy, 40 minutes. I honestly don't know how they had time to serve breakfast and clean it up.
I did my work in the office and met with a few people. It was a good visit. After work on the first day I was taken to the hotel. As we pulled up I was a little surprised at how nice the place looked, but not that surprised as we are typically put up in pretty nice places. I checked in and went to the room and was again surprised. The room had two beds (not totally out of the ordinary), a desk, 2 nice sitting chairs, a bathtub, a separate shower, toilet, bidet, bathroom divider, and a window that looked into the room from the bathtub (apparently so you could take a bath and watch television, but I am not totally sure). This place was awesome. It over looked the Gulf, again not totally uncommon around here.
The next day at work things went pretty well. I got in and got the work done that I needed to do and then visited the warehouse. Got lunch at Chicken Kentucky (KFC in Arabic roughly translates to Chicken Kentucky). I got to the airport about 2 hours early for the flight, which in this case was a really good idea. It took me almost a half hour to check in and there was no line. I was the only person there. Its not that they move slow on purpose, it is just a really relaxed society.
The plane was only about half full on the way back, which was really nice. Within 36 hours of leaving my apartment to go to Oman, I was back in my apartment.
Below is a breakdown, Driving to Muscat Vs. Flying:
FLYING
Ride to Airport - 45 minutes
Wait at Airport - 120 minutes
Flight Time - 45 minutes
Collection of Visa and Luggage - 40 Minutes
Taxi from Airport to Office - 30 minutes
Total Time - 4 Hours and 40 Minutes
DRIVING
Roughly a 4 Hour drive from Dubai to Muscat, 5 at typical speed limits.
Maybe next time I will drive.