Yitti sunset

Yitti is a wonderfull beach, 30min away from Muttrah. With the Oman off-road guide book it is very easy to find. The place is so huge that you feel like you're alone on the beatch. I recommend you to bring a picnic and to stay half a day in Yitti. You can do snorkelling close to the rocks at high tide.

CFO

The CFO, i.e. "Centre Franco-Omanais", is a organization promoting cultural exchanges between France and Oman. Its principal purpose is to offer french and Arab lessons. I've personnality went to a 3 monthes arab session (for 45 Ryals) and it was very good.


The CFO also organizes cultural events, such as the short-movies festival currently held everyday at 19h30 till the 27 mars. You can watch a fine selection of short movies from the 2007 "festival du court métrage de Clermont-Ferrand" for free ! and all the movies are subtitles in english so everybody is welcome. You can download the program of the festival here

Oman Flooded again !

(I think this is a nice pile of 4x4 ! lol)

Last week, just before I came back from my holidays, floods occur again in Muscat !


The pictures are from Al-Khuwayr, not far from my appartment. impressive isn't it ?

Muscat vs. Paris round2

In my previous post, I was listing the things I miss the most in Muscat compared to Paris. Now I’m listing the exact opposite :

1. Continuous nice weather.
   maybe I will change my mind during the next summer in Oman
2. Diversity and beautiful of the nature : the sea, the beaches, the desert, the mountains… and eveything is accessible half an hour from Muscat
   
3. Cheap prices : petrol, restaurants (except the ones serving wine), real estate, foods
4. Quality of life : no traffic jam, relax rythm of the city, kindness of people, security of the country
5. Low density of the population : the crowded places of Paris such as the undergrounds are exhausting.

So, who is the winner according to you ?
Feel free to add comment to complete this list.

Muscat vs. Paris round1

Back from my vacations in Paris, relaxing at the “palm beach club” of the Intercontinental Hotel in Muscat, I wanted to compare my life in Paris and in Muscat.

So I've made a list of the things I miss the most in Muscat compared to Paris :

1. ADSL for 15Ryals/month at home !!! And when I say ADSL I mean 10Mbits. For the moment there is not even available new phone numbers in Al khuwayr !
2. Night life, with variety of crowded bars and real nightclubs welcoming international DJs.
3. At least one museum offering quality contemporary art exhibits
4. Independant movies at the cinemas, american blockbusters proposed are sometimes boring.
5. More affordable restaurants serving wine. Except at the palace restaurants and few exceptions, where can you enjoy a glass of wine and a good meal ?
6. More parisian girls in the streets ;)
7. More nice pedestrianized areas, where you can sit just sit at a table outside a café and enjoy the surroundings.

I also miss the "beauty" of Paris but I didn't put it in the list as this fact is completely subjective, and that Muscat is also a nice city (I heard it has been elected "most beautiful city" of the gulf last year).

Feel free to add comment to complete this list.

Next, I will described the things that are missing to Paris compared to Muscat.

Vacations in Paris

I'm going on vacations to Paris during 10 days. I will be very happy to eat cheese and drink french wine again :)

So I won't blog untill 20/03. see you soon !

Trekking in Wadi bani Khalid / Tiwi (Eastern Hajar)

the original trek is 14 hours long and starts from Wadi bani Khalid to Wadi Tiwi.


In our case we improvised a good little trekk in the Wadi Bani Khalid it self. It was more a climbing trip than a trek but still fun !


And the advantage of bani khalid is that you can finish with a nice swim in the fresh water of the wadi.


Note : you can do this trek yourself refering to the trek number E35 in the Oman trekking explorer guide