Wanderlust: Johnny Omani
27.04.11
It didn’t take more than a quick refresher on Persian Gulf geography to agree to visit my friend who is in Oman on the Fulbright Program. Embarrassingly, I had never been to the Middle East, so I relished the excuse and turned my three-day weekend into seven.
Omani visas are expensive, but I found a loophole. A U.S. citizen is granted a free 30-day visa to the United Arab Emirates, so in Dubai I cleared immigration and then turned right back around to catch my flight to Muscat. In Muscat, I showed my boarding pass arriving from Dubai and the visa, and on I went. This rule only works if you fly directly from Dubai (no land border crossings).
February was a great time to visit Oman — there was the Tour de Oman, the Muscat Extreme Sailing Race, Muscat Festival, not to mention beautiful sunny weather akin to spring quarter at Stanford. The city of Muscat has much to offer: markets, palaces, gardens, watchtowers and many miles of beach. Beach culture in Oman is starkly different from Rio — needless to say, I was told to leave the speedo at home. Not that it mattered — I just rolled up my jeans as I searched for shells and caught crabs in the surf.
Source: The Stanford Daily