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New Years in Oman
Well I flew to Muscat in Oman on the 26th of December and returned to the UK on the 3rd of Jan. I had my new years working night shift in the middle of the desert... but at least it was nice and warm ; - ) Below are some pictures from my limited travels in Oman. I got to spend part of one evening in Muscat but for the rest of the time I was stuck in the desert working. The first picture below is of the phone plug in my hotel room on the first night in Muscat. The hotel was the Ramee Guest Line, with one night costing 180 pounds. You really get good value in Oman for your money. Neither the less the hotel was mainly full of rich tourists going on tours of the desert, or just enjoying a beach holiday. Oman isn't really a developed holiday destination hence the crazy prices, but at least you can feel safe. No one would dare try to steal from you due to the strict laws. The next few pictures are from in Muscat but after that the rest are from the desert. The job I went to do in Oman was not really my normal job. I was asked to go there as no one else was available to go; everyone else was on holidays which they had booked some time ago. It did make a nice change to be back out in the field and to be paid for the privilege. Unfortunately the job went all wrong and after a few equipment failures it became obvious that we didn't have a chance to get it to work, we just tried to get the best possible results and then improve things for next time. The job was a field trial of a system to measure fluid levels in a reservoir, ie find the water, oil and gas contacts in a cheap and efficient way. The field which I was working in was Qarn Alam, which is about a 4 or 5 hours drive from Muscat. We stayed in a camp there but for some reason they didn't serve food at night... quite the killer when I am working night shift! Other than the food situation the camp was ok, I was told about 7000 people stay in the camp and the rigs surrounding it. They even had a swimming pool, but unfortunately no time to use it. The most peculiar thing I experienced in Oman was in the Hotel. Mike and I were sitting in an Indian restaurant in the hotel eating dinner when one of the waiters went around telling everyone that they had to finish their drinks and no more alcohol would be served. The band then announced that they were no longer allowed to play and left. The band stopping was quite a relief as they were unpleasantly loud. Later that night we were told that this thing happens about once a month in Oman where the government randomly say that these things must stop for that night only. This one could be related to a state visit by the Saudis and a move to appease them. |