Friday we went to Oman to renew my visitors visa. It is typical for visitors to cross the boarder and come right back in order to renew for 30 more days. Hopefully I will be working soon so we won't have to do this again. We drove for a little over an hour when we came to a building on the side of the road offering Oman auto insurance. We had read it was a good idea to purchase it so for $100 AED we did. A little further down the road was the "Visa Hut". It is a trailor on the side of the road with a few windows that slide open; you line up outside an open window and when it is your turn you present your passport. The official border dude enters stuff into the computer and you are handed back your passport with the exit stamp. Go a little further down the road and there is a checkpoint; you present your exit stamped passports and are given a small piece of paper with an official stamp- don't lose it! You are now officially out of UAE. About 7 km further you come to a very nice immigration facility- welcome to Oman! Go inside, fill out a form and wait in line. Again you present your passport and pay $200 AED, show your proof of insurance and that small piece of paper and this dude enters more info into the computer and you are given your passport with and Oman entrance stamp and new similar small piece of paper. If you don't have that piece of paper they make you go back out to your car and get it. That paper tells how many people are in each vehicle. Just a short way down the road is a checkpoint where you turn in the small piece of paper and they let you pass on through. We drove about 30 minutes into Oman and saw nothing but desert. We were pretty hungry by this point and because Friday is the holy day here almost nothing was open. We turned around to come back to the UAE border and stopped at a modest (very modest) convenience store. The best we could find were some chips and some drinks (slightly cooler than room temp) but we were grateful even for that! Same procedure in reverse- stop at the Oman immigration checkpoint to get an exit stamp (we didn't have to go inside); stop at the next checkpoint to get the small piece of paper; stop at the UAE immigration office (coming into UAE it is an actual building, not just the "Visa Hut") and get an entrance stamp; stop at the next checkpoint and turn in your small piece of paper. The whole process took 5 hours from when we left our apartment to when we got back. It was well worth it to know I am good to go for another 30 days and an interesting experience.
Saturday we finally made it to the beach! We took our new beach chairs, umbrella, cooler and towels. Sounds like a lot of gear but not really and we don't have to go that far. We set up a very comfortable beach camp. I can now say I have been swimming in the Arabian Gulf! SALTY! The water is crystal clear, a little cool but very refreshing after you have been in the sun for just a little while. It was a typical beach scene you would see anywhere, couples old and young, children running and splashing and playing in the sand and young adults playing soccer and water games and just enjoying the fun and sun. We sat under the umbrella for a bit then got in the water to cool off-did that about 3 times. We were on the beach for 2 hours and my legs got pretty burned; that was the only part of me not under the umbrella. Not too bad but they are red! Of course Jimmy didn't burn a bit. Mercifully we had the good sense to know our limits and retreated to our apartment before things got too bad.
So here it is Sunday and the beach is finally cleared of the staduim that was built for the Red Bull event. It is wide open again.
Again, I want to wish everyone a very Blessed and Happy Easter. Much love, J&M
Beach Camp! Had it not been for the umbrella we bought we would have FRIED! It is a major life saver and made a big difference sitting in the shade versus being in the glaring sun.
Beach Camp- our building is in the background.
Eye candy for the girls!
And the guys!
Jeez that process sounds terrible! kind of like us getting passports! Glad you FINALLY went into the gulf! i would have done that the first day! Called Oma to wish her a Happy Easter, she sends her love. LOVE YoU!
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