Driving in Oman

Before even arriving in Oman I was told two things about driving in this country. I was told that I would need a car to do anything and that Oman is not a very safe place to drive. After being in the country for around a month now, I can affirm that both of those things are very true.

Given that I want to go off-roading as much as possible, and with a little arm-twisting from a friend here in Rustaq, I bought myself a 1996 Landrover Discovery. It doesn't have the fuel economy that I would like, but it's great for off-roading (4WD, diff-lock and loads of power). The really cool thing about this particular car is who it used to belong to. Apparently only the republican guard or Diwan (pronounced D1) is allowed to have their car this khaki-green colour. The guy I bought the car from was in the Diwan. So at some point I may be told by the police that I need to paint the car a different colour. Until then though, it's interesting watching the reaction of the locals when they see a white guy behind the wheel. Most of the time a wave and a smile is quickly reciprocated. It also helps when you want to be let into traffic, and I often leave the windows down and the car unlocked when I go shopping. Noone will mess with a car that belongs to the royal guard.

There really is very little car-related crime here in Rustaq. Noone would think of breaking into a car to steal something, much less stealing the whole car. In some rough parts of Muscat apparently you shouldn't leave anything valuable in sight in your car, but otherwise its pretty safe. There are however, two interesting offenses here which you might find interesting. The first one is that you can be fined for having a dirty car. Apparently it will cost 10 Omani Rials (about US$26) if the police feel that your car needs a wash. This one is not really policed very strongly here in Rustaq though. Since a storm last week my car has been quite dirty and so far no fine.

More importantly, it is illegal to verbally abuse or rudely gesticulate at someone in Oman. This includes shouting rude words, fist-shaking or giving someone “the bird”. Punishment means time in jail, and it is taken quite seriously. So, no matter how bad the driving is, the reaction should always be a polite wave and a smile (perhaps with a tense jaw).

Having a car that only gets 5-7 km to a litre of petrol (absurd I know) is that petrol here is ridiculously cheap. I normally put in around 60 litres at a time, which costs around 8.5 Rials (around US$22).

Driving here is not as bad as I had expected, though the fact that most Omanis have only been driving for one generation and the roads are mostly (though not always) straight as wide, means that they drive a little too fast and sometimes make unpredictable moves. Much more worrying is driving here at night. Many roads (for example the coastal road between Muscat and Dubai) are divided dual-carriageways with streetlights all the way. However, other roads (such as the road between Rustaq and the coast) are single-lane and traffic going in opposite directions are side-by-side (like most NZ roads). These roads are often unmarked by reflecting road markers, either in the centre strip or by the road side. To make it even more interesting, traffic coming in the opposite direction often don't dip their headlights, so all you can see is their headlights and absolutely nothing of the road in front of you.

So my advice to anyone driving here in Oman is: 1. don't worry about the cars behind you, just worry about the ones ahead of you; 2. don't feel you have to tailgate like most people here do. Give them some distance, and; 3. when you are driving at night, go slow, aim to the right of oncoming cars and if you flash your headlights, it encourages people to dip theirs.

First week in Rustaq

Well after a week in Rustaq I have finally shaken the feeling that I am living on the moon. All of the mountains around the city are bare rock. The heat is so overpowering that it feels like a physical force pressing on you from all sides, but even in this heat you are strongly advised to wear trousers and T-shirts at a minimum (although women are not obliged to cover their hair and many western teachers don't). The locals either pretend not to see you or stare at you openly.

The first few days here were in the only hotel in town, called Al-Shimookh Guesthouse. It was a reasonable place to stay for someone who is used to backpackers, but at around US$50 a night it wasn't cheap (the college only pays for the first three nights). There was free Arabic coffee and dates in the lobby and a receptionist whose grasp of English was quite shaky, but could usually get the message across. Mostly her fillers were “in the” and “with you”. While thinking of the next word to say, she would use one of those phrases to give herself time to think. Example: “Your friend, in the he in the go in the hybermarket. You with you stay in the room, in the hotel, in the he with you coming in the here.” Hand gestures make it easier also.

At this point I should introduce the other new teachers who arrived with me: David, also from New Zealand, now 60 years old, with a great deal of teaching experience in five or six countries; Angela, also around a generation older than myself, from Australia (though she grew up in London and has a very correct English accent), and; Senthil (pronounced Sindal) from Bangalore in India, around my age, who is, from what we can tell, the entire new IT teaching department. We met each other in the hotel and have struggled through the first few days together.

Things acheieved so far:
1. Finding an apartment;
2. Buying air-conditioning (the most important);
3. Partly furnishing the apartments;
4. Getting an Omani residency card and;
5. Learning how much taxi fares cost ao the driver don't rip me off too much.

Next things to sort out:
- More furniture (I'm writing this from the 5cm squab that I sleep on);
- An Omani drivers licence;
- A car
- Finding out what we will be teaching next week (would be nice).
- Sanity trip back to Muscat.

By the way, friends of mine who are following this blog from NZ, Brazil, Mexico, France or elsewhere in the world: I have rented a three bedroom apartment, soon to be fully equipped with furniture: you are welcome to visit whenever you like. You will have a place to stay. I would recommend coming after September so that you avoid Ramadhan (First day of Ramadhan today - topic of the next blog I think) and also the worst of the heat has passed by then apparently.

PS This blog is also around a week old. Now back on track and ready to update regularly.