1001 Night - A Night in the Desert

Today was one of the days I was looking mostly forward to - in particular for my parents as we were about to do something quite cool. Spending a night in the desert.

Firstly, though, it was time to explore Ibra's old town. At first, I was a bit disappointed walking through the abandoned streets as the houses were really run-down. Most of them basically collapsed and were just left in peace - but in a bad way. At times, it felt more like walking through a war zone than an old historical town.

That was until we spotted a museum (an old house that was fully restored) that looked quite promising and would turn out to be a great place to visit. We learned a lot about the Omani culture, the way of life in the past and now, the harsh conditions people had to live through and the bright future they look forward to. One very interesting fact was that it had not rained for 6 months and our guide told us that when he was a child, there was a period of no rain for 10 years!!! Excuse me, what? 10 years of no rain? Wow. That is incredibly hard to believe and fathom.

That museum visit was surprisingly amazing and sort of 'saved' my perception of Ibra.
Before, I was a bit down to have brought my parents here as it was nothing really to write home about, but with the highly interesting visit to the museum, I did not feel bad anymore.

Anyway, then it was time to head to our accommodation in the desert. And not just any accommodation. No. It was a 5-star hotel, with each 'room' being a tent right in the middle of dunes rising to the left and right. It really felt a bit like a scene out of 1001 Night.

After admiring the place and appreciating where we were, I had another surprise planned. I took my parents into a 4x4 car that was provided by the hotel and we had a quick, but action-packed drive up onto the dunes to watch a beautiful sunset from there.

Of course, we also took the opportunity of the warm, glowing light to take some snaps, but then just sat down in the sand and overlooked how the Omani sun was slowly setting behind the dunes and our camp, painting the sky in a vibrant orange. It was a beautiful setting and I was very happy to have brought my parents here to have them experience a sunset in a landscape like this.

After running down the dune and getting rid of the sand in the shower, we got ready for some delicious buffet-style dinner. Sitting outside, talking about our Oman adventure thus far and just about everything else was pure bliss. I really enjoyed the time.

That was not everything, though. There was one more thing. My dad and I strolled over to a little section that was filled with seats to watch the movie 'London Has Fallen' in an outdoor cinema.

I mean, sunset in the desert, delicious lunch and watching a movie under the stars. What more do you want out of a night in the desert. It really was a perfect evening for all of us.En savoir plus