Tour of Oman Muttrah Corniche 2012

Despite winning two stages it wasn’t him but was Peter Velits who won overall victory.

TOUR OF OMAN Lodewickj Klass and Vandenbergh Stijn

They were more than 3 minutes ahead of the pack of riders which includes the tour leader André Greipel of Lotto-Belisol

TOUR OF OMAN 2012 pack

Tuesday    14/02/2012   TOUR of OMAN at Muscat Palace to Huwquain 16:00 – 20:00
Wednesday    15/02/2012    TOUR of OMAN Sur to Wadi Dayqah 16:30 – 20:00
Thursday    16/02/2012    TOUR of OMAN Wadi bani Kharus to Muscat Airport 16:40 – 20:00
Friday    17/02/2012    TOUR of OMAN Bid Bid to Wadi Kabir Muscat – 16:45 – 20:00
Saturday    18/02/2012    TOUR of OMAN Royal Opera House Muscat to Jebel Akhdar – 16:00 – 20:00
Sunday    19/02/2012    TOUR of OMAN Al Khawd to Muttrah Corniche 16:00 – 19:00

Cupping

I had a nice visit to Qurm Park to enjoy the 2012 Muscat Festival.
One of the new displays was of ‘cupping’ a traditional medicine in Oman, and elsewhere,

Cupping Muscat Festival

where heat is applied to, in this case an animal horn, to stimulate the blood and/or draw out malignancies.

Amazing Race Climb in Oman

which visited Oman a couple of times . Well along the same theme (I think you will agree)  is a new promotion with the Ministry of Tourism and Oman Air is the “First Annual Oman Air International Media Treasure Hunt” (dosnt trip off the tongue in the same way though).  Its scheduled to lead into the Tour of Oman bike race. Teams, who are all journalists, have to drive themselves around Oman and undertake what sounds like challenges (all being filmed) – could be fun.

Of course the teams are based on nationality – so as for some reason there are no participants from Oman,  I hope Britain wins.

Island Sky cruising the Arabian Sea

This year as Zegrahm’s small ship the ‘Clipper Odyssey’ will be in Doha I’m anticipating that the highlight will be the Museum of Islamic Art there.

Oman Air over Oman's Mountains

Oman’ national airline Oman Air now has a new CEO. Wayne Pearce whose career includes Qantas and Etihad took over at the start of January.

Wayne Pearce CEO Oman Air

Oman Air is being positioned as not only Oman’s flag carrier but also a complimentary luxury airline for the country’s slew of 5 star hotels.

The Three Omani Bridegrooms

In a splendid room, thick with the fragrance of Frankincense, I was pleased to join over Two Hundred witnesses for the wedding “Mulkah” of a friend and two of his cousins held near Muscat Oman. Dressed in traditional Omani dress with the addition of a formal Khunjar (dagger) & Saif (sword) the three looked resplendent and very happy at the prospect of their new life.

The formal wedding agreement

Allesandro and Dhow

He had previously worked on the Jewel of Muscat and was now restoring a Dhow called “The Wolf”. Another enjoyable encounter was with several Gazelle including this handsome male in one of the Wadis which lead up into the Dhofar Mountains.

Gazelle Dhofar