In The Club…

After a random post on Facebook went sort of viral we ended up with a few messages from people living in Oman and one was from a generous guy called Alan.

Thanks Alan for everything you have done for us while we are here.

Whilst we have been here we were also contacted and actually someone came out to the beach to find us one day taking an unscheduled break from their work. They offered to take us to the club shop where there is a private outlet where you can get alcohol which officially you’re not allowed to give to other people but of course these things being as they are we ended up with a few crates of beer and some bottles and wine. We spent rather too much in the shop but it was all in one go and has lasted us over a month.

Thanks to that person we’ve managed to have a beer with dinner in the hot weather.

In Oman you need a licence to buy alcohol whereas some of the other local countries and particularly the UAE have got rid of this requirement for tourists and allowed them to register electronically to buy alcohol. This is still not allowed in Oman. We understand that the locals get a percentage of their wage which you can nominate up to, I think, 10% of your monthly wage for alcohol expenditure. This means that if you earn say 4,000 OMR you can opt to have 400 OMR in allowance and your licence costs 400 OMR per year. This is quite a lot, so if you decide to only nominate 40 OMR per month your licence only costs 40 so it’s a toss up between how much you want to spend on alcohol and how much you want to pay for your licence. We went a little crazy and spent just under 70 but this lasted a month. For comparison 1 OMR is £2. So the 400 OMR would be £800 or thereabouts.

The club which is in the same area as the alcohol shop has a rather nice beach, restaurant and facilities like pool, tennis courts and whatnot. For a day pass entry fee 3 OMR each as a guest you can stay in there all day which we did although we don’t have many pictures of the place itself as taking photographs is forbidden. We didn’t take any as we were guests. We did however order some drinks (of course) and also a few snacks pictures below. Alan got us entry and paid the 3 OMR guest fee! THANKS. I just messaged Alan and he graciously offered to get us in even though he had guests arriving from abroad so we appreciate everything he’s done and taking the time. Super day out, BBQ and a few beers. Like being normal again.

The photo of the car came from a third party that we also know and one of their friends that had spotted our vehicle and sent it to them and then they sent it to us. We do get spotted all over the place in fact the same people had seen us in Nizwa a few days previous.

We had a few other contacts from people via other overlanders and we’ve been introduced to a couple of expats who are working here. Some of them working here for a very long time.

In no particular order (expats) Jamie, Andre, Alan, Rob and (Omani) Hilmi

Jamie helped us with supplies, information and some washing.

Rob helped us with garage space to do some maintenance and repairs at the Honda dealership.

Andre helped us with an overnight stay a lovely barbecue and conversation.

Hilmi helped us out with a shower and lots of local information on places to see.

Thanks to all I hope we’ve not missed anybody.