I have travelled to most Arab countries with the exception
of Oman.
Anyone with recent info on daily survival costs for a
veteran "on the cheap" backpacker would be greatly
appreciated. Now in my 'mature' mode I am capable of
$50.U.S. daily but fear that my years'end 25 day excursion
will only last a long weekend in Oman according to the info
I have unearthed.
Is it possible to live with and travel with the locals
freely?
Is it possible to travel overland with an option to
comfort? ie. 2nd class?
Are tourists restricted to staying in expensive foreign and
government hotels?
Can one eat local cuisine with locals or are we restricted
to a steady diet of foreign conglomerates and 5-star dining?
Thank you for any help in removing this unexpected veil of
ignorance that hangs presently over my head.
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I may stand corrected on some things - I've only been there
once but I live in the UAE which is similar.
Accommodation: Don't expect to find hostels but you can find
cheapish hotels around $US20 - $US25 per night maybe. You
might have six-legged tenants sharing your room though. I
doubt staying with locals (Arabs) is an option unless you
know some well and they invite you. Locals and westerners
don't really mix that much (I'm assuming you're western,
apologies if you're not but the same will apply anyway).
Staying with expats who live there is probable if you know
someone. Unlikely if you don't unless you meet the love of
your life in a bar.....
Transport: there's some information further down the tree. I
believe taxis in Muscat are more expensive than UAE -
possibly because teh city covers a large area. Outside the
city I would guess shared taxis are not too expensive.
That's the only option unless you rent a car. Hitching by
foreigners is regarded as strange. I don't know if it's
legal or not even though locals do it - but you're not a
local. The only bus service I know of is between Dubai and
Muscat.
Food: Indian/Chinese/Lebanese restaurants along the
road should be cheap (and usually excellent food). You won't
get alcohol unless you're in a restaurant in a hotel (and
probably 4 or 5 star only) - food prices will be
substantially more expensive too.
Government hotels? I don't think they exist. The only
restriction you may have is that if a hotel sponsers your
visa, then you have to stay there but you'd probably be
alright to stay one or two nights and then find somewhere
cheaper.
Cheap but very good hotel in Muttrah, Muscat is the Muttrah
Hotel (stayed there a year ago).
At least food is cheap. I suppose you could hitch-hike
around the place. How's your Arabic?
In any case, Oman is really worth a visit! Good luck! :-)
i was in oman a couple of weeks ago and to be honest it was
quite difficult to travel on a budget. the cheapest option
we could find was to rent a car and sleep in it. it worked
out cheaper to rent it in dubai and pay the extra insurance.
as a guide we paid about us$650 for 3 weeks, that was with
budget. there are buses between muscat, nizwa and salalah
but they are quite expensive. in alot of the smaller towns
locals who speak some english will come and talk to you and
you can pick up hitchers all over the place, we had quite a
few laughs with the local elders who spoke no english but
liked our ABBA cd. the only thing with sleeping in a car
is you do have to be careful where you park. as far as
washing facilities go there are a couple of nice
intercontinentals in muscat who dont notice if you use there
washrooms and you can wander into the holiday inn in salalh
and take a shower by their pool. i found one of the best
things about oman was the scenery particularly between
muscat and nizwa and around salalah. the drive from salalah
towards the yemeni border is absolutely amazing, as far as i
can tell this is not really possible without your own car
though. good luck - i hope you enjoy oman as much as we did.
if theres any details ive left out do email me
happy travels
ben
I go along with most of the above. Oman is not a cheap
place to visit and if you need to get around that do rent a
car and kip in it. There are loads of cheap shawarma stalls
dotted around and the fresh juice is good and cheap. I've
been there three times and have only ever seen the
occasional package tour coachload of what tend to be 'older'
folks if you get my drift. There doesn't seem to be much of
a backpacker scent. Beautiful country though and friendly
cultured people. Try to get to Musandem.
I've lived in Oman since '88. Over the years things have in
some respects gotten cheaper for the traveler. There are
some half-way reasonable hotels in the R.O. 9-15 range (1
Omani rial = US 2.58). There are more bus lines than there
once were; indeed, most towns in the Sultanate are served at
least once a day by a national bus. As for costs, the run
from Muscat to Salalah, a distance of some 1000 km is around
R.O. 10 one-way. Taxis are pricey in the capital area -- it
costs me R.O. 5-6 to get from the airport to where I live,
which is only 20 minutes away, but outside it's not bad.
After a car accident on the way back from Dubai we paid 10
rials for 130 km, which wasn't bad at all.
***
Food is either cheap or pricey without much in between. A
schwarma costs 200 baiza (1 rial = 1,000 baiza), a soft
drink 100 baizas, a whole grilled chicken with a bit of
salad and some pita bread is R.O. 1.100. There's a local
restaurant chain, something called "The Arab World
Restaurant", that is quite reasonable with most things
ranging between 800 baizas and 1.400, which is about max.
They serve a combination of standard Arab kebabs, tabouli,
and homus and Indo-Pakistani biryanis, kormas, and masalas.
Because there are so many Subcontinentals here, there are
lots of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and even Sri Lankan
restaurants here. The South Indian ones are very good if
you like REALLY hot food. Good Gujrati "thalis" are
available too for very little money.
***
About the only middle level restaurants are Western
fast-food outlets: McDonald's, Pizza Hut, KFC, Hardee's,
and (now) Fuddrucker's, which is a step or step and a half
above those. You can escape them all for under 3 rials for
one person. As for the 5 star hotels, they're all fairly
pricey, but some of the buffets are good value for money if
you're into fairly spectacular food. The R.O. 9 Friday
brunch at the Al-Bustan is superb. Nice for a splurge.
***
I don't think hitching is illegal -- and I do know
Westerners who do/have done it. It might be a trifle
unusual, but you'll get rides pretty fast because of your
novelty value. Omanis are very hospitable people -- much
more so than their neighbors in the Emirates or Saudi Arabia
-- and are always happy to help out.
****
If you'd like to see a bit of what the place looks like,
check out my website at http://members.tripod.com/vvwilliams
There are a lot of people shots, and I keep adding more as I
scan them in.
All the best,
V. V. Williams
hi! I havent spent a lot of time in Oman, but what I can
tell you>.... the cost of food is cheap, similar to other
gulf places; lots of cheap indian food, cheap seafood rice
stuff etc. they say not to drink the water, but I didnt
realise this and never had any problems. But to buy water
is also not expensive, about 50 US cents for a big bottle
(I think either one or one and a half litres).
Accomodation can be expensive. I only stayed in Muscat when
I was there; I stayed in Muttrah, which was lovely, just
down near the fish souk in a hotel called the Corniche; it
was 11 OR a night (single); Im not sure of the US exchange
rate, but its about $45 Aust.
Local bus is pretty cheap. I found the local people
extremely welcoming and friendly if that is an indication
as to whether you might be lucky enough to stay with
someone. A lot of the locals were hitching, so that is
also a good option to consider.
Anyway, enjoy!!
Robyn