At 4.15am, passengers who arrived from Dubai on the Emirates flight are moving towards the baggage scanner just before exiting the Seeb International Airport. Those standing in the line are a couple of Englishmen, a few Omani youngsters (minus the dishdasha), and yours truly. As soon as the guy manning the scanner saw the Omani folks, he smiles at them and asks them to skip the scan inspite of carrying some suitcases. They move towards the exit door with a couple of ‘shukrans’ aimed at the baggage guy. Yours truly and Englishmen weren’t lucky enough, and we followed the normal route.

Isn’t this a security hazard or lapse? Or should we say…who cares…khalli valli!

Sorry for the one week pause. Here is Dubai trip in a nutshell.

* The Global Travel and Tourism Summit was a very interesting event, which had some great speakers on the panel. I loved the session from Dr Kjell Nordström, Associate Professor, Stockholm School of Economics. He was full of charm, very witty and very effective at the same time. He went on to say products that are ‘fit and sexy’ rule the roost in today’s world. His examples were iPod, Ikea and BMW. How true.

* Dubai can go any length to boost its image. During the summit gala dinner at ‘Fort Lisaili’, a desert camp just an hour’s drive from Jumeirah beach towards Oman border, the police provided pilot escort to the 20 buses that were transferring delegates from Madinat Jumeirah to the desert camp – escort not because there were high profile guests, but just to the beat the mad evening hour traffic of Dubai.

* The summit had 1,100 delegates from 70 countries including CEOs, media persons, ministers, and diplomats. I met the tourism minister of Botswana who in turn turned out to be an interesting person to chat. Botswana is taking up eco-tourism very seriously, and it is paying them handsomely, I learnt.

* Blackberry rules. Out of 1,100 delegates, at least 70% had blackberries with them.

* Looks like Abu Dhabi wants to take on Dubai head on the tourism front. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority had a strong representation all through the summit, and the PR managers are doing their duties well. Like Oman, their USP is hinged around ‘culture and heritage’.

* While returning back to Muscat in the early morning Emirates flight from Dubai, I heard the airhostess commenting, “Normally we run around like chickens to serve food in this short flight.” I too think the ‘food’ throws up a challenge for all in this sector – for the crew to serve food in the stipulated time for so many people, and for the people to gobble the food in such a short span. By the way, the food (burgers, sweets) on the Emirates flight both ways were horrible.

This incident happened yesterday at 10pm, in front of Supa Save parking lot, CBD area, Ruwi.

A group of 15-20 people are surrounding a Nissan Tida car, shouting and trying to wake up a Indian girl (maybe 9 or 10 years old) who is sleeping in the back seat with her mouth wide open. The sleeping posture of the girl is looking scary. The doors of the car are fully shut and the A/c is switched off. An elderly person in the crowd is banging the doors of the car and shaking the car to try and awaken the girl. No effect. The girl is motionless. No sign of her parents around.

The elderly man shouts: “I am 100% sure the girl is semi-conscious. Call the police, let them come and break open the windows.” Blah…blah. His words spread panic amongst the crowd who peered through the window to check the girl. “She is breathing,” one guy shouted.

People around cursed the parents of the girl who left her alone in this state. One smart alec ventured into Supa Save store to find her parents who were shopping inside. The girl’s father came running, quite panicked to see a crowd around his car. He opened the door, and shook the girl’s shoulders. The girl slowly opened her eyes. She was infact sleeping away to glory.

The crowd slowly disappeared with faint smiles. The elderly man still continued to grumble, “I am sure the car was air tight unlike what the girl’s father claims.” “Irresponsible people…it could have been disastrous,” he kept on blabbering.

I couldn’t control my laughter. On the other hand, I am thinking what an idiot that girl’s father was…to leave his daughter alone in the car with all windows closed and without switching on the A/c.

Want to walk in the woods in Muscat? Wanna take a break from the monotony of routine life? Help is near. On a weekend, hit the Muscat-Sohar highway, and after Barka take a deviation to step into Al Nahda Resort and Spa, located in the most idyllic backdrop.

The studio accommodation at the resort

The 30-acre resort is set amidst lush green farm with hundreds of mango and guava trees dotting the expanse. Ornamental flowers, shrubs, coconut and date palms welcome the discerning guests on the pathways too. Chirping of birds, feathered friends of all shapes and sizes…it can’t better than this.

Hoping for a lazy and relaxing weekend, we landed in the resort on a Thursday evening. While the cheerful front office staff took care of the formalities, we were served watermelon juice as a welcome drink. Soon, an attendant led us to a golf cart or buggy and we headed to our accommodation, a studio villa. Guests and staff use buggies and bicycles inside the resort to move around. This is an eye-catching concept, quite eco-friendly in these times of modernity.

Buggy or golf cart

Like my daughter, I too couldn’t resist for long to catch hold of a bicycle to familiarize with various attractions around the Al Nahda resort. Mrs too showed keen interest to learn cycling, but somehow couldn’t manage in two days that we spent at the location. To make her happy, I’ve promised to teach her cycling during our next vacation.

The main cycle stand

The same evening, we walked/cycled to check our various facilities around the resort. From swimming pool to jacuzzis to steam tunnels to yoga to spa baths, Al Nahda offers a host of health and wellness packages for guests. If you are a fitness freak, then you can head to the high-tech gym. There is a personal trainer at your disposal.

Later in the evening, tired and hungry, we had a relaxing bath and headed to Khalab restaurant, which serves international cuisines all day long. Being a Thursday, it was seafood night, and I had my plate full of prawns and lobsters, while my wife being a temporary veggie, had a tough time, meandering helplessly through a host of fish items. Vegans have very little choice in lavish buffets all across Oman, my wife grumbles always. That is the truth too. Daughter dear had some grub from ‘Kiddies Korner’ at the buffet, which had her favoutrite chicken nuggets in varied shapes. She had a plateful of yummy looking desserts, only to sample bits and pieces in the end. I must confess the food at the Khalab was very good all through our stay at the resort. Their dinner, lunch and breakfast buffets have many plenty of dishes to suit Arabic, Asian and European palettes.

Inside shot of Khalab restaurant

Seafood special

Now more on accommodation. Al Nahda has 109 rooms which includes studio rooms, studio villas and two-bedroom villas. Studio villas, which are in clusters across the resort, have a contemporary look to it, including the furniture. The rooms are very spacious.

Inside view of a studio villa.

Exterior look of studio villas.

Friday morning we woke up late, had breakfast, and made our way towards the pool. The pool is the major attraction for the young and the old alike, and it is one place where there is some activity from dawn to dusk. I did a few laps and daughter had her share of fun (she never misses a chance to play in water, including rough beaches in Muscat). At 11am, as per prior appointment, I went to have my share of spa treatment in the form of a relaxing oil massage (Al Nahda Signature Massage). A hot shower later was like icing on the cake, and sparked off a soothing effect on mind and body.

Swimming pool at the resort.

Details of different massages.

Post-lunch we had a quick nap, and again yielding to my daughter’s persistence went for a quick swim. As sun was planning to fade, we were in tennis court only to realize that backhands and volleys were different ball game all together. In total, it was an exhilarating experience for us, a much needed break from the humdrum of routine life.

Since the resort invited us, I didn’t bother to check in detail about room rates. But I guess a studio room costs RO 144 per day (which includes breakfast, dinner and two complimentary spa treatments), a studio villa RO 140 per day (which includes breakfast and dinner) and two-bedroom villas RO 234 (which includes breakfast and dinner). The spa treatments are in the range of RO 25 to RO 40 per treatment that lasts for 50 minutes.

Rating:

Ambience: 5/5
Spa: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Food: 4/5