Whisked away...
The week-end began with dinner at Lize's. We had sweet and sour chicken which was delicious. We met Lize's friend whom she's staying with; a lovely lady from South Africa as well working here as an English teacher. The lady had a lovely face that's very youthful. It struck me that she spoke beautifully; eloquent and precise. What a good model for the English language, I thought!
We went to bed early and then Thursday morning we rose early and started for Barr Al Jissah or Shangri La, a resort consisting of three hotels which is about a thirty minute drive from Muscat. It is set on a beautiful cove with a stretch of beach and surrounded by the signature brown rugged hills of Oman. Hubby decided I needed a break of scenery from Muscat and from work so I was whisked away to Barr Al Jissah to relax and rejuvenate my senses!!! We checked in around ten and I headed straight for the pool while hubby headed for the gym. I slapped on as much sun screen armed with my book and water and went to look for a chair under a palm tree away from the sun! It was a beautiful day. It was warm but there was a nice breeze so it felt less hot than normal. I headed for the lazy river that a friend recommended. You sit on a tube and the man-made river pushes you along the river and back to where you started. A beautiful and relaxing activity and the river runs through the hotel gardens and under small walkway-bridges and a restaurant. I thought it was such a brilliant idea! After one round of that I decided to take a dip in the sea. The water was cool it was very refreshing.
Hubby emerged from the gym so we rented a kayak and went kayaking out in the ocean. Fun and spectacular view of the hotels with the hills in the background. It wasn't long before hubby turned the relaxing kayak run into a bootcamp like left-right-left stroke activity, that I eventually resigned into lying down and enjoying the ride rather than arguing over why our paddling was not synchronised...:) Talk about training for the olympics. It's hilarious when hubby turns a relaxing activity into a serious must-be-done-right sport, didn't help he just came from the gym...choo hooo. Fell on deaf ears with me so he enjoyed power paddling the kayak while I stayed out of the way and relaxed on the kayak which was my idea of fun lol Halfway through I jumped off and swam after(more like being pulled by) the kayak to enjoy the cool water. So spectacular I wonder why we don't swim in the ocean often here!?!
Went back to the pool and enjoyed a water football game with other hotel guests. It was lots of fun with some adults being a tad too serious and not letting their kids touch the ball!!!
An hour of that back to the lazy river.... by three o'clock I felt my brain was fried so we retired to the room where I had a nap. Went to dinner at the Samba restaurant. The buffet was wonderful. I had all the oysters and mussels I could eat and then roast beef which was succulent with a baked potato. Dinner was really nice. We proceeded to the piano bar which was a beautiful lounge with a pianist playing some soft numbers. lovely atmosphere. We went to the Long Bar to have a look and decided to call it a night. Went to bed sunburnt, tired and blissfully satisfied. It was a great day indeed and the bed was also so comfortable I just didn't want to leave the bed this morning. Had breakfast which was also quite an affair. I was too sunburnt to even look out the window. It was warmer today so stayed indoors and read before we headed back home. Overall it was a great get-away in Oman itself and highly recommend the place to others. The service was excellent as well. All in all we had a wonderful time and definitely feel refreshed minus the itch of the sunburn hahaha!
We went to bed early and then Thursday morning we rose early and started for Barr Al Jissah or Shangri La, a resort consisting of three hotels which is about a thirty minute drive from Muscat. It is set on a beautiful cove with a stretch of beach and surrounded by the signature brown rugged hills of Oman. Hubby decided I needed a break of scenery from Muscat and from work so I was whisked away to Barr Al Jissah to relax and rejuvenate my senses!!! We checked in around ten and I headed straight for the pool while hubby headed for the gym. I slapped on as much sun screen armed with my book and water and went to look for a chair under a palm tree away from the sun! It was a beautiful day. It was warm but there was a nice breeze so it felt less hot than normal. I headed for the lazy river that a friend recommended. You sit on a tube and the man-made river pushes you along the river and back to where you started. A beautiful and relaxing activity and the river runs through the hotel gardens and under small walkway-bridges and a restaurant. I thought it was such a brilliant idea! After one round of that I decided to take a dip in the sea. The water was cool it was very refreshing.
Hubby emerged from the gym so we rented a kayak and went kayaking out in the ocean. Fun and spectacular view of the hotels with the hills in the background. It wasn't long before hubby turned the relaxing kayak run into a bootcamp like left-right-left stroke activity, that I eventually resigned into lying down and enjoying the ride rather than arguing over why our paddling was not synchronised...:) Talk about training for the olympics. It's hilarious when hubby turns a relaxing activity into a serious must-be-done-right sport, didn't help he just came from the gym...choo hooo. Fell on deaf ears with me so he enjoyed power paddling the kayak while I stayed out of the way and relaxed on the kayak which was my idea of fun lol Halfway through I jumped off and swam after(more like being pulled by) the kayak to enjoy the cool water. So spectacular I wonder why we don't swim in the ocean often here!?!
Went back to the pool and enjoyed a water football game with other hotel guests. It was lots of fun with some adults being a tad too serious and not letting their kids touch the ball!!!
An hour of that back to the lazy river.... by three o'clock I felt my brain was fried so we retired to the room where I had a nap. Went to dinner at the Samba restaurant. The buffet was wonderful. I had all the oysters and mussels I could eat and then roast beef which was succulent with a baked potato. Dinner was really nice. We proceeded to the piano bar which was a beautiful lounge with a pianist playing some soft numbers. lovely atmosphere. We went to the Long Bar to have a look and decided to call it a night. Went to bed sunburnt, tired and blissfully satisfied. It was a great day indeed and the bed was also so comfortable I just didn't want to leave the bed this morning. Had breakfast which was also quite an affair. I was too sunburnt to even look out the window. It was warmer today so stayed indoors and read before we headed back home. Overall it was a great get-away in Oman itself and highly recommend the place to others. The service was excellent as well. All in all we had a wonderful time and definitely feel refreshed minus the itch of the sunburn hahaha!
+%5B640x480%5D.JPG)
Comments