Browsing tag : Oman
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Why Being an Expat is Awesome
Posted onA lot of my recent posts have been rather negative about the expat life. Actually, a lot of my posts generally have quite a negative slant, but that’s an inevitable result of having been a journalist for a fair few years – you develop an innate cynicism which is hard to shift. Anyway, it occurred to me that one or two of my readers might be wondering why I would choose to live overseas if I apparently dislike it so much. The reason is simple: Expat life is awesome!
By Ben Reeves
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Why I Own a Tuxedo
Posted onI seem to recall reading or hearing some general life advice, at some point, which advised owning your own tuxedo. The suggestion was that it would save you money in the long run since renting them is expensive. I think that assumes that you would go to a great many high-society events in your life because I have owned a tuxedo since I was 21 and I think I’ve used it maybe twice in the decade since.
By Ben Reeves
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Farewell, Lady Macbeth
Posted onAlas, the Adventures of Lady Macbeth must finally come to an end, just as my time with my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo did. If you recall the ending of the last episode, the old girl had just had another major meltdown. The electrical system was out, from a suspected alternator failure.
By Ben Reeves
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The Last Ride of Lady Macbeth
Posted onI owned my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo for a grand total of 306 days, of which I estimate that she was on the road for maybe half. In spite of that relatively short ownership and my limited time driving, I still miss the old girl to this day. We had some…interesting adventures together, among the best of them being her final voyage.
By Ben Reeves
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45 Minutes in Muscat
Posted onDuring my two years in Muscat, I found the CouchSurfing community to be a great way to meet some really fascinating characters. I made many good friends on the network, and it has generated some very fond memories. One of the weirder ones was when I found a message on the Muscat forum from a Scottish guy named John. He said that he had three hours to kill on a layover as he was flying elsewhere and, rather than spend them in Muscat International Airport, he wanted to see something of the city. Having nothing much better to do with my weekend, I decided to see how much I could show him in that time.
By Ben Reeves
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Good Times with Lady Macbeth
Posted onIt occurs to me that people reading this travel blog might be getting the wrong impression about me and my experiences, particularly those regarding Lady Macbeth. Indeed, a friend who was planning a trip to Myanmar recently looked at my posts about the place and came to the conclusion that I hated my time there, which I didn’t. Aside from the fact that even the bad times are good (in hindsight), it seems evident that I should be telling some more of the happier stories.
By Ben Reeves
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Getting Screwed by Taxis
Posted onRegular readers, who have been following the ongoing Adventures of Lady Macbeth, will perhaps be wondering why I decided to buy a car in the first place. I alluded to one of the reasons in the first post on the subject, when I said that Oman has pretty much no public transport. The nearest equivalents were minibuses, which followed seemingly random routes, were often overloaded and were not especially safe or comfortable. Extremely cheap, they were known as ‘Baisa buses’, after the sub-unit of the Omani rial. I used them maybe twice, if that.
By Ben Reeves
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Lady Macbeth’s Breakdown
Posted onIn my introduction to the Adventures of Lady Macbeth, I said that the 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo lived up to her name in all of the wrong ways, including a propensity to break down. The biggest of those breakdowns took her off the road for at least three months and cost me a frankly staggering amount of money. Frustratingly, most of the trouble was caused by one of the smallest components in the huge 4.0-Litre engine.
By Ben Reeves
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The Funny Thing About Oman…
Posted onI was talking with a friend this week about my recent blog posts, in which I told the story of my chaotic drive to a remote Omani beach, only to get buried in said beach and rescued by some passing strangers. The point he was especially puzzled by was the fact that the parting words from my saviours were: “Do you have any beer?” The reason they were asking, I explained, was that they would almost certainly find it impossible to obtain any because, being Omanis, they would not have an Alcohol License.
By Ben Reeves
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Lady Macbeth and the Long Drive Home
Posted onThe exciting adventures of my 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo continue! In the last thrilling instalment, I succeeded in getting the off-road vehicle stuck in a beach within about 25 metres of leaving the road and was only saved from my own stupidity a passing group of kind strangers. However, it was now about 8:30pm, I was a good 300-km drive from home, I was covered in sweat and sand and I was absolutely terrified and exhausted. I wanted to feel safe and comfortable after my massive freakout on the beach. I wanted to drive home.
By Ben Reeves
