Muscat, Oman – 15 March 2019 – Wetskills Water Challenge Day 0
By Rachid Abraimi (Water Authority Hollandse Delta)
On Friday 15th of march me and 5 other lucky Wetskills participants arrived one day in advance of the official start of the Oman Wetskills Challenge. We seized this opportunity with both hands and traveled to the beach Jebel Sifah as we all were delighted and excited to explore the beautiful scenery that Oman beholds. Travelling 100 km towards Jebel Sifah was the perfect way to experience this beautiful scenery.
After driving 10 minutes we came across of Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. I was really impressed by the front garden, stunning architecture and the amount of attention was given to achieve such appropriate placement of the mosque in its surrounding. The second stop of our trip was the old town of Masqat and the port of Mattrah. Old Masqat is filled with very well maintained old buildings. I was fascinated by the appealing details all the buildings had on their facades. While I was admiring the moderate and low skyline of Masqat with in the background beautiful mountains I got reminded of how much I love mountains and how I miss the them in the Dutch landscape.
The rest of the road carried us along many small and beautiful villages that soon got the nickname of goat villages. The rest of the afternoon where spent quite comfortably at the beach and the nice infinity pool where you could dream away into the gorgeous background scenery of lovely beaches, far stretching ocean and mountains.
The evening was equally spent well at the house of Nicole, a Dutch expat who lives happily in Oman for over 15 years. We spent the evening comfortably having a delicious barbeque and drinks while learning about the culture of Oman from the perspective of a Dutch Expat.
For me this was the perfect way to acclimatize to Oman and the best start of the Wetskills Challenge I could have imagined of!
