When driving in foreign country it is an experience in itself. Firstly the cars are left-hand drive. Even after a few months you still forget every now and again. Old habts die hard. But when you get in and there is no steering wheel in front of you, it has not been stolen, just moved. You soon get the picture and climb over. When there is no traffic on the road you often take off on the left of the road as well, like the British have taught us. That is until there is oncoming traffic.
The first and most important instrument in the car is the hooter. Learn where it is, quickly!
The difference with SA and Oman is in SA a hoot means, ‘Get out of the way, I was here first!’ Or ‘Look where you are driving! You %*”*#!!!’ In Oman a hoot means ‘I am here’ so don’t bump into me. A hoot should always be answered by your own hoot. It is like a communication system.
Fortunately there are very few robots or ‘traffic lights’ in Sohar but in the bigger centers like Muscat, the capital, there are a few. The fortune lies therein that the lights take forever to change. The other fortune is that the traffic behind you start hooting before the light has actually changed. Perhaps it is because the cycle literally take 2 minutes. This does not sound long, until you are in traffic…
Should you jump a red light, you have to spend the night in jail. That is how strict the traffic light rule is here, perhaps because there are so few of them. How they catch you is possibly by street cameras. Here we have roundabouts which does allow the traffic to flow – if you are in the main stream…
At the moment while the main road in Sohar is being constructed – the side of the road is walled off with make-shift barriers while there is a centre isle to prevent cars from driving into oncoming traffic or make u-turns. If you want a shop on the right, lucky for you, turn right. If you want a shop on the left, drive to the nearest roundabout and make a u-turn… That roundabout may be a few hundred meters or 10s of kilometers down the road.
Flashing of lights is not a warning either, it is an invitation to turn in, in front of the flasher. This is a welcome relief for the traffic over the lunch hour is relentless. Pushing in is also not considered rude. You may get a ‘I am here’ hoot but then you hoot too and they wait for you. With a wave you can accomplish traffic miracles.
Standing in a queue at a bank or shop however is a nightmare. There is no queue. You bundle around the teller or assistant and often show him how to do his job. Type here, press there. You have to stand as close to the person in front of you as possible or you lose your place. Although having said that, if you are big and loud you move to the front of the queue, especially if you know the assistant, manager or owner.
Thank goodness there are barriers at the drive-thru at KFC! Here the old rule of ‘first come, first served’ still stands. But only just.
Life in general
Tyre longevity is not gauged by the tread left on the tyre but by the date of issue. If you tyres reach their expiry date, tread or not, off they go. The heat makes the tyres brittle and unsafe after two years.
Due to the heat, working times are in the morning, then a siesta in the afternoon and from 4 PM till late it is fiesta time again. The local Carrefour or ‘Game-X-PnP’ closes at 11 PM. For kids to arrive at school late is a normal occurrance. They go to bed when they are ready, school night or not.
Women stay at home and guys go driving around at night. The younger ones use their cars to drift. This was a local problem with several accidents and deaths. The Police and municipality are clamping down on it though with late night show of force and several speed bumps. The tar is still scarred with ‘doughnuts’ and tyre marks.
The weekend is from Thursday to Saturday. Sunday is the first day of the week.
February and March are the windy months and last weekend (22 Feb.) a local leg of the cycle race was cancelled due to winds creating dust storms. Three visiting MTN cyclists were also affected.
Camping on the beach is still allowed in Oman and workers collect the refuse after the weekend. Driving and drifting on the beach is a great pass-time and some deaths have also been reported.
The sea varies in colour from blue to turquoise with northern beaches having browner shades of sand while south of Muscat the beaches are the tanned shades of Durban’s beaches, without the waves. Seashells are plentiful.
Movies give you impressions of Oman
When you watch ‘Mission Impossible: IV’ with Tom Cruise in Dubai, you get an idea of a sand storm.
With ‘Captain Phillips’ boarding his ship, he leaves from Salala, the southerly port of Oman.
LG. Life is good. It is also what you make it.
