Breakfast at our Sama Heights Resort, then hit the road just after 9am. Wound our way back down the Jebel and back on to paved road. We were headed for Al Ayn, the site of ancient ‘beehive’ tombs from around
Al Ayn to Jibreen Castle Fort, Oman
Jebel Shams, Oman’s Highest Peak
Up the next morning for our drive up to Jebel Shams, Oman’s highest mountain at 3028 m. Decided to first check out the nearby village of Misfat Al Abriyeen, 7km north of Al Hamra. It’s one of the few villages
Cave and Crumbling Village in Oman
Drove back to the Muscat airport to exchange our rental car for a Mitsubishi Montero 4×4. Then it was time to head south into the interior Hajar mountains. Highways are excellent in Oman, well signed in both Arabic and English.
Muscat, the Capital of Oman
Impressive views of dry, barren landscape while flying into Oman. Crazy, 2-hour lineup to get into the country unless you paid a VIP fee of 20 OMR (~$70 Cdn). Needless to say, we waited. Picked up our rental car
Our flight itinerary for the Arabian Peninsula
Check out our animated travel route from Vancouver to four countries in the Arabian Peninsula for our upcoming trip (100countries.info/trips/2023-1-arabian-peninsula-feb-mar-2023). The trip starts out with back to back red-eye flights, with a third flight added on at the end to
Our virtual travel agent for the Arabian Peninsula
We’re trying something new and different for our upcoming trip to the Arabian Peninsula; a consultation with an AI driven, “virtual travel agent”! Check out the results on our trip page 100countries.info/trips/2023-1-arabian-peninsula-feb-mar-2023 Interested in travel to exotic destinations such as
Country Count Updated to 116
When we booked our 6-month trip to Australia in the spring of 2022 we thought that would be the only international destination that we’d see for the entire year. Our flights were scheduled to transit through New Zealand, but at
A Day in Auckland
View the post on our Facebook Page. View the post on our Facebook Page.
Fremantle’s iconic Container Rainbow
At the playground overlooking Freo’s “Containbow”. Still getting used to the thought that a beautiful day in May is the end of autumn in the southern hemisphere, with winter just a few weeks away. We’d better get used to it
In WA at last!
Finally in Western Australia and reunited with family after more than 3 years apart. Fremantle will be home for the next 6 months. Bizarrely, despite some of the most draconian pandemic measures in the world, the failed exemption requests, the
Through New Zealand on the way to Aus
We passed through Auckland, NZ on the way to Aus. Normally, with a 7-hour layover we’d see a few of the sights, but due to COVID, New Zealand still wasn’t allowing visitors. (We transited on April 29th and the border
We’re off
Ready to board our first flight to Perth. It’s finally happening. Through our first document hurdle and security at YVR. Fremantle here we come!
Australia V, version 2.0
In March of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded like a car crash in slow motion, so did our travel plans. Our April trip to Korea, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Australia slowly got whittled down, flight by cancelled flight, to just
Country Count Updated to 115
OK, it’s not much but it’s better than nothing. First new country in almost 2 years, as we added the Bahamas to our list. We’d be lying if we said that we didn’t pick one of the Caribbean islands that
A Week in the Bahamas
First trip out of the country in almost 2 years! Only a week, but the weather, food, and company were a welcome relief from the pandemic monotony.
Through the Eyes of Van Gogh and…..???
This must be the unluckiest trip that we have ever planned! We bought tickets in 2019 only to see the flights cancelled in 2020 when the pandemic hit. Bought another set of tickets in 2021 when things seemed to be
Country Count Updated to 114
Upon our return from Africa in February we updated our list of UN countries visited; we now stand at 114! That total is composed of 113 of the 193 current member countries of the UN and one former member country
The ruins of Ostia Antica, Rome’s ancient port city
Feb 11, 2020. A gorgeous sunny day in Ostia Antica. Spent the whole afternoon visiting the Roman archeological site and museum of Ostia Antica. It was the port of ancient Rome and was once right at the confluence of the
The town of Ostia Antica
Feb 10, 2020. Long, tiring night travelling to Rome. Arrived in Ostia Antica in the wee hours of the morning then crashed for most of the day. Our apartment was gorgeous. Right within the walls of the medieval town. Lovely
The Sights of Ethiopia
We were quite happy to leave Addis Ababa behind as we jumped on an early morning flight to Bahir Dar. First up was a boat ride on Lake Tana to visit the Ura Kidane Mihret Monastery, one of many on