Oman

In the Arabic Peninsula, Oman has retained its charm and a certain traditional touch, while the people are very welcoming. In the capital city, there is no skyscraper but instead many low castle-like houses. The city is organised in many small quarters in-between rocky hills. There is a certain vibe in the downtown area, although it was Eid, which for Westerners mean "dry days" (no alcohol is served) and "holidays" (there were many expats from Dubai - including Indians - who took these off days to come and visit Oman).

The most remarkable building is certainly the new and flashy mosque erected by the sultan. It is actually an impressive mosque, surely with several records (size of the carpet, weight of the chandelier). But it is nice in the sense that it incorporates many motives from all the main arabic cultural areas.

Oman is dotted with numerous castles, which were used by sultans to protect the interior trade routes. Most of them are renovated (sometimes, too much...). However, it must be said that the country has invested its oil money not only in mosques and museums, but mostly in infrastructure, schools and clinics. On a few occasions, we had the feeling we were the first ones to drive on a brand new section of the freeway. We could have relinquished renting a 4by4, where it not for the few kilometers we drove in the desert. Always a pleasure to be in the desert. Great colours in the evening lights. And a real pleasure to have supper outside in the quiet middle of nowhere. However, it must still be said that the dunes of Oman do not compare to the ones in Namibia. The highlight of the trip was then the evening we spent on the beach observing the new-born turtles trying to make it to the sea. Such a nice sight and so good to see how strongly they try to make it, but also so sad to know that only 4 out of 1000 will make it to adult life. We observed a turtle lay its egg and covering its nest. Slow but meticulous moves. The National Park around the area opened a few months ago and the authorities seem determine to preserve their natural heritage.Oman is then a land of seas, sands and wadis. We went to discover several wadis and even jumped in the pools formed by the rivers. Some spots were quite touristical - although a lot of potential remains to improve it - while some others were pretty wild. There is very little agriculture throughout. In some places, attempts to cultivate on terrasses do not seem very successful. This probably explains why there are several ghost villages.

Doha

Once in a while, work and travel mix and when it happens, it generally turns out to be a great experience. This time our international commitments took us to Doha. I think this city tries to become the "conference capital" of the world as it attempts to grab every opportunity at hosting conferences. Good for them, as we wonder how they manage to fill up all these hotels. But they still need to improve on their performance: my swiss colleague was tagged on his conference pass as representing Swaziland!

Anyway this conference was a little "who is who" in international politics. It is probably better that i do not name the presidents that attended, but among them was a short and excited one who bulldozed the agenda so that he could speak first, a few hysteric ones shouting at Israel, England or imperialistic forces and a few anxious ones who came surrounded by bodyguards and yes-man. Still, the majority of them did try their best to reach a compromise acceptable to all parties. What surprised me the most in this conference is how its different sub-elements did not interact with each other. On the main stage, there were the presidents' and ministers' declarations. Further, negociations on the final document took place in the open or behind closed doors depending on the stage of the process. And finally, there were many side events. During a lunch break, we managed to escape the conference so that we could finally discover a little bit of Doha. We chose to head to the newly opened Museum of Islamic Art. It is a real gem. From outside already, it is one of the few building with a modernised version of the traditional Qatari architecture. It is certainly the only building that is less than 10 years old that is not a skyscraper... And inside, a great variety of quality objects from all over the islamic world is very well presented.