FLASHBACK - My arrival in Muscat: Oh man!

Hello readers,
After quiet a time for settling down, now I can handle my blog :))

First of all, I have to go 2 weeks back and share with you my arrival and my two first days in Oman, which was really emotionally rich!

at first sight, the path seems to be simple : Marseille (France) to Muscat (Oman).
But... when I got my plane tickets, I was surprised to see that it was :

Marseille (france) to Frankfurt (Germany) by 2hours by Lufthansa airline
Frankfurt (Germany) to Dubai (UAE) 6 hours by Lufthansa airline
Dubai (UAE) to Muscat(Oman) 1 hour by Emirates airline

all of this give me a " whole day journey" ( departure in Marseille at 10h00 , arrival in muscat at 23h45)

the only good point is that it was business class travelling which means , very nice treatment on board :p


ok then lets start the story

- 8h00, Marseille airport : As you perfectly know me : I am the guy who, when I have an appointment, can only come early or ... late ( in most of the cases). for this time I decided to come early and I came early!!

- 8h15, Marseille airport : I proceeded to the check- in , and my faithfull big black bag was weighted-in at 29.9 kilos ( limit was 30 kilos :p). One detail which was really important later is that the hostess asked me about baggage connection. she said me that my bag will automatically find his way untill dubai and then I have to handle it.

10h00-12h00, Marseille to Frankfurt : the flight was ok, I missed a strange tiny meal (ramadhan time), which makes the difference between economic and business class ( maybe 500 euros ). I definitely think that this meal is more valuable that gold or diamond regarding price/weight ratio.

12h00 : Frankfurt airport . Arrival in Frankfurt was ok, nothing to add exceped the fact that I had to do maybe 2 or 3 extra passeport checking. Germans people are very straight concerning safety.

13h15: Frankfurt airport . Getting into the Boeing 737. this is really a very impressive plane. It is hard to think that this huge mass of metal is going to take off and fly for maybe 10 000 km. flight departure was delayed for 30 minutes...

13h45- 21h15: Frankfurt to Dubai. Well I have to say that the business class trip is really nice . I had the right to occupy a all direction/ all inclination modulable seat. I also got a little lufthansa blue bag with a lot of things like toothbrush, blanket and so on. Steward kindly brought me my meal later (due to Ramadhan). During the flight, I watched DVD with the LCD included in the seat, I also took a quick lesson in arabic and followed the route plan via the map. I also took a lot of ground pictures from the seat. I just can say that Iran seems to be the paradise for geologist as it is only filled with relief and mountain.


this was the good and funny part of the story, here come the problem

21h15 - 22h45: Dubai airport. When I went out from the plane and stepped into the airport, I just thought that I did a time travel in the future. This airport is bloody futuristic (opposite to the peacefull Marseille airport). I followed several path before going to the passport checking and then take my baggage. After 30 minutes in queue, I was starting to think that I may be in late and miss my connection to Muscat (departure 22h45). I claimed help for the hostess and she was really afraid that I miss my plane, she gave maybe 5 calls in less than one minute and then said me to go back and take the connection without worrying about my bag. they will " re-route it" from the belt to the emirates plane.

OK, lets go back. after 15 minutes running, checking new tickets, climbing stairs , running, I was in front of the plane, sweating like a river. I asked to the hostess if she is sure that they will handle my bag. She said me no problem...

22h45 - 23h45: Dubai to Muscat. The business class from emirates is also nice, the plane was pretty empty (maximum 20 persons). Due to the short duration of the flight, I could not enjoy a true meal, and just took few sweets and tea.

23h45 : Arrival in Muscat. well this time I just thought that I did a time travel but in the past, or maybe it was because time was close to midnight. But this airport definitely looked like a ghost airport. It was so quiet.
After 20 minutes visa procedure I could go to the baggage belt and wait for my big black bag. we were only a few looking forward recovering our bags. I was surprised that one guy took maybe a string of 20 bags with him. after maybe 20 minutes waiting next to the beltm I had to admit, like one other girl, that my bag will never be here. IT HAS BEEN LOST somewhere between Marseille and Muscat :((

0h25: Muscat airport. I just went to the lost baggage enquiry office and trying to fill one form, which take myabe 2 minutes if a normal person is proceeding with. In my case, guy in front of me, was as punchy as a tomato... I made a huge effort to contain my anger, and after 1 hour . I went out from this airport with only my hand baggage.

0h45. Muscat airport entrance. Next challenge was to find the driver who was assigned to me. Before this, I have to confess something: when I went back for the aiport,I was thinking that someone used a hot steam stream against people. But no, It was simply the Omani weather which is so much humid and warm that you have this strange feeling. I have also forgotten to mention that you have to clear the blur on your glasses each 15 seconds. finally after 10 minutes waiting, a guy just came to me and show me a sheet with my name: it was my driver. he waited for me maybe 1 hour and half and he was still here. Thank you!!!

~2h00 : Crown Plazza hotel in Muscat. when I took my room in this hotel, I was simply exhausted and I could not appreciate the luxury of this hotel. finally I fall asleep
after 2 days, 50 euros of international phone calls, 40 euros of internet connection, I COULD TAKE BACK MY BAG.

I think I will never take Lufthansa anymore, as thank to them, I had to spend my 2 first days in works with the same clothes in the Warm and humid weathered country....

You can not start as bad as it was.


R