On the Move
My Holiday in Oman
by luptonv (12)

What is your name? Victoria Lupton What is your age? 12 Years Gender? female Write about the most memorable journey you ever made or place you ever visited. My most memorable place I have ever visited is Oman, which is near Saudi Arabia. I remember quite clearly arriving at the beautiful 'Al Bustan' hotel, which was a big hotel with two swimming pools and four delicious restaurants. What was very strange about the hotel was that, because it was in a Muslim area, and there were a lot of Muslim people about, we were never allowed to walk around inside the hotel without covering yourself. You were, of course, allowed to swim and sunbathe wearing only a swimming costume. I could write down every single thing I did on the holiday, and bore everybody, but I want to concentrate mainly on the two memorable points of my holiday; one of which was going to the mountains. Me and my family all packed into a hired car, with a guide, and drove up a very scary mountain, on a track which could only just hold our Land Rover. I thought a couple of times that our car was going to fall off the track, as there was a vertical drop if we went off the track. Finally, we reached the place we had been aiming for- the tiny little village at the very top of the mountain. We all climbed out of the car, and immediately saw what looked like a vegetable patch, perched right on the very edge of the mountain, looking very precarious. Later, we found out that they were growing dates and grapes there. Next, we walked, sweating terribly under the heat, along the dirt track to the first house. Along the way we saw lots of women with baskets on their heads, carrying things. We stopped of at the first house we got to, expecting to feel very uncomfortable and out of place there, and the people to be very unfriendly. Instead, we were greeted by a very cheerful couple who had three or four children. They immediately offered us a bowl of dates that looked all stuck together and disgusting, but, when I tasted them, were actually delicious. We talked for quite a while to the couple, who spoke very little English, and often had to speak in their language to our guide, who spoke both languages, though he was English, and then the guide would translate it to us. One of the amazing things was that the twenty or so children that lived in the village all went to a school at the bottom of the mountain, in the nearest town, so, on every school day, were driven in two or three trucks down the mountain. There would be about ten children at the back of each truck, all packed in the open air, and they could very easily fall out. What really struck me about the place was how much they all cared for each other. They all shared their property if they had more than other people did, and they were all good and kind people. In fact, I even remember our guide telling me that there had never been a case of stealing or murdering in their village. After about two hours there, however, we had to go, as we were going to have a picnic on the way back down the mountain in a pretty spot. I do, however, vividly remember every moment of being in that friendly village. It is a perfect example of how I think the world should be like- kind, caring and considerate. About three days after our visit to he mountain, we went to another amazing place; the desert. We travelled for about five hours through the huge desert, stopping for a quick lunch in the shade one of the few small trees, and then carrying on our journey. Finally, our guide came to a halt and let us out of the car. He told us to wait a few minutes and that he would be back in a few minutes with the people who ha dour tents, food, and drink. He called them 'Bedouins'. In a few minutes time, just as our guide had said, he came back in his car, followed by an old truck, which carried stranger. Our guide introduced us to this man, and then he started to unpack our tent and other equipment that we would be using for the afternoon, night and half of the next day. First, he unpacked two tents, one for my parents, and one for my two sisters and myself. Next, he took out a big mat and put it in between the two tents. In fact, living in the desert as a visitor was actually quite civilised! We even had a picnic table for eating, and a huge crate of bottles of water, which we would use for washing as well as drinking. That afternoon, after we had unpacked the few possessions we had in the desert- a bottle of suntan cream, a hairbrush, and a toothbrush, we went 'Dune bashing' as my daddy called it; driving a car over the dunes quite fast. It was quite exciting, as we nearly drove straight into a huge dip in the sand. After about an hour, we turned back to go back to our camp, and then my sister and I climbed up a huge sand dune next to our camp, before slipping back down it on our backs. Unfortunately, we did not have a spare change of clothing, so we had to live through the next night and day wearing clothes that were covered with sand! After that, we had a quick supper on our picnic table, and then went to bed quite early because we were tired. In the morning, we woke up reasonably early and went straight to the Bedouin's house. It was amazing. The family had twelve children altogether, and two children. Inside the place that they lived in, which was a selection of drapes, palm leaves and sticks all sewn together, there was a mother with a tiny baby of two weeks, whom she had given birth to at home in the scorching heat. The Bedouins owned about seven or eight camels, their home and a bit of money. The little girls made bracelets out of coloured thread for a living, which all three of my two sisters and I bought. The father had to go into the nearest village to buy food and water for his family once every week, which was miles away, and the sons all helped with visitors by giving them camel rides and supervising them. Our family also went on a camel ride, one camel for each person, for about an hour. It was quite high on my camel, and suddenly, just after we had set off, my camel started rearing up and trying to knock me off. It was very scary, as I nearly fell off the camel, onto the dry sand. In the end, I managed to have another camel. This one was much more well behaved. It was extremely fun being on a camel, as it was a very different thing to do, although by the end of the ride we were all wanting to get off because, as the camels were quite wide, our legs were aching a lot. Eventually, we had to leave the desert and go back to our hotel. A few days after that, unfortunately, we had to leave Oman completely, but I will always remember Oman clearly and vividly as if I went there only yesterday. Where did you travel this week? Local Travel Where did you go this week? (e.g. school, work, club) How many times did you make this trip? How many miles (round trip)? How did you Travel (walk, car but etc..)? What did you go there for? Boarding School once 60 car school shopping once 8 car buy food friend's house once 60 car to see friends Where did you travel this year? National & International Travel Where did you go this year? (e.g. school, work, club) How many times did you make this trip? How many miles (round trip)? How did you Travel (walk, car but etc..)? What did you go there for? France once 1200 Le Shuttle, car holiday and to see family Zermatt, Switzerland once 1300 plane, train holiday Mauritius once 5000 plane, car holiday