The Colorful Villa We Stayed in at Musandam

We did not give up on Oman. After that disappointing experience where one of us was denied entry into the country, we tried again and succeeded at crossing the UAE-Oman border. Like most of our trips, this was also unplanned. This is just how it works in my family. If we do plan something, it almost always does not work out.

It was late in the afternoon when we reached Musandam. So when tried to book for a dhow cruise, the travel agent suggested we stay overnight and take the morning trip. “A trip takes four hours and it’s already 2 pm,” he said. “Also, the dolphins usually show up in the morning.”

Also, noting that we were a group of eight adults, he suggested we rent a villa instead of separate hotel rooms. It turned out to be a good idea!

This was the house. Part of it is still under construction but it has two bedrooms, two living rooms (as is the custom in most homes in this part of the world, where male guests sit separately from the women), two bathrooms, and a huge kitchen.

This is the red living room, the place we occupied the most:

It took sometime for us to find the channels and, when we did, discovered that most of them were either in Arabic or Farsi. Eventually, we found a channel that was playing the movie Thor.

Masood and I spent some quiet time alone on the rooftop, marveling at the star-studded sky. The looming shadows of the huge mountains surrounded us in the dark of the night. Somewhere down the dusty road, in this sparsely populated community, we briefly heard some men talking.

Soon everyone joined us on the rooftop, after which I was certain our voices and laughter rang till the farthest house in the village. I think I had to drag everyone downstairs immediately least someone calls the police and have us arrested for wrecking havoc to world peace.

This is the second living room:

This room gave us a headache so we stayed away from this. Besides the weird curtains and sofa covers (too much matching going on!), I felt uncomfortable in this dark and stuffy room as if it’s filled with negative energy. And the attached bathroom stank too. Yes, I think that was the negative energy that assaulted our senses whenever someone opened the door to this room.

Bedroom # 1:

Bedroom # 2:

The huge kitchen, my favorite place in this house:

I love how the sunlight pours in so gloriously in the morning and the fresh air circulates nicely when the back door and windows are opened. Unfortunately, we did not get to cook in this kitchen as we weren’t prepared to spend the night in a furnished house. I would have loved to cook some breakfast here.

 

I was actually quite impressed by how clean the house was, save for the bathroom in the blue room, and how the sheets were freshly laundered and spotless.

If we ever get the chance to rent a villa again, I will remember to bring my BBQ paraphernalia and lots of food!