Muscat

Rest assured. I am not a big fan of huge franchises popping up every where I go. I came here to Muscat believing I was going to enter some kind of exotic dream and that I wouldnt have to feel the urge to order a double whopper every 2 miles driving my rental down the highway. I was wrong.

Oman is a country rich in culture that stretches many thousand years back in time. Every where you go you will run into historic buildings, forts, and places of historic importance. The people is also a living  display of cultural heritage. They are all wearing their traditional outfits and yes, the women are covered up in burqas or abayas.

As a westerner here you do feel a little out of place sporting your nicest pair of jeans and dressshirt, you feel almost a little silly when mixed into this vast cultural explosion. But dont worry. Around every corner you will find a McDonalds or any other larger franchise worth the name. For some reason this Americanisation (Yes I said it!) is forcing me to wake up from my sweet little exotic dream in realizing that here too, cultural lifestyle is swopped for a more time efficient way of life sponsored, if you will, by McD.

But! And this is a large but. For some reason I do find some sort of peace and comfort in beeing able to have myself a nice venti coffee of the week at Starbucks which would probably taste the same in Los Angeles or London. It is nice to have a familiar and "safe" place where you can just sit back and relax as you take in all the impressions.


Enjoying a nice cup of coffee of the week


Diverse mix of people at good old Starbucks

-Rikard