Smitten by the hospitality of the people of the Sultanate of Oman, an Iranian family is on bicycles exploring the innate beauty and experiencing the warmth of welcoming people across the country.
The family, comprising a builder and his homemaker wife, along with 18-year son and two daughters aged 10 and 7 took the pains of camping near mosques and sometimes boarding in a hotel during the course of their 10 days peddling in the country.
Reza, his wife Maliah, son 18-year old Daniel, daughters Mahsa and Dorsa were on a ten days-long-journey on bicycles exploring what makes Oman different and how it stands out from the rest.
“Oman is very far from other countries in terms of hospitality. The culture and tradition are exemplary. We are literally humbled by the hospitality by the people who made us feel at home. People are very friendly and down to earth,” Reza said.
They hail from Yazd, a central Iranian province that has vast deserts and other tourist and heritage places. From Yazd, they came by car to Bander Abbas and from there, they proceeded on a ship to the UAE.
But nothing could dampen their spirit of cycling across the breadth and width of the country, neither the scorching sun nor the hot wind that faced them throughout, a climate far from their hometown of Yazd, the central province of Iran.
“We enjoyed cycling across the country where we found only good people who were very much welcoming and each day was a stimulant because of the love and care of the Omani people,” Reza said.
“We couldn't go fast because we were cycling day and night but we refrained from food and water during the day. However, Omanis were kind enough to us by offering water and food during the day knowing that we were travelers and we couldn’t fast.” The long journey that started on March 12 from the port took 15 days before they could reach Oman visiting the neighbouring UAE for 15 days covering a total of more than 4,000 km by ship and air and 1,500 km by bicycle.
They loaded bicycles on a ship to the UAE along with them and travelled by sea to Abu Dhabi and visited the country for nearly two weeks before they could cross the border to the Sultanate and at the end of the journey, they returned by air packing their bicycles in the cargo on April 3.
The family, which considers their common passion being cycling, had in the past, been to India, Pakistan, Nepal, Qatar, Turkey and Georgia before they came to Oman and for them visiting countries on bicycle is a life mission.
Their aim was to learn new cultures and traditions, meet with people and Omani people, according to them, literally amazed them. People of Oman respect each other and all human beings irrespective of their origin.
“Travel really refines our souls and purifies our thoughts, helping us to take up new challenges and think clearly to go ahead in life. Travel nourishes relations and solidifies our connections with the rest of the world,” he said.
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