author - oman observer

Not too long ago, booking a quick trip from Muscat to Dubai didn't require much thought. If you planned ahead or caught a promotion, a return ticket for around RO 50 was fairly common. A long...

A few days ago, over coffee that had long gone cold from conversation, a new friend admitted something that many parents quietly fear but rarely say aloud. Her son had just graduated from university,...

At first glance, the Al Hallaniyat Islands do not seem designed for modern tourism. There are no resorts rising from the shore, no beach clubs and no crowds of influencers at a single viewpoint....

A single light cuts through the silence, casting its spotlight on an Omani artist standing alone at centre stage. Slowly, she began to move. Slow at first until she eventually disappeared into a...

For years, Oman’s lifestyle and tourism story often felt overshadowed by its louder Gulf neighbours. Dubai had the skyscrapers. Doha had the spectacle. Riyadh had the scale. But this week, scrolling...

In Oman, landscape is not merely geography, it is identity. For photographer Khalid al Kharusi, the country’s mountains, deserts and coastlines are not backdrops but narratives waiting to be told....

As someone who genuinely loves art, I’ve always found it strange that the extreme heat of April and May never really bothers me. While most people complain about the start of summer, I quietly look...

An expatriate in Muscat scrolls through their electricity statement, line by line, almost instinctively. Consumption. Meter readings. Tariff bands. And then, the number that matters most: the total....

When Oman Skate opened its doors in Al Wadi Al Kabir in 2018, it marked a rare moment for a small but determined group of young people who had long been skating on the margins.For years, skateboarders...

A stretch of beach in Mirbat turned an uneasy shade of red, coated in what at first glance could be mistaken for algae or sediment. But closer inspection revealed something else entirely:...

The first time I went to Al Hamra in 2016, it was not a destination in the way we understand destinations today. There were no itineraries, no carefully packaged experiences. What drew people in was...

I have been paying closer attention this week, not just to the headlines, but to the pauses in between them. The way conversations shift when the topic turns to the world beyond Oman. The way a phone...

In recent weeks, social media feeds and travel forums have taken on a distinctly urgent tone. The questions arrive in waves, often stripped to their essentials: “Is it possible to get from Dubai to...

There’s a pattern we’ve all come to recognise. A crisis hits the headlines, uncertainty creeps in, and almost instinctively, people head to the supermarket, not to shop, but to secure. Trolleys...

There are moments when keeping up with the news starts to feel like a burden. One headline leads to another and before long, everything feels uncertain. Conflict, disruption, instability. They build...

Oman is a country of layered traditions, where celebrations shift subtly from one village to another. What may seem uniform at a distance reveals, up close, a rich mosaic of practices shaped by...

This week’s heavy rains across Oman have once again followed a grim and familiar pattern.Following flash floods triggered by intense rainfall, numerous deaths had been reported with search...

For anyone walking through Muscat during these evenings, there is a quiet sense that life is unfolding without disruption. This everyday calm has become a subject of conversation in its own right...

The past two weeks have been particularly challenging for many people across the Middle East, but perhaps none more visibly than travellers. As tensions across the region escalated, uncertainty spread...

As soon as the traffic lights turn red and vehicles come to a halt, a group of young volunteers steps onto the road. To an observer, the movement appears almost choreographed. They fan out swiftly but...