Middle East

If You Want to Enjoy Oman, Be Sure to Rent a Car

Beautiful designs in MuscatThere are many destinations we have visited around the world where we have found that renting a car made for a better experience.  In many others we realized we probably would have had a better time had we splurged for our own transportation for a few days.  But there are a few select destinations where we did not rent a car and realized that it was a critical mistake that greatly altered our experience.

Oman was one of those destinations.

While it is hard for anyone to fully justify the costs of a rental car, especially when you will need to spend even more for a full SUV with 4-wheel drive, we have a few reasons as to why you should consider it when traveling in Oman.

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Wahiba Sands – An Overnight Dune Bashing Adventure in Oman

Truck Tracks in the Sand in the Wahiba Desert, OmanAs the desert accounts for roughly 82% of the land mass of Oman, you would be, quite literally, missing a large part of the country by skipping a trip out into it.

Our trek into the desert was only a one night stay at a camp located about 30 kilometers inside the Wahiba Sands region of the country, and turned out to be the highlight of our stay in Oman.

The following photo essay is a selection of our best photos from the 400+ we took during our overnight stay in this stunning destination.

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Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Residences Review – A Suite Upgrade

Room at Hilton Dubai Jumeirah ResidencesIn our first Hilton points redemption on our 1.5 year long trip, we used two weekend certificates and 40,000 points for a three-night stay at the Hilton Imperial Dubrovnik worth about $1,750.

For our second rewards stay, we wanted to go big, and one destination was on our minds: Dubai.

In a city where you can spend as much as your credit allows, we knew that Hilton had some pretty amazing properties we could choose from.  The two leaders were the Hilton Jumeirah Resort, a 9-floor property near the famous Jumeirah Palms island with its own private beach, and the Hilton Jumeirah Residences, a 44-floor apartment style property located right behind the resort with access to the same amenities (and our preferred choice).

But for this particular redemption, booking into the property we wanted gave us an important lesson in how to redeem our points in the future.

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