It was a day like this when Marco Polo left for China.. What are your plans for today?

That’s the question that makes me booking flights every month, when possible. This time I chose to go to some unknown areas or not so famous one for tourism: Oman and Kuwait.

“Why did you chose those countries?” it is the question that most of the people asked. Well, I like adventures and I like places to be explored, not common ones.

“Nobody goes there! “  That’s why I am going. =)

Except the fact that I am attracted to Arabic culture: language, religion, food, daily life and so on… this doesn’t mean that I want to be like them. But I am always very much pleased to be a tourist there. And the majority of people are more than polite, especially when you speak a bit of their language.. it’s like a key to open the door called “barrier”. And you enter in their world.

I started my journey from Colombo, Sri Lanka to Muscat, Oman on April 11th. I just got one night and half day to visit the city and get back to the airport to leave to Kuwait.

I did my tour around the city, almost by chance: I started in the very early morning, after checking out at the hotel.. took my travel companion Milly (my little baggage) and walked along the beach.

With a map on one hand and Milly on the other I kept walking along the road this time, looking for a taxi (around 8am in the morning). It was a double lane road, lots of cars going on at a very high speed and no taxis around. It was getting hot, I was sweating.. finally a car stopped: there was a sign on the car, but it was in Arabic. I though it was a taxi of course. It was not! And I didn’t realize it until I was already in the car: it was full of papers, bottles of waters, and trash around…

“Is this a taxi or what?” I asked the driver.

“Yes, sometimes I also do the taxi driver, but my job is an other one…” he started to explain his life in few minutes and the fact that I should not worry, he was not going to kill me or something, he just wanted to help me.

“Alright.. fine. Appreciate it! Let’s take a selfie then”  =)

He was really nice, polite and kind.. he even asked if I wanted to eat something. Anyway, he took me around the city, so that I got to see most of the places there plus he had to stop at the Ministry of Housing to do some stuff, so I got to see also that place: see?! no tourists will ever go to visit the Ministry of Housing.. I did. =P

Got to the airport after the grand tour and took the flight to Kuwait, where a friend of a good friend from Pakistan was waiting for me to show the city.

Having friends around the world make your life easier and I am always more and more enthusiastic to meet friends of my friends around the world. It makes the world so small and you realize that distance is just a matter of hours flying up in the air: true friends are ALWAYS with you.

I spent one day and a half in Kuwait and then left to Italy. Well, I had to stop in Qatar first for a short layover and then finally arrive in Rome on April 18th in the late evening.

My trip to Italy was kind of unexpected, so I had to stay less days around Oman and Kuwait… but this was my first time where I did not want to leave Italy at all. For sure the main reason was cause I wanted to stay more with my family and my dad especially during this not easy situation, but, after all, everybody thought logically and agreed that I had to go back to Sri Lanka and keep working.

Follonica, Tuscany:

Sassofortino, Tuscany:

Me and my sister:

So on April 18th I took a flight from Rome to Doha and I did all the same way back to SL: Rome – Doha was a 5.5 hours flight, where I slept about 2 hours, cause the old lady next to me started to tell me her journey and her son’s life in Singapore. Eheh she was very excited to meet him there. =)

From Doha to Kuwait was very short, I felt asleep even before landing!

In Kuwait I had about 6 hours layover , so I went out again and visit new places around the city. When back at the airport, I did the line to go to the control area, checked the baggage, myself and went to the passport control zone. Nobody checked my boarding pass before that moment, where I realized I had the previous boarding pass of Qatar Airways, but as this flight was booked separately, it was not included in the flight schedule of Qatar airways of course… it was with Oman Air!  “-.-

Lets say that I didnt sleep at all and I was tired! =P

(So stupid!)

Anyway I went all the way back, did my check in with Oman Air and took the flight to Muscat (April 19th).

I had a 5 hours layover there. I stayed at the airport this time, observing people: which is a real life lesson. You know, when travelling a lot, sometimes you feel you don’t know where your home is or where you want your home to be. Hometown is different.

And the airport is home of a big international family: everyone with different jobs, cultures, manners, life goals but everyone with the same attraction to discover the world.

If I think about it deeply, it is the only place where none of us is a foreigner.

“I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious.”

(Albert  Einstein)