Job Discussion Forums

[helenl]

As of today, a road permit is still required (at least for professionals with the government, i.e. expat petroleum engineers)

[windstar]

I work in Oman and visited Dubai a few times with my car which has lien on it. I had no problem at all. They all ask if i am a teacher as indicated on my resident card (new resident cards say "MUALLIM"). BTW, i am canadian and have omani licence too.

[veiledsentiments]

This road permit law is a very odd law. It actually only covers the short stretch of road to a border post and nowhere else. When I first arrived in Oman in the late 80's, a woman couldn't get a road pass at all. A married couple could get one, but not a woman. That meant that I could not drive or even take the bus to the Emirates. The only option for single women (or a married woman who wanted to travel alone) was to fly.

I did a few private lessons at the Ministry of Information and I had discussed this with my student(s) there. They were not aware of the restriction against women, and insisted that it couldn't be true. The Minister himself told me that was ridiculous and that he would get me a road pass. His secretary called me back and he had to admit that I was right and he had failed.

Thus I never got to the Emirates until I moved there when I left Oman. And, the Omani Embassy in the Emirates happily slapped a road pass into my passport from that side and I was able to drive back and forth from the other direction with no problems... while my friends in Oman were still unable to get one.

When they finally removed the restriction on women - sometime in the late 90's, I can't understand why they didn't just do away with the whole silly law. No one had a clue why it was there and what its purpose was. Not the Minister of Information or even high officers in the Police...

But, the conservative Omani personality has kept it on the books even though no one knows why...

VS

[Tarka_littleotter]

Road permits > If you work for the ministry you do not need a road permit anymore - your residence card is enough. I dont work for the ministry and we're still being advised to use road permits. BUT mine is 2 months out of date and I'm still using it without any problems!!

As far as living in Sohar....it's boring! It's really boring! You have to make a life for yourself.
While being told that there are 2 hotels with bars might sound ok, you need to understand that they are TERRIBLE bars with absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever! BEtter to get your alcohol license and drink at home with friends to be honest. The gyms mentioned at both hotels are pretty old scene and way too overpriced for what they are. Most people I know buy their own stuff and use it at home. There is a free salsaerobics class on a Saturday night taught by a good friend of mine. It's good fun and one of the only chances teachers have to meet other non-teaching expats in the area. Because the bars are pretty useless you have to go out of your way to meet people in the area unless you bump into them in lulu or have a partner working at the port. There aren't many social events that a mixture of people attend so you do have to make an effort.

This is my 3rd year in Sohar. I'm young and single (although not feeling so young now and have actually found a great boyfriend since being here....amazingly!). It's been hard. I've got a great network of really close friends as a result of it being such a dead place though!

I think making Sohar a home depends very much on your own personal situation. As someone who came here as a young single girl I possibly wouldn't recommend it to someone in the same situation...as someone who has a great partner (no, I'm not gay, but boyfriend does sound a little silly!) and good friends who make life what it is, I possibly would. If you're coming with an "other-half" or young family, you'd be fine