We took our flight, and after a 7 hours flight, we landed in Doha, the capital of Qatar, where we stopped to progress to Muscat, the capital of Oman. Www.qatarairways.com recommend. Good aircrafts, comfortable, friendly and professional.Our combination was, Madrid-Muscat with a technical stop in Doha, capital of Qatar and back, Sana’a-Madrid, with the same technical stop. We decided to progress from the Arab Emirates and get cross by land to Yemen and from there, come back to Madrid. Total price for the flight, about 850 euros. Oman visa is obtained without difficulty at the same airport, 50 euros. To manage Yemen visa by any agency in Madrid by mail, about 60 euros. You can also manage the visa once arrived at the airport in Sana’a. To enter by land is mandatory to obtain a visa in the home country, in this case, Spain.
At summer 2010, the regulation has changed due to the difficult situation in the country, imminent risk of attacks and tribal wars, so it is not possible to obtain a visa for free, in the Yemeni Embassy in Madrid. It is necessary to hire a tour in a special agency, for several days, and they already manages the visa, and once in the country, and after some days with the tour agency, you can go “free” but keep in mind about the unstable situation. Sada and Marib province are totally prohibited to foreigners for example. Things in this country change frequently and it is not surprising that evolue for better or for worse and change the conditions of entry for foreigners. Hopefully things will change for the better …. God willing ….. إن شاء الله
The arrival in Muscat in Oman …. I would say …. Was wet!. Wet in the purest sense ….. The average humidity at six in the evening was 85% and a temperature of 35 degrees. For those who do not dominate much climate issues, is close to the feeling of being in a Turkish bath …. This means as my colleague would say, you’re sweating from “ the first minute” … but … really sweating.
The real meaning of sweat I understood in Muscat. I will never forget, the word humidity in Arabic: “Rutuba” (رطوبة). It was also the word emblem of our trip, why was truly a “beastly feeling”. And we pronounced it at all times. I feel a lot of Rutaba here, what a Rutaba, Rutaba there, etc.
Leaving the airport we headed to downtown, the waterfront area, on the Corniche, and there we looked for a hotel (فندق in Arabic is literally “hotel” and this word is very important, should memorize it, at least his spelling, is pronounced “funduk”, it is necessary ….. to sleep indoors ….), as always and despite paying almost European prices (about 22 euros per person … we are in Arab Emirates !!!), turned out to be ratty, specially because the most important thing, the conditioning air was not working too well …. We were much better at the front desk in the room. The transition from our room to the reception was somewhat unreal, like crossing a minefield, something similar to hell. After a shower and on the way, go down two floors and before going out, returning to sweat at an alarming rate.
But it was really nothing compared to what happened when you opened the door of the hotel’s front door and set foot on the street. And as we like to experiment, we decided to take a walk along the promenade despite fatigue. It was eleven o’clock at night.
My colleague and I supose were supposed resilient people (in his case, being Basque is still more resistant ….), But in the case of Muscat all that training will be nothing, Just because it was literally impossible to walk 200 meters without having to stand up, relax and start breathing hard and you believe you are suffering from lung disease.
We were really amazing looking at each other, as saying “… We can not, we were heavy and can not take a single step further ….”.And we didn´t take with us any water. We walked 200 meters but heat and humidity were terrible. We fall as two mosquitoes knocked down when you use the spray to kill them, “Raid.” We were exhausted, completely soaked in our own sweat and had to cross the street and head to a small shop, urgently to buy some water bottles.
I took from Spain one of these devices to measure both parameters. In that moment, we arrived at 40 degrees and 91% humidity. In the sauna, these two levels are often similar. The feeling was overwhelming. It was hard to breathe and any movement was hard, I swear. We looked like two astronauts on the moon when they leave the ship. Our movements were slow and clumsy, and burdened by a superior force, and every step we took produced quickly sweat, which was increased our dehydration and each 200 meter you need to drink another quart of water.
Having walked maybe a mile, we desisted from going further and started back to the hotel completely defeated by the stifling humidity, heat, fatigue, with the changes in time zones (jet-lag syndrome).
Barely arrived at the hotel, we went to our room and could not stop sweating even once showered. Lying on the bed, trying to catch the breath, looking at the seiling at that Arab´s fan… .. Apart from running badly, always look like they are detaching and falling off above your body in the middle of the night. And the conditioning air at full power, barely cooled the room….but with a noise that left little sleep. We spent a really bad night.
The next day was pure transition. We woke up happy but tired, thinking that the previous night had been somewhat unusual and we went out to breakfast.
It was the same feeling that the last night, with a sun tempered by an overcast sky….It was terrible!!. We did not see anyone on the streets and it seemed strange. It looked like a holiday, but no … It’s just that people do not walk on the streets by the day. It is simply impossible to stay on the street.
It was like the previous night. After a few steps, a total defeat, and in half an hour, after stopping to eat something in one of those dirty Arabic restaurants, we drank a few Cokes, water and anything that had sugar and salt.
We took refuge in the fish market near the port …. very few people …Men, all of them sweating like us….., and a few 
women, covered. Occasional some bedouins from the tribes in the mountain areas, always armed with guns, knives or swords. In these countries they adore weapons and there is a strong sense of tribal and clan membership. Harsh living conditions, isolation and fighting for land, water, oil.
And we decide to look for the protection from the hotel and we backed there. We decided to spend the day inside and get out again after dark, like the vampires.
At night, the same oppressive and desperate heat and humidity. Shirts and T-shirts completely soaked. We were in a state of shock. There were some families who timidly walked, eat something, but few people. The atmosphere was soulless, so we decided not stay there much longer, took a taxi and turned away from the coast toward the center of the city where the temperature was more bearable, mainly because of the absence of humidity. We had a look 
at the bus schedule and agreed to get out of there as soon as possible, preferably next morning.