Map of the Sultanate Oman

We arrived at Muscat, the Capital city as well as the biggest city in the Sultanate of Oman. according to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Oman (Listeni/oʊˈmɑːn/ oh-mahn; Arabic: عمان‎ ʻUmān), officially called the Sultanate of Oman (Arabic: سلطنة عُمان‎ Salṭanat ʻUmān), is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman

When we were coming out of the plane, the plane stopped close to the gate. I was surprised to see that the plane did not use the walkway which was air conditioned and was connected to the terminal. So as soon as we got out of the plane. It seemed like an oven ..It was so hot. I was sure it was at least 100 degree. She asked me why it was so hot… She had no idea that Oman was a hot place and there was no winter season there. I helped her going down the stairs as she had a high heel and she could not step properly on that stair.

We walked about 200 ft. to the Terminal and it felt so good to feel the air conditioning inside. Within few minutes I felt better. We came to the Iraqi Airline’s counter and there was a big line on passengers wanted to know what happened.

We were told that there was a war broke in Iraq. USA attacked Iraq and Baghdad was also target of USA so they had no choice but to drop us off in Oman which was far away from Baghdad. We were told that we did not have to worry about anything and the airline would do everything to make our stay as comfortable as they could.

We were told to go to the hotel and stay there until further call. We wanted to know the time and date when we will be able to fly but they could not give us any definite date and time. But we were assured time and time again that we should not worry about the hotel and food as they already made arrangement.

I was thinking that since USA attacked Iraq. I would be treated badly because I was the only one having an American Passport. But I was wrong as I was treated better than other people. We were given a nice room in nearby Muscat Sheraton and were also given unlimited food vouchers for 2 of us. I was surprised the hospitality the Iraqi Airlines showed us.

She became very worried but I assured her not to worry as that situation was beyond our control., We took the short bus ride to the Golden Tulip See Hotel and quickly got in to our room. No one asked us if we were together or not, if we were husband or wife.

It was about 4 hours after we left Karachi. I did not know what time it was as I knew there was some time difference between Karachi and Oman. We came to the room and delighted to see that there were some fruits on top of the table.