Small towns and villages in Oman look pretty worn out. But because of their unique, unfamiliar architecture, there's no sense of dreariness or hopelessness. At least at first.

During the day, there are very few people on the streets. It feels like you're driving through ghost towns. But as evening comes, life wakes up and it doesn't feel that way anymore. The streets are mostly filled with men. In large part because there are many migrant workers. For every woman in the country, there are 2 men (which is still better than Qatar's ratio of 1 to 3).

I often see drinking tap water faucets sticking out from the fences of private houses. Most of the time they're not marked, but I did come across one with a blue sign saying you can drink from it.

Inside really small villages, sometimes there's no asphalt at all. You drive through it and wonder if you're even supposed to be driving there.