Oman

We have had three stops in Oman.  What a difference between the northern, middle and southern parts of the country.  For a country that was so progressive in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, ruling the seas, Oman found itself in a 20th-century descent into international oblivion, under Sultan Said bin Taimur.  The country remained resolutely locked and bolted against the inevitable encroachments of the outside world until 1970.  Under the auspices of a progressive leader, Sultan Qaboos, the country has started to modernize.  Hospital beds increased from 12 to 3,000; children in school went from 900 to a quarter of a million; there were only six miles of paved roads in the entire country and now there are thousands.  Can you believe in the modern age that this can be???  This Sultan is beloved by the people.  He has given them education, electricity and roads to link the cities to each other and to the UAE.  As living conditions improved, so did the economy. 

The population of Oman is about three million people.  Oil is the main income, but it is a small producer compared to other gulf states.  They also have natural gas and make cement.  Fishing is still the primary business for the coastal cities; they grow dates (120 varieties), figs and olives inland.  Villagers get subsidies from the government to stay in the village, rather than crowd the cities with unskilled people. 

There are beautiful beaches and Oman is just getting into the resort and tourism business.  There was a Hilton and Crown Plaza; you can have alcohol here at the resort places, but nowhere else.  Locals don’t really go to the beach, and if they do, women have to swim fully covered up.  What a drag.  Most of the houses we saw were khaki in color – to blend in with the dirt.    There are high walls around the houses so the women can go outside without having to put on the abaya and hijab – how nice is that!   According to one guide, women don’t have to worry about anything but taking care of the kids and hubby.  A male relative or husband is responsible for her.  Grrrrr…….

There is no income tax, education is free, and most people work for the government (you know – security, high salary).  Families live in multi-generational houses, and each family has on average six kids.  Women in the north don’t have to cover their faces while women in the south do.  Starting in 5^th grade, the girls and boys are separated in school.  Water is obtained from desalinization plants. 

The cemeteries were quite unusual.  They were nothing but rocky hills, with a large rock protruding upward to indicate a grave.  The dead are buried within 3-4 hours and women are not allowed at the gravesite.  They body is turned so that it faces Mecca.

Cemetery

Khasab

This harsh landscape of barren rocks and chiseled limestone mountains made me feel like I was on the moon.   How in the world can anything or anyone exists in this hot and desolate region?  Summer temperatures range from 113° to 125°.

Desolate landscape

Living in the middle of nowhere

Khasab is a city in an exclave of Oman and is dubbed the "Norway of Arabia."  This tiny area on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula is not connected to the rest of the country.  When the UAE was created, this area was given the choice to go with the UAE or with Oman.  They chose Oman.  The Portuguese built Khasab at the beginning of the 17th century at the height of their naval presence in the region. The natural harbor gave shelter from tough seas. Unlike many forts, which were built on high ground for defensive purposes, Khasab was designed as a supply point for dates and water for Portuguese ships sailing through the Strait of Hormuz.   We visited this restored fort.

Restored fort we visited

Access to the area by land was virtually impossible due to the mountainous geography until a modern coast road was built and completed in 2001.  It took five years to build and all the guys on the tour were oooohing and aaaahing over it.  The curvy road twists up and down the side of mountains and along the sea.  I have to admit that it was definitely an engineering marvel.

The wild and twisty new road

Khasab has an interesting trading position, which hinges on its proximity to Iran, which is just 31 miles across the Strait of Hormuz.  Iranians import sheep and goats into the local port, where the animals are dispatched to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in trucks. On their return trip to the Islamic Republic, the sailors load their boats up with electronic goods and American cigarettes, arriving in Khasab after sunrise and leaving before sunset to conform to Omani immigration laws. Since the trading is illegal under Iranian law, they must avoid the Islamic Republic's coast guard as well as all other shipping in the busy waters of the Strait of Hormuz. The 2-hour crossing is hazardous since the vessels, piled high either with livestock or with numerous boxes must avoid the path of the scores of oil-tankers which pass through the Strait in a transverse direction daily.  This is called smuggling, but is tolerated by the Omanis as it produces revenue.

We then travelled back along the twisty road and went to see another old Portuguese fort near the city center, the Bukha Fort, that dated from 1624.  They had turned this fort into a museum representing life before 1970.   It was quite warm today, but not too uncomfortable.  I got my hackles up when discussing the treatment of women and girls.  I cannot fathom having to wear a black sack over myself just to keep men from “unpure thoughts.”  I was wearing shorts, and although I’m not great looking in shorts, Michael said the men were leering at us women.  It was a very uncomfortable feeling.  Women pray separately from men because if a man was facing a woman’s backside when they get down to pray, how could that man have pure thoughts to pray?  I think the men are sexually perverted if everything about a woman reminds them of “unpure thoughts.”  Just saying.  Plus, they are allowed to take four wives.  I would think that one would be enough trouble to deal with!

Bukha Fort

Bukha Fort

Summer House

The place to keep prisoners; me with my trusty notebook

We had a short ride around town, and there was nothing to see.  So back to the ship for a dip in the pool.

Muscat

Day 2 of our stop in Oman was to the capital of the country, Muscat.  This is a very attractive looking town hemmed in by mountains and the Arabian Sea. 

By the beginning of the 16th century, Muscat was a trading port used by merchant ships bound for India.  The Portuguese conquered the town in 1507.  City walls were constructed at this time but neither they nor the two Portuguese forts of Mirani and Jalali could prevent the Omani reconquest of the town in 1650. Muscat became the capital of Oman in 1793.  The wall stands today and its four gates are used to regulate traffic.

Fort over the city

We had been here about three years ago and I remember the souk, and the time and temperature sign.  Last time the temperature was a toasty 119° at 10:30 am.  Today it was only a cool 95° at 11 am.  We did not take any excursions and elected to take the shuttle into town for a walk-about (so many Aussies on board) and go to the Mutrah Souk.  The souk has narrow walkways with small stores on each side brimming with pashmina shawls and beaded jewelry.  Vendors try to “entice” you into their stores by shoving a shawl in your face.  At least they didn’t follow us and got the message that I was not interested.  There wasn’t much I was interested in buying and Michael was happy to get out of there.  

So we came out a back entrance and found ourselves on a street that makes custom dresses and dishdashas (the long nightshirts the men wear).  We kept on walking, hoping to find the sultan’s palace, which the local rep who came on board said was “only a 30 minute walk.”  Again, DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE WHO SAYS IT IS ONLY A……. We walked and walked and it got hotter and hotter, and I said who cares about seeing a palace, I AM DONE.  So we walked back to the shuttle, dripping wet, and did the only sane thing…. Jumped in the pool.  BTW, the palace was probably four or five miles from where we started!

Salalah

This was the most interesting of the three stops in Oman.  It is in the extreme south of the country, near Yemen on the Arabian Sea.  The coastal landscape is flat, colored in shades of beige, grey and brown.  Between towns or villages, there was vast nothingness except for camels.  There was a lot of building going on, but many of the buildings of Moorish or Arabian architecture and walkways looked like they were crumbling.  Mountains rise sharply up from the flatlands, and are covered in trees and brush that look dead.  Our guide said that when the monsoons come in the summer (June – Sept), the mountains turn green.  The temperatures in summer range in the 125° plus range in the desert, while the mountains are a cool 80° with rain. 

Vast emptiness between towns

Buildings that are partially completed

Trees and bushes look dead or burned

There are different customs in the coastal and mountain areas.  Marriages are arranged in the coastal areas because in the cities, men cannot meet women so they need a mom or sister to introduce them to a friend.  The girl’s family will invite the man’s family to meet each other, but the man cannot see the girl’s face but they can talk.  If she likes the man, she smiles and then they get married.  How would you like it if your sister said I have a great girlfriend for you to meet, but secretly she looks like Dracula.  Cool joke if you hate your brother!  In the mountains, everyone knows everyone. 

Coastal people fish and mountain people raise camels, goats, and cows.  They also farm coconuts, bananas, and papayas.  The big crop is Frankincense, which is very popular here and is considered a most precious gift.  In ancient times, it was one of the highest tributes one could offer.  It comes from the Dhofar region.  The gummy sap flows from incisions cut in the tree trunks; it hardens into dark amber or golden color lumps which burn easily thanks to their high oil content.  It is used in perfumes, for embalming, in religious rites, to keep mosquitoes away and to freshen the air (although I think it stinks).  We stopped at a souk that sold nothing but Frankincense and the hats that the men wear. 

Frankincense Souk

We began our journey on a nice freeway that had camels near the road, on the road, and along the side of the road as we climbed up a steep and windy road into the mountains (the bus could barely make it up – I thought we might have to get out and push).  These are domesticated camels, like our cows.  If you hit a camel on the road during the daytime, you have to pay for it; so do it at night and you get off scott free.  As a matter of fact, there are just too many camels here and they are trying to get rid of them because they are destroying the land; they eat them, they sell them and ship them to other countries like Australia and Saudi Arabia. 

The plan was to have lunch at a camel ranch in the mountains.  The weather was pleasant.  The first thing everyone did after alighting from the bus was to get pictures of the camels.  You would have thought that we had never seen one.  They were very close.  We had to be very careful where we walked because the camels are not very fussy about where they poop, which was everywhere.  After grabbing some shots, we were ready to eat lunch.

Camels on side of the road

Camels at Camp Camelpoop were pretty tame

Isn't she cute!

Lunch was provided and consisted of samposa, chicken and rice, fresh fruit, hummus, bananas, and a mushroom dish.  Since we didn’t know what to expect before we left, we packed a lunch.  I was a little worried about eating something that I didn’t know how and under what conditions it was prepared (it actually came out of a cooler in the back of the guide’s car).  Well, we did imbibe and I must say it was DELICIOUS. 

Lunch at Camp Camelpoop

We called this LUNCH AT CAMP CAMELPOOP.

Morry decided to eat by himself on a log with his own food.  A curious cow came by and decided to share his lunch.  The cow got a bit demanding and Morry took off, leaving his bag there.  Well, old Bessie got her nose in the bag and rooted around before the guide shooed her off.  Hope she enjoyed her snack.

After lunch, we headed back down the hill and went to the Sumhuram archeological site, a UNESCO heritage site.  This ancient port city was constructed around 300BC and was important because the Frankincense was loaded here for export to Damascus, Egypt and Jerusalem.   

Ruins

Looking out over the silted entrance to the harbor

Who lived in this room?

View of beachside resort

We then drove to town and stopped at a Bed and Breakfast that was owned by the man who brought our lunch.  It was located right on a beautiful beach.  This was for a refreshment stop that consisted of instant coffee or instant tea.  I was really hoping to have some local sweet treat to try.

We drove by the sultan’s palace and spent some time at the Frankincense souk before returning, exhausted, to the ship.

Gate to Sultan's Palace; he did not invite us in