Oman: An Inimitable Experience of the Arabic Culture

I am one of the rare ones in Doha who has been to none of the other Arab countries. Pretty much everyone has been to Dubai, most have been to Abu Dhabi, but I haven't yet. I think I dream too big; each small holiday that comes around, I need to focus on saving for the next big trip I am going on. However, with Mum coming and only a short time to go away (I only had 5 days off work) we needed to look closer to home. People who had been to Oman just raved about it and after we went I can really see why.

We flew into Muscat, which ranks as number 2 on the list of Worlds Cleanest Cities, after Singapore. Oman is on the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula, directly south of Qatar, and a pretty short flight. As we set off, a part of me was less than happy with the mother-daugther matching outfits. Mum and I both have Merrell sandals. They take a bit of breaking in, but after you do, they are like walking on clouds. Best travelling shoes, ever. And we have the same handbag. Remember the awesome PacSafe bag I raved about before I left NZ? Mum copied. (side note: Grandad has recently bought me the same rain jacket as mum for Xmas. So for the Baltics trip we will be even more matchy matchy) Anyway, one short flight later we were standing in customs queue, waiting to pay for our visa. We got to the front of the line and were told New Zealand citizens don't need one. Feeling a bit smug, we went and got stamped through and passed by the duty free counter (wine is legal here - woohoo) and...wait a second..... is that...I think it is....Oyster Bay Sav!!. Oh you have no idea how delicious those three bottles were. You can't get it in Qatar, and even if you could, it would never be at that price.

Muscat

Muscat was beautiful. The road from the airport was landscaped in a way that would make Ashburton feel embarrassed, and the care and detail could be seen off the main roads as well. We arrived quite late and had a meal at the hotel restaurant before retreating to the hotel and having the first of the Oyster Bays. On the second day we had a tour of the Grand Mosque and other areas of the city, with the worlds worst tour guide.

 I had read a bit about the grand mosque, and was excited to see it. People had told me it was fantastic, and they reputedly had the worlds biggest chandelier, and the worlds biggest hand stitched carpet. We got out of the car and wound scarves around our heads and went inside.

The carpet was nothing special, just red with guides for where to pray, and the chandelier was frankly tiny. Our esteemed tour guide hovered at the door and said nothing. Feeling a bit let down we followed him out and around the back. Then suddenly we figured out for ourselves we were in the women's area, and the mens prayer room was behind it. And there was all the beautiful things we had been promised, and it did have the wow factor. You can't perceive the size of the chandelier in the photos at all, but it was huge. The whole space was beautifully thought out and presented, and pretty awe inspiring for a new building.

We also headed to the main souq - Muttrah Souq on the corniche, and had a wander around and looked at a few things, but didn't buy much at all - a few post cards. 

We saw the palace, which was again, beautifully presented, and left our useless tour guide to wander down the corniche.

Old defensive towers litter the cliffs around the city.

Desert

The next day we headed to the desert. The sands are a beautiful golden colour, different to the whiter sands of Qatar and we were privileged to go to a Bedouin camp. Mum and I both got henna tattoos and a few outrageously priced trinkets.

After the desert we headed inland to see the wadis (oasises) and the gorgeous landscape of the country.

This is the Wadi Bani Khalid which has water all year round. the water colour was beautiful and the landscape was striking - with date palms fed by the water from the wadi against the barren rocky hills.

Nizwa

The next day we went to Nizwa, a large rural town that was previously the capital of Oman. It's prolific water supply ensured the political dominance for over two centuries, but it established a military culture to defend it's position, including the Nizwa Fort, built in the 1650s to take full advantage of the cannon with a 360 degree main tower. The bit I liked best, in a morbid kind of way, was the shafts that came from the top of the fort to the top of door ways, that boiling hot palm syrup could be poured down, onto the heads of invading enemies.

Looking at the fort from the castle.

The surrounding castle viewed from the fort.

Views from the top.

The market town has a great souq, with a focus on fresh produce, and we arrived in just enough time to see the last of the animals being walked around and sold to the farmers.

After the fort and souq we visited the Falaj Daris - a World Heritage site. The irrigation of the falaj supplies water from 2 wadis to 8 kilometres of palm plantations. The untouched water flows beside an ancient mosque and is used for washing before prayer, then for swimming and washing clothes before heading to the farms.

Me cleaning my feet just before the washing area.

Irrigation channels are fed at different times of the day.

Looking down at the very green town of Nizwa.

An ancient settlement.

On our way back we stopped in a huge canyon called Wadi Ghul.

As soon as we got back to Muscat, it was time to head to the air port to go home. I would have loved to head into the mountains, which are apparently spectacular, but nevertheless I was entranced by Oman, and enjoyed meeting some Arabic people who haven't been distorted by extreme wealth.