Oman

Sorry for all the crazy formatting and sometimes strange spellings of the previous posts. Blogger has thus far been in Arabic script, so it’s been a bit of a challenge to navigate. LOL.... Using a satellite connection at the moment, so hoping this will work a bit better!

OMAN

Yes, we are on a glitzy ship, but I am rethinking this mindset of being against cruising. I do know that I have a knee jerk reaction to cruises simply because I spent much of my childhood cruising with my parents. Given that we are traveling through some very unfamiliar countries, with some very different customs and cultures and we have four little ones, the idea of a floating hotel with all you can eat, depositing you to your next destination while you sleep is growing on me. Now that I have children, it’s all making sense.

So here we are. Docking in the sultanate of Oman. Its noon and it is very hot, and very dusty. All around us are the craggy brown cliffs that give the capital city its name in Arabic – Muscat. It’s a country that has not been open for tourism very long. Only in the past six or seven years has it been starting to let in the outside world.

Oman has a long history of over 5,000 years. It has been part of the Persian Empire, an outpost for the kings of Hormuz, part of the greater Arabic peninsula group. It was ruled by the Portuguese in the 1500’s and the English in the 1800’s. The current Sultan, His Majesty the Sultan Qaboos Bin Said, studied at Bathurst in England and upon returning to Oman was put under house arrest by his father for his progressive views (hey it was the 60’s man). He eventually was part of a bloodless palace coup in the 1970’s where he deposed his father with the help of his British friends. In the 80’s Sultan Qaboos allied himself with USA who wanted use of the military bases and of course access to the Persian Gulf through the straits of Hormuz. No wonder Oman looks to be so prosperous, it controls some pretty amazing real estate.

Surprisingly Oman’s GNP is only 50% from oil, which is vastly different from the rest of the Middle East. The sultan has been quite wise in his rule of his country thus far and is uber popular among his people. Over the last 30 years he has modernized his underdeveloped lands and created an affluent 21^st century country. Literacy is 98% across the board, the vast majority of the people are very well educated. (Men and Women alike.)

Seeing what has happened to his neighboring countries (like UAE) where the population has gotten drunk off of the oil riches, he has taken many steps to keep the Omani people working, not becoming dependant on the immigrant work that is so easy to fall for, especially when you have the money to pay for it. People really are not happy to just sit back and do nothing are they? What’s the saying; idle hands are the devils work shop? Even though they are a prosperous nation the Omani’s still do the majority of their own works and they are so very proud of their country. Most of the population speaks, or is learning English. They are up skilling in the IT department and pursuing cleaner industries like tourism to bring revenue into their country without relying on just the oil and shipping revenues. What a nice feeling it must be to be part of an up and coming nation that also has a rich culture to back it up.

So, as I was saying...... Docking at noon in Oman......

Muscat is surrounded by craggy hills and the air is heavy with humid heat, in such contrast to the arid land. On the hills surrounding the town are Old Portuguese watch towers, and the town itself looks like something out of Disneyland. It is so clean and so orderly. Everything looks new or at least very well maintained. It has a romantic air to it with the Old Portuguese forts on the hill above the simple seaside town below.

After going through immigration we leave the port and get ourselves a taxi. First up we drive out of the downtown and along the highways inland for a photo op outside the brand new Grand Mosque. Being Friday, the Muslim holy day, we are unable to tour the inside, but just the view from the outside is enough to give us all a flavor of this amazing modern building. The sultan didn’t hold anything back creating his mosque. It’s made from gleaming stone, and decorated by marble, carved wood, gold inlay and everywhere the traditional inscriptions from the Koran in Arabic. Our taxi driver was able to take the camera inside for us and take pictures.

Next we visit the international community where all the consulates are located, followed by a quick stop at the Hyatt Hotel to admire all of its opulent grace. Poolside are rich multi nationals sitting in the sun and enjoying the true high life.

Back to the main part of Muscat we view Al Alam Palace, the official residence of Sultan Qaboos, built upon the sight of the old palace in 1970. It is splendid indeed, with turquoise and gold oriental architecture. The palace faces out to the sparkling blue Bay of Muscat, and is flanked by the Old Portuguese forts of Jalali and Mirani, which were built to protect the town in the late 16^th century.  Liam was particularly taken with the heavy machine guns that face out into the Bay of Muscat. But was soon side tracked by the Old Portuguese cannons which he decided to climb up, until he was told off by the palace guard. Ah, boys will be boys!

Ending our little taxi tour of Muscat we all feel like we’ve had a good overview of the town and a feeling of attraction to the country. It’s certainly a place I would like to come back to someday and explore in depth.

Something that has really stood out to me as we spent our day among the people here is the relationship between the men. They are very affectionate with each other. They are very open to embracing, and think nothing of holding hands while walking down the street, and hugging when they meet. It is such a stark contrast to the men of our western countries who seem to be barely able to manage a hand shake without feeling like they have somehow overstepped their sexuality. Not a judgment, just an observation about the differences in the different cultures.

Our driver drops us off at the entrance to the Mutrah Souk to the sounds of the muezzins calling the faithful to prayer. I explained to the kids what this was about. Clara, who is the spiritual one among my brood, has been very taken with the idea that people need to be reminded to pray. “But why can’t they just remember, mummy?” I wish I had an answer for her, why don’t people remember to embrace the spiritual side of life without prompting? I know that I would be glad to hear the muezzins call during the day to make me pause and give a moment of reflection.

The Mutrah Souk was just reopening for the late afternoon/evening round of business, and we spend the next two hours lost in the mazes of the ancient culture. This is not as commercial as the souk in Dubai, the only tourists are the one off the ship, and as most of them are off on preplanned tours we stand out with our very white skin and western dress. The girls are a huge hit, with their shining faces and golden red hair. They of course loved all the attention and were on their best behavior. They even have the art of haggling starting to form, although Juliet mainly uses the big kitty eyes to get what she wants. Move over puss in boots, you’ve got a rival.

We’ve been practicing what we call “formation” with the kids, to help us all stay together when we are moving through these crazy busy areas, and so far we haven’t lost anyone. Liam, who I am sure was a sheep dog in a previous life, is all on board with this. The second Clara falls behind whichever parent is in back (because it’s always Clara!) he is barking out the command “formation” at the top of his voice to herd her back up. He’s taken the roll a little too seriously and Randall had to have a bit of a word with him about who the actual parents were. The people watchers of the souk must have had a laugh at us for sure. But, hey, it works, and I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Again we ended up at the Gold Souk, which this time was simply part of the rest of the souk. And this time we did make a purchase, but it wasn’t me who scored the amazing golden earrings, it was Liana. I would be jealous; however I was pretty excited by my own purchase. A bag of high grade Frankincense. This amazing smelling incense is actually tree sap from the native Boswellia trees, and when it’s burned it has the most amazing smell. Yes, even I can smell it. During the time of Christ it was as valuable as gold. And it comes from Oman. This country not only has a long history, but a long history of having a lucrative export.

Back on the ship I am sitting in air conditioned luxury while the stark cliffs of Muscat recede into the distance and we begin our five day journey around the Arabian Peninsula, through the Gulf of Aden, and up the Red Sea to Jordan. I am looking forward to making this journey. I have so many ideas in my head about what this part of the world will be like, I’m wondering if any of them will be correct, or if once again I will be surprised.

XOXO from me for now......