MUSCAT AND WOW!!

Wow! Muscat, Oman!!!

Exclamation points for this breathtaking, dramatic small city. Nothing had prepared us for the clean, raw beauty of Oman and the antiquity and new beauty that is a part of life here. The port in Muscat was a wonderful relief from the ugly container ports we have seen through a lot of Southeast Asia.

Oman is a sultanship – run by one man who seems to be doing lots of good things for his subjects. Hard to tell but that is what we were told. Everyone has medical coverage and there are no taxes. Lifestyle seems to be pretty nice.

We had researched what we wanted to see and do in Oman, and had hired a car with a driver/guide for the day. Our driver, Emos, was a bright young man – father of a 14 month old with a wife who is a geophysicist working for, of course, an oil company. She also goes to school to further her education. He guides tourists and takes care of his daughter while his wife works. He explained that they have a truly modern marriage with him doing the housework, diapers and cooking. Emos said that many people he drives ask if he would take another wife. He allowed as how he would not – too expensive and one wife was enough! Too many diapers! Lol!

The bay of the port area is ringed by restaurants, with a huge souk (market) smack in the middle. Most of the shops are run by Indian owners, something we have become used to as we have learned that everywhere in the MidEast and large parts of Southeast Asia there has been huge Indian migration. They are the traders of the regions we are floating around in.

We headed first to the Grande Mosque – a sight I am glad we did not miss. So much beauty and gorgeous artisan workmanship to take in and the feeling of sanctity was palpable. This is a new mosque paid for by the Sultan. I am posting several pictures with this post as the grandeur is too much for me to convey by word.

As we drove through the area and into old Muscat, again dramatic and beautiful, we could hear the call to worship coming from different directions. To the western mind it was hard to imagine having a reminder to pray pushed into conscious thought as our daily lives went on. Today it was an audible reminder of difference in cultures and thinking.

We invited our guide to lunch and he took us to a local place that was mostly modern, quiet and Omani in style and food. In the first small main room there was an area surrounded by a knee height wall, Persian rugs covering the floor area, cushions to sit on and where locals would sit and have a meal and coffee. He taught us the proper way a man would sit on the floor (one leg crossed beneath and the other knee up to make for a way to lean), as well as the way a woman would sit (cross-legged). The other diners were well dressed – all men in full robes and head pieces. I was the only woman. We ate traditional Omani food – delicious veggies, grains and lamb – and dates for dessert.

We shared laughter and stories of our personal lives and at the end felt we had bridged some of the gap that divides our ways of living.

And so back to the ship to head to Dubai!!