Oman was truly (and unexpectedly) one of my favorite countries, and here is why.
1. Friendly people. Never have I felt so welcomed and at ease. Everyone gave us help and directions with a smile. Prices at the souk were marked, and no one tried to rip us off. Taxi drivers would haggle with us but then cheerfully tell us about the town as they drove us around. People would come up to us just to say hi. It was really refreshing.
2. Sharp dressers. Oman has the coolest traditional costume of all the Arab countries. The men wear turbans and long robes called dishdashas with tassles at the collar, and traditionally they carry a knife with a bent hilt called a khanjar. The only time we saw this whole outfit was in pictures of the sultan, who also wore an elaborately embroidered robe, but everyday people would wear more casual dishdashas with turbans or fes-shaped cloth hats called kummah, and many would carry thin wooden canes called assas, which a taxi driver likened to “a nice suit” in America–in other words, somthing stylish.
3. Great food. The food was extremely cheap and very delicious. Most of it was Indian or Indian-influenced. There are a lot of immigrants here as well as in Dubai.
4. The Echo is the national car. For every two cars of any other make and model, I swear there was one Toyota Echo. The vast majority of the taxis were Echos. It was odd riding in a taxi that looked just like my own car.
5. The availability of Mountain Dew. (This one is for Tommy.) I don’t think we’ve seen Mountain Dew anywhere else, but Oman is apparently a Pepsi country and it was available everywhere.
Entering Oman by bus was an experience. We pulled over once on the hot desert road to line up and receive exit stamps for the UAE in our passports. Then we got back on the bus, drove a while, and stopped again. This time everyone had to retrieve their bags and lay them out open on a long table for a (rather cursory) customs inspection. We got back on the bus and drove further, to stop one more time at a lovely and new immigration building where we officially entered Oman. The whole process took about two hours. No wonder it’s such a long bus ride!
The immigration office is not the only new building in Oman. In fact, from what we saw, you would be hard-pressed to find an old one. We knew that, about 40 years ago, a new Sultan had come into power determined to modernize the country, but we had no idea he had done such a thorough job. Even in Dubai, where shiny new buildings are frequently springing up, it was still easy to find the older, crowded, dirty, crazy part of town. In Muscat we never came across it. Everything was beautiful and clean. Every roundabout had a big centerpice, like a fountain or statue. The city was filled with green space despite the hot, arid climate.
The only downside is that this modernization has made Muscat a very pedestrian-unfriendly city. It is virtually impossible to get around on foot–kind of like trying to get around most American cities without a car. Since taxis weren’t cheap but car rentals were, we decided to rent one for two days. We arranged for it the next morning, but it wasn’t available until evening.
In the meantime, we took a taxi to the large Mutrah Souk. This was probably the closest we came to matching the feel of the other Arab cities we have been to. We looked in some of the shops, but they were all closing until evening. This probably has something to do with the extreme heat. I think it’s safe to say that it was hotter in Muscat than anywhere else I’ve been…ever. I didn’t know it was possile to sweat so much or guzzle so much water. We walked to the coast and looked around, and then decided to take a taxi to Old Muscat to see some old forts.
When we arrived, the area was pretty much deserted. Again, despite its title of Old Muscat, everything except the historic forts perched on the cliff was shiny and new. There were beautiful gardens outside the governmental buildings. We read that the forts had been converted to museums, but when we approached a guard and asked if we could go in, he looked shocked and told us no. We asked about the museum, and he had no idea what we were talking about. Slightly confused and very hot, we ducked in to the only open restaurant nearby for a really delicious and cheap lunch.
We went back to the souk at the time it was supposed to open, but most shops were still closed. Our rental car was nearly ready so we decided to just go back to the hostel to pick it up. It was a Yaris, which we have both decided is not Toyota’s proudest achievement (why would they discontinue the Echo for a slightly less comfortable Corolla?) but it was nice to have the freedom to move around on our own, even if the air conditioner wasn’t working very well. We didn’t go anywhere that evening, but instead videoconferenced with our parents for a while.
The next day, Tommy had arranged to go diving iin the afternoon, while I was going to go birding. He opted to come with me in the morning. I had read online that the best place to watch birds in the area was Al Ansab Lagoon. The folks at the hostel didn’t know exactly where it was, but they pointed us to the general area and said once there to ask around. We did just that, but it didn’t work out as neatly as we hoped. People were happy to direct us, but we could never manage to follow their directions, continually getting lost in a maze of big homes under construction. Still others maintained that there was no water in the area (an understandable response…we were driving through really arid desert).
Eventually we had to give up so that Tommy would make his dive on time. He was going to drop me at the Al Q’urm Natural Gardens in the city, but they didn’t open until 4:00, presumably because of the heat. So he left me at my third birding location, which was somewhat ironically the Muscat Intercontinental Hotel. I read that the gardens there were a good place to start, there was a beach nearby, and hey, could you ask for a better place to walk in and use the bathroom?
I spent about an hour in the gardens and saw a lot of birds. Everything is always new when we move to a new part of the world. Unfortunately, the UAE and Oman were the only two countries for which I didn’t have a field guide. I basically used a combination of my Europe and India guides to try and identify the birds I was seeing.
I went down to the beach and walked along the coast for a ways, until the heat and sun became pretty much unbearable. I stumbled back to the hotel and got some water and a cold drink from a nearby shopping mall. In the mall was a bookstore with copies of Birdwatching in Oman and The Birds of Oman, so I discreetly looked up all the birds I had seen that day, and also procured directions to Al Ansab Lagoon. Looking at them, suddenly the locals’ directions made sense.
I took a cab back to the gardens and waited a few minutes for them to open. They were really nice, although pretty deserted. I saw a few more birds there before Tommy met me at 5:30. He had a great time diving with the Oman Dive Center, just ouside of town. He saw two big turtles and some huge eels. It was a good day for both of us. Even though we were both dirty and tired, we went to mass and then to a little local restaurant with some really wonderful food. It felt great to shower and collapse into bed–the heat can really drain you.
The next day we headed back towards Al Ansab, but stopped on the way at the Grand Mosque just before visiting hours ended. This immense mosque is the third largest in the world, and contains the world’s largest single-piece rug and a Swarovski crystal chandelier. When we walked in, I literally gasped. It might be one of the most beautiful buildings I have seen yet on this trip. It was absolutely spectacular.
We continued on in search of Al Ansab Lagoon, and with my hastily copied map, we found it easily. Unfortunately in the heat of May it was little more than a few puddles and some large stands of thirsty-looking plants. During winter there is more water, and there are lots of migrants that come through. We spent a little time wandering around and I saw a few birds, but to be honest, the head was positively unbearable. It was so hot that our thermometer hit 120 degrees and then maxed out. Even the birds were panting. We both decided it would be prudent to head back. It was a time when we really wished our car’s air conditioning was working.
Luckily, Tommy had the perfect remedy for the midday heat. The Oman Dive Center has its own private beach with a pool and restaurant, and for a few rial we could have access to it all. After a couple of cold beers and a plate of fried calamari, we lounged on the beach in the shade. When the dive class finished with the pool, we swam for a while and went in the gulf water as well. It was the perfect way to beat the horrible midday heat.
The last thing we did in Muscat was return to the souk in the evening, when everything was finally open. It was a souvenir-shopper’s paradise. I’ve never seen so many fun and fascinating objects: khanjar and other knives, scroll-shaped message cases, antique seal rings (some bigger than your entire hand), tiny boxes, lots of jewelry and small figurines, incense, traditional clothing, and more. Unfortunately, Oman is proud of its silver, and insists upon making everything out of it. This made pretty much everything we liked too expensive for us to afford. But it was fun to look.