We are met at the airport and whisked away to the Chedi Muscat one of the Leading Hotels of the World located in Muscat, Oman. As we ride along we are struck by the peaceful feeling in Oman. While Dubai was frenetic, Oman is it's opposite in "vibes". All along the side of the highway are lush green velvet lawns with thick borders of vibrant flowers in shades of pink, purple and blue. The buildings are all in white and of the type of architecture I had expected in the Middle East. Very clean and modern roads. They've come a long way from only 2 miles of paved roads in 1970 to a complete infrastructure throughout the country today.
We learned that the Sultan of Oman is a very picky fellow. He wants his country neat, clean and pleasing to the eye and it shows. You better not have your car dirty for more than 2 or 3 days for if the police see it they will issue you a ticket! We passed a crew using a power hose to wash the dust off of the power poles! Now that's clean!
It is early in the morning and the resort is still sleeping save for the garden and pool boys readying everything for the day. I walk along white marble pathways under the spreading palms past the pools to the beach. The beach is covered with all color and shapes of shells and rocks begging me to choose some of them to take away; so I do. The water gently lapping the shore is warm, but not too warm. The air is cool, but with the promise of the hot day to come.
Exploring the grounds brings me to reflection pools, fountains, walkways covering underground water rushing beneath the stones, and firepits with furniture arranged for intimate conversations. It is so quiet and peaceful that I can imagine this is my palace and I am it's queen.
But the resort awakes and I and Sandra begin our day. We arrange for a taxi and driver to take us on a tour of Muscat. First we visit the second largest mosque in the Middle East with only Mecca being larger. The complex boasts an area of 140,000 Meters, and the Mosque itself 40,000 Meters. This is the first modern mosque I have visited. In the ancient mosques the floor is covered with all sizes and colors of carpets, here it is custom wall to wall carpeting from Iran. The chandeliers in the older ones are iron circles with candle holders converted to electricity and housing bare bulbs. Here it is a three tierd Austrian crystal and gold mamouth concoction. Nine smaller versions dot the ceiling around the rest of the worship area. For those of you who don't know a mosque has no seats only open floor in a circular pattern. This is because the prayer is done kneeling, touching the forehead to the ground and then standing. This process is repeated.
After the mosque we explore the old souk where all of our senses are awakened. Gold for the eyes, incense of Frankensence for the nose, exotic music for the ears and soft pashmina's for the touch. Very few tourists here.
The old town of Muscat is situated among the stark and rustic hills of the area overlooking the harbor. A perfect place to build forts and so they did; Large ones. A peek at the outside of the palace and the forts and we returned to the hotel.
In a book called Oman 2Day I found two things of interest. One was a dinner that was to take place that night at the National Institute of Hospitality. The theme of the evening was Sumptous Syria and was being conducted by an expat English guy named Mike Harrison. Mike has lived all over the Middle East and has settled in Oman. His is an English teacher by trade and a gourmand by passion. He is in the midst of writing his second story/cooking book. He loves to find out what the people eat and why. His new work is entitled The Real Flavors of Arabia in which he showcases 6 Arabian cities and the foods unique to them.
We were able to snag two spaces for the evening's festivities via a very confused concierge at the hotel. First Mike gave a talk on why he chose Allepo instead of Damascus for his research and receipes of the evening. Mostly because he found the food to be more authentic, plus it is believed that Allepo is the oldest continuing enhabited town in the world. No MacDonalds either!!! The food for the everning was indeed sumptuous and the host delightful. There were 49 of us in all at the feast; most of them expats from England and 2 others from America.
The second item of interest was to take place the following day. It is a woman's market that opens every Wednesday morning in a city called Ibra. Again, through the concierge, I arranged for a car and driver to take us the 3 hours to the market and then to explore the surrounding area. Between the dinner and the market, the concierge learned a few things about the area!
At 7AM the following day we set off for the market and other adventures for the day. We traveled through the most amazing mountains. They are stark, colorful, moon surface-like, 3 dimensional masterpieces of nature. I have to say I have not seen anything quite like them.
The woman's market was truly a local affair. The woman all greeting each other and chattering away. Many different local costumes in a variety of style and colors. Many different ways to veil the face, some I have never seen before. One such was a leather face mask that was cut out for the eyes but only a nose guard down the face and then a mouth piece under the nose! I was told it was Bedouin by our guide/driver, Ali.
We spent the rest of the day seeing the old towns that are in ruin because the people want new houses and streets so they abandon the old to build the new. We went dune climbing in the jeep. Ali tried and tried to scare us by racing up the tallest dune he could find pausing at the top so all you could see was air and then cresting the top and sliding down the other side. All the time we were laughing and yelling Yalla! Yalla! (let's GO). He said we were "strong women"!! After pausing for refreshmnet at a bedouin family's tent, we headed for a famous wadi where the locals go to swim, camp and bar b que.
Out in the desert were camels of all colors. Many of them were babies frisking about the sand. Also many mothers who were yet to give birth. The mountain goats were long of hair and short in stature and also had babies tagging along. Donkeys dotted here and there completed the animal picture.
The color of the desert was much like the Sahara, but unlike the Sahara it had some vegetation spread out over the landscape. Tufts of green grass and rough bushes mostly.
It was good to get out into the countryside to see the towns and the different ways of life.
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