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| Looks like Americans greeting us |
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| As we arrive view of old city |
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| Arriving Muscat Oman |
As the
ship pulls into the port, we are startled to see mountains. Now this is a country we’ve never thought of
visiting! The Sultanate of Oman is 99%
non-arable – desert-like in many sections with inland areas where there are
high, rugged mountains and a few natural water sources. The Sultanate of Oman has been modernizing
since the 1970’s, building new areas and preserving some of the older ones. It is an Islamic state and Islamic customs are
observed; this isn’t Dubai. We are told by
our tour guide however that it is a more moderate and slowly liberalizing state
where women can own property, dress as they wish and hold government positions. We do see women dressed in Saris, who we subsequently
learn are from Pakistan and India, but the rest of the women we see in the
market are in their black ‘uniforms.’
Some men dress in their ‘uniforms’ – a white robe called a dishdasha
with a kummah (cap) or al musar (turban); some are just dressed in slacks and shirts. It seems that the older the person, the more
likely it is that they will be wearing a turban. Our tour guide tells us at home many people wear
more westernized clothing and wear the more traditional garb only when they leave
the house. He says that his children
don’t want to wear anything but jeans and t-shirts and are resisting the
traditional clothing. And yes gentlemen,
you can still have up to four wives here and receive a divorce by publically
saying, three times, that you are divorced.
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| Street Sccene |
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| Entering the Market |
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| Market items for sale |
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| Special women's clothing |
Our tour
gives us a good overview of Muscat and the surrounding area. First stop is a well known shopping area, Mutrah
Souq. This is exactly as you would
picture one of these marketplaces. You
enter a main alleyway that goes on and on with many branching side alleys,
incense burning everywhere, with shop after shop chockablock with Middle
Eastern goods. The locals are shopping
here as well and you can – no, you must! – bargain. Steve and I are happy to just stroll through,
people watching. This morning we heard a
man describing it to someone at breakfast as something out of James Bond movie,
a place where 007 might be running, trying to catch the bad guys.
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| Whats under the black robe |
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| Pushing goods to the next alleyway |
Next stop
is to the old city. There are forts in
the surrounding hills, built in the 1600’s by the Portuguese. We come over a hill and down into the area
where the old city is situated. This
small section apparently was all there was to Muscat prior to 1970, with everywhere
else we will later visit built since 1970 when Qaboos bin Said overthrew his
father and started developing the country.
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| View of old city |
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| Museum entrance |
Bait Al
Zubair museum is in the actual townhouse of local resident and dignitary Al
Zubari, who collected items to preserve the Omani culture. We are not allowed to take pictures
inside. It is quite a collection of
weaponry, jewelry, clothing, furniture, pottery, and lots of silver items. Beautifully carved silver and brass boxes,
jewelry, and highly ornamented weapons are on display, representing Omani’s
past.
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| The Palace Complex |
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| Opera House |
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| Ministry Building |
The tour next
takes us to the Sultan’s administrative palace (where he receives other dignitaries
and heads of state, not where he lives) and associated government buildings. The Sultan has residential palaces in each of
the other 5 districts of the country.
Nice. Of course we can’t go
inside the palace; we stand outside, rubbernecking and snapping photos. It is Friday and it’s noon; we can here the
local mosque imam preaching over a loud speaker just outside the palace
gate. Mood ‘music.’
Next we
travel through the newer, more affluent part of Muscat on our way to visit the
Grand Mosque. While on the drive, we get a bit of a feel for life in Muscat. There
are people outside sitting under trees. We are told it is their holy day so
after prayers and the imam-message from noon to 1:00 pm, people go out with
their families and friends. Through the bus window we see the Opera House and
ministry buildings in a national park setting, a row of car dealerships,
McDonalds, a Subway shop and we finally reach the Grand Mosque.
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| Grand Mosque |
This mosque
was opened in 2001 and can hold 20,000 people worshipers. It has the 2nd largest chandelier
in the world and the biggest oriental carpet in the world – inside – where
infidels cannot tread (it’s difficult to test-drive a religion if you can’t
even first inspect the carpet). What we
do see is beautiful greenery leading up to the Mosque, plantings that are
attempting to grow in other areas around the mosque, and some interesting tile
work just inside the entrance. It is
definitely huge, like a cathedral. So
odd that we are here on Good Friday/Passover.
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| Hot! |
Back to
the ship and out of the 41 degree Centigrade heat – 105 F?
Mu
scat is
yet another interesting city where we learn and see so much in a very short
time. Back to sea for four days as we
travel around the Arabian Peninsula and up into the Red Sea towards Safaga,
Egypt on April 11.
We will
miss worshiping on Easter at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church with our family
and friends. Happy Easter everyone!
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