Friday, February 20th.
This morning we had a new local guide, Eshan from Oman. He was very nice and spoke English well. He explained the traditional dress which is a white robe, called a dishdasha for more formal occasions with the unique hat, called a kummah and a turban, that he says he finds difficult to tie properly. The dishdasha has long sleeves, minimal embroidery around the neck and cuffs and features a small central tassel, known as a furakha, which is often scented with perfume. The more casual dress can be a tan dishdasha and just the hat or bare-headed.
We took the bus to the local fish market. I always enjoy watching the haggling and seeing the fish they have for sale. Here they had a large variety including some large yellow fin tuna. Their steaks don’t look dissimilar to beef. Then we went down to the waterfront and walked a bit of the corniche and visited a touristy souk area and another sweet shop where we got to sample a few local delicacies. Then we drove a little further to see the Frankincense Burner monument. The height of the frankincense trade, particularly the famed ‘Incense Road’ from southern Arabia to the Mediterranean, flourished roughly between the 5th century BC and the 2 century AD. Remember, according to the Bible, one of the three wise men brought it to Bethlehem when Christ was born. From there it was a short walk to Al Mirani Fort. This is a fort that was rebuilt by the conquering Portuguese in 1588. It has been rebuilt several times since and is now totally renovated with an elevator to get people up to the top, but most of us used the stairs. From there we had a good view of the inner harbour. Nearby was the Sultan’s palace (which we could only see from a distance) and the National Museum. This was another beautiful museum that houses the history of Oman from the earliest days, to the colonial days, and finally to independence and the discovery of oil and natural gas.
Then we headed back to the hotel to eat a few snacks we had either purchased or purloined from the breakfast buffet, as we are not allowed to eat or drink in public, this being Ramadan, and we are being respectful. Then we had a couple of free hours before dinner. I chose to spend it in the beautiful warm pool and then on a lounger reading. Dinner was at a Turkish restaurant and we had the Middle Eastern fare of small salads and flatbread and kabobs. We were back to the Radisson Hotel by 8 and I spent the evening trying to catch up the blog.
