City Tour of Muscat, Oman

Which means blessed Ramadan (which is more formal than Ramadan kareem), means wishing the receptient a month filled with blessings, mercy, forgiveness, and spiritual growth.

Sometimes it's tough to get going in the morning.

Our local guide Eshan.

The Muscat fish market.

Yellow finned tuna.

Crabs and shrimp

Bringing in the catch

An interesting face in the vegetable market.

A frankensense tree. 

Model of a Portuguese caravel

A badan sayyad, a fishing boat from the 1800's.

Religious Christian artifacts from the Russian and the Middle East exhibit citing Cultural influences.

Left: current Sulton of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq Al Said

Right: The much beloved late Sulatan Qaboos bin Said Al Said

Al Mirani Fort overlooking the harbour.

The iconic frankensense burner of Muscat.

Different colours of insense for burning in the souk.

Along the Corniche.

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.

US Attacks Iran, A Lucky Escape For Our Tour Group

This is the route that the Air Canada flight took, giving Iran a wide berth and flying over Saudi and Egypt. My Emirates flight flew closer to the Iraq border and over Syria and Turkey.

Pam and Dave who are still in Oman took this photo of a destroyer off shore from our hotel in Salalah, Oman.

Saturday, February 28th.

We flew from Salalah, Oman to Dubai, UAE and arrived at 9:30. My flight to Toronto boarded at 2:30 for a 3:30 departure. Sometime during the flight the US and Israel attacked Iran and Iran retaliated by striking US bases in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. I was dozing and kept being woken up by crying kids, so I turned on the news on the TV on the seat in front of me and was surprised/ horrified to find out that the US and Israel had attacked Iran. Many people on the flight were watching it too. All of us in our tour group knew that tensions between the US and Iran were mounting and it was always in the back of our minds but, we didn’t talk about it much and it seemed that they were negotiating and we’d be okay. 

However, now all the airspace over the Middle East has been closed. I think we were very lucky to get out and may have been one of the last flights out. One couple in our tour group opted to stay an extra day because they had found a cheaper flight out and now they are stranded. And of course there are business people and tours all over the area who are now stranded. 

In hindsight I was lucky too, because I have a hate on for Air Canada, I opted to take the Emirates flight to Toronto that left two hours later than the Air Canada flight that Bernie, Alexandra, Cam and Jane took. Theirs left at 1:30, mine at 3:30, that would have been horrible if the air space closed between those two times and I was stuck! What a mess, and a lucky escape. Now that I have met so many people in all of the six countries we visited, I feel for them too as it will affect their lives and livlihoods. I hope that this conflict doesn’t spread and become a major event, more that it already is. I feel for everyone involved.

A Mountain Safari and Fly to Muscat, Oman

4 wheeling in a convoy of 6 Toyota Land Rovers

The first view point.

Ever higher

High up we came across a fertile valley...

Where they can grow some crops in the winter months.

They came to check us out.

Found this blooming shrub at our picnic spot.

They ran away.

We saw evidence of homes and villages from times gone by.

Back down again.

Some typical new homes.

 

A visitor to the pool at our hotel, some type of heron.

Thursday, February 19th.

This morning 6 Toyota Land Rovers picked us up for a journey up into the mountains around Khasab. I was in the car with Donna and Andy and our driver was a young enthusiastic 22 year old. He was eager to please and practise his English. We drove off road and up the mountain on a relatively newly constructed dirt and very dusty road which has been built to service the locals and an army post near the top of the mountain. We stopped at several lookouts, the first of which was at 300m where we had a great view of the switchbacks we had driven to this spot and the coast of the Arabian Sea. As we continued up the mountain, we saw evidence of homes from the past made of stones or dug out of the side of the mountain. We came across a fertile valley where they could grow some crops during the wet season of the winter. We saw goats, some sheep and a few donkeys as well. At our picnic stop at 1300m I found a bush or small tree that was blooming with pretty small pink and white flowers. The tree had no leaves, but the twigs were green. This is an adaptation that I had seen in the south western US in a tree called the Paolo Verdi. The twigs are full of chlorophyll which makes them green and allows them to do photosynthesis in the branches, which means the tree doesn’t need leaves, which give off too much moisture in the summer heat. We had a drink and some fruit while the drivers had a rest. They cannot eat or drink anything until sunset as it is the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

On the way back we saw a lot of new build homes and noticed that they were all in walled enclosures. This is for several reasons. It provides privacy from prying eyes, provides women the opportunity to go outside without covering up, keeps the dust and wind down and provides security for the family.

When we got back we had lunch at the hotel but had to eat inside to respect the people and not to be seen eating during the day. Then we had an hour to relax by the pool before boarding the bus for the airport, which was tiny. There is only one gate and we were the only plane that afternoon. Oman has two parts. We are in the small section at the northern tip of the UAE. To get to the other much larger part of Oman you have to drive through the UAE which means more border crossings. So we flew. The flight was only 45 minutes, but still they gave us a sandwich, some dates and a drink. We were at our hotel in the capital city of Muscat by 7:15 and had the evening to ourselves, and again everyone disappeared.

A Relaxing Day Near the Strait of Hormuz

This is the map of the UAE showing the 7 Emirates, but at the northern tip is a small part of Oman (where we are) that is separated from mainland Oman.

Getting on board.

On board

The little islands we visited.

Very relaxing day.

Another dhow which joined us for the...

dolphin rodeo! I've got great videos.

The penguins make it to the Arabian Peninsula.

The water was very doable, in for an hour.

There were small villages along the shores that are only accessible by boat.

The geology of the rocks was very interesting.

Wednesday, February 18th.

This morning we took a short bus ride to the fishing harbour which also has dhow boats that take tourists out to the Khor Sham islands at the northern tip of of the UAE peninsula. This is where we are and it’s actually part of Oman. It pinches into the Arabian Gulf and forms the Straits of Hormuz, which is the narrowest portion to the passage between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. Iran has threatened many times to restrict oil traffic through here which would cause international problems. At the current time the US under Trump is threatening Iran as the regime cracks down on the dissidents that were rioting against the government. Iran is threatening US bases and oil supplies if the US attacks. This is all happening now right where we are… 

 We spent a leisurely day on the boat as it traveled around Telegraph Island and Seebi Island. We were surrounded by sedimentary rock mountains that were barren and various light colours of brown, which was very beautiful with the blue cloudless sky and blue water. We went on a dolphin rodeo, where two of the boats corralled a family of dolphins that enjoyed riding the slipstream between the two boats. They stayed between us for about ten minutes and I got some great videos. We saw a few little incredibly remote villages that were squeezed on the shore at the base of the mountains. They exist on fishing, but it's hard to imagine living there. Later we stopped at an area where we could swim. I was the first in and last out an hour later. The water was lovely. While we were swimming the crew cooked us a fish bbq with some salads, chicken and fruit. Then we moved on to another spot where we could swim again. We returned by 4:30 and I went into the resort pool to rinse off the salt. This is the first night of the holy month Ramadan, which means that the Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset daily. As a result the bar in the hotel, which is the first bar we have had on this trip, is closed. It will be interesting to see how else Ramadan will affect us. George has pointed out that we don’t want to offend anyone by being seen eating or drinking anything during daylight hours. So, it will have to be inside hotels or… who knows where. Dinner was buffet style again and then everyone disappeared into their rooms by 8:30.