Old Muscat Sultanate of Oman

Mina Qaboos (Mee-nah Kah-boos) Oman


I woke up and there was a lot of light coming through the drapes and I wasn’t sure what time it was. I wanted to sleep more but it wasn’t working. So I crept up and peeked through the crack in the drapes and it was the Moon! And it was reflected on the ocean and all I could think of was: “Arabian nights”. It’s pathetic to try to sleep and not be able to do so. I heard a pilot(?) boat in the distance and figured it was about 5 am. Eventually it was clear that we had some sunlight, so I again peeked through and I could see the moon through a mist so thick you couldn’t tell where the horizon was. But it was beyond the beginning of dawn. Ed woke up and I whispered asking if he was awake. When he answered, I flung the drapes open so I could read the clock: 5:50 am! So I slapped the curtains shut again and tried for a little more rest.
Next thing you know, there’s a tap on the door. Room service was 5 minutes early. God Bless those little guys because the order form indicates 6:30 – 7am as the earliest they can deliver. Right on time, the phone rang with our wake up call at 6:15 am. I had my cereal quickly and hopped in the shower. Predictably, Ed had MSNBC blaring (except now he, mercifully, puts it on mute during the commercials) with Keith Olberman.
The Captain came on the PA about 7:10 am to say that he was turning the ship around in the harbor since the pilot wasn’t ready to come on board, so who knows what I heard earlier. This trip between Dubai and Oman has been very slow and the sea has been very calm.
Today’s tour: mystical Muscat—Grand Mosque and Bait Al Zubair (Bait means house; Beit in Isreal)
We were a little delayed in berthing since the pilot wasn’t available until late to board the ship. Apparently, berthing fees here are pretty steep; this information comes from someone with a sailboat so I assume some degree of credibility for this tidbit. We berthed a little after 8 am and left promptly at 4:45 pm.
Our bus had only 39 folks on it and it probably held 50 and the airconditioning was marvelous. We were provided with as much water as we wished and it’s a good idea to drink at least a bottle for every few hours here.
Weather: well let’s get this part out of the way. I have a photograph demonstrating 43 degrees Celsius (I’ll save you the trouble: 110 degrees Fahrenheit) but another passenger said she has a photo showing 47 degrees (117⁰ F). So take your pick. It was hot but all of us agreed this was sooooo much better than Male, Maldives with it’s lower temperature but higher humidity! The sun is a broiler here as it was in Dubai. It takes no time to get your Vitamin D dose.
Our guide was a young man from some African country where French was his first language. He spoke of everything Omani in “we” phrases and sang the praises of how wonderful this country is with great fervor. It is hard not to appreciate the cleanliness, peace, lack of crime, etc. in many of these countries. But they are definitely not democracies and very unforgiving if you violate their dictates. We were again cautioned about keeping shoulders, arms, legs, and knees covered (both men and women) and in the mosques, which were closed anyway because today was Friday, women must cover their heads. No public showing of affection between same or different sexes, no smoking in public. I saw all of those violated, sometimes by the young folks who work on the ship and this bothered me for obvious reasons, and in some instances by folks whose skin color indicated they might be Arab. So figure it out for yourself.
Architecture
This is all low buildings of no more than perhaps four stories, all in distinctive Omani architecture. It is so white you need sunshades to look out the window. The whiteness of the buildings exceeds even those post cards of Grecian island villages.
Aromas
Again the wonderful spices everywhere but here they specialize in frankincense and myrrh. Many folks both one or both in either rock or oil form.
Grand Mosque
This was a photo stop only because it is Friday. Everything was behind walls or fences but Ed said they opened up a little area for a few folks to go in and get some photos. This was still outside the prayer area but inside the interior grounds. The outside is expansive and with many flowers, trees and lots of grass. They use grey water here for all their plants and desalination is the source of all the other water. It still amazes me to see lots of grass in patches and sprinklers running in mid day. The poor flowers are fried in this sun though they still manage to look pretty good overall and the gardeners must be wizards. As in all the mosques, there is a side entrance for the women.
Clothing
About 50/50 native and Western for the men. All the local women are in black dresses to the ground, many obviously too long for these short people. All local ladies wore black head coverings but the facial covers varied from none at all, to the peeking eyes only. The men wear the all white (and these are always squint-your-eyes white and to the floor; I believe they are called something like a “dashdish” in these parts) but the head coverings vary from the full Arab style to a flat round, brimless, embroidered skull cap. A small minority of the men wear ecru or khaki colored “dresses” instead of the more common white. The children ran the range from mini-adult to Western kid style.
Many stores had the native Omani woman’s clothing which is absolutely stunning and lavishly embroidered and beaded. It also looked heavy and hot. I suspect IF they wear this these days, that’s what’s under those black robes. Many of the “stores”, actually mostly stalls in souks, had every manner of dress including the Arab belly dance costume in various designs so who knows what they wear underneath. One shipmate remarked that the facial make up of the women is perfect and fully done up. I hadn’t noticed it that much but then I was looking at the older women. 
Muttrah Souk
You can find almost anything in this covered, native souk replete with stalls and a warren of passageways and mysterious alleyways. The path is paved with patterns of light colored tiles. While it’s not airconditioned overall (many of the stalls are with clear plastic sheeting keeping the cold air inside for the comfort of the buyers) it is cooler than outside as the lighting is subdued except in the stalls themselves.
Omani daggers-really impressive and wicked looking- and silver jewelry, clothing of various types with what seemed an inordinate number of children’s shops, spice shops where the vendors were hawking saffron and frankincense but where one could see the promise of many other spices inside, doors where you wondered how they secured these thousands of impossibly heavy necklaces and other trinkets around the sides of the walls: you name it, you could probably find it here as long as it wasn’t veggies, fruits or meat (that’s another souk). Bargaining is expected and steep here though it’s always hard to tell if you’ve really gotten a good bargain. I content myself that it’s certainly a good bargain compared to what I’d pay in LA but then we still have to get it home too!
Bait al Zubair
This is a private museum featuring exhibits chronicaling Oman’s heritage. I was especially interested in the displays of clothing on manikins in this cool, clean, marble structure. Well the latter’s rather redundant: almost all the buildings that aren’t pre-oil are made of marble. The jewelry was mostly silver and vast examples were shown. The little containers with the long stick on a chain used to store and then apply kohl around the eyes (both men and women) were of special interest. And they were all of silver. The little gift shop here had a nice, modest array of picture books and a few pieces of clothing. No bargains here but good quality post cards in books of 32 for about $15 USD.
Sultan’s Palace
Well he has several and I’m sure this one rivals all the others for it’s size and uniqueness. They have closed off the driveway which is several blocks long, to the tall wrought iron fence with the disks, probably real gold, that symbolize the sultan. This palace is rather modern in design with lots of marble of course. We saw folks of all nationalities visiting here including many women in saris.
Muslim marriages
Almost totally arranged in these countries though many will now allow the child to reject a match. The men are allowed 4 wives but most only have one. There’s the matter of the dowry the man pays to the bride’s family starting at $35K USD and going higher. Then the first wife must approve the taking of a second wife and there must be an acceptable reason. Then he must treat each wife equally: you get something for one, all must receive one. Kind’ve a steep maintenance cost. Then if you have three for example, you sleep two nights each week with each wife and on the seventh night “you rest” as he said.
Forts
There are two, one on each side of the Sultan’s Palace. These are from the Portuguese 16th century occupation and are perfectly situated to “guard” the harbor. Muscat was a part of the spice trade and thus an important port for the colonizing nations and in this area, Portugal colonized many of these areas.
Lunch
We got back to the ship about 12:30 pm and went to lunch in the dining room where we visited with a lady we had met for lunch before. She’s so charming, kind, smart, and pleasant. She lives in Vancouver BC and does a lot of volunteer work for the Canadian Cancer Society. She had breast cancer around the same time I did and she had a complete reconstruction. She knew immediately that I had lymphedema. She’s travelling with another lady but I don’t know the relationship but she is so caring to this much older woman. Her husband isn’t with her on this trip but clearly it’s a very loving relationship not based on much she said but just on the way she talks about him and their life.
Cruise Terminal
The port area is enormous: think LA Harbor with all it’s cranes and containers piled 4 and 5 deep. If you want to get a taxi, you must take a shuttle to the gate. But within about a 2 block space from the ship is a ship’s terminal. It’s stark and inside is all marble (of course) and on the second story (as everything else appears to be empty) is a duty free shop. Your local 7-11 has more to offer but some folks were buying wine. I find that amusing actually. I suspect they will then sneak it onto the ship and drink it in their cabins because if they see you bring alcohol onto the ship, they take it to return it to you at the end of the cruise. Someone said that wine could pass. I wouldn’t know as it isn’t that important to Ed nor myself.
Reading
We kept the cabin drapes pulled a little and read most of the afternoon. I’m amazed to see Ed reading the novel of our fellow passenger. I think the last time I saw him read a book cover to cover was on a long flight from Norway many years ago when he read a Tom Clancy novel. This is a chick story. Oh well, even I admit the author is cute.
Fun in the dining room
Last night, five guys came to supper dressed as Sheiks. Their wives were dressed in a quasi-Arab way but you wouldn’t have known it except for looking hard. But the guys were a hit! You don’t see men doing this very often and then usually as a result of the prodding of their wives. Tonite one fellow came dressed Arab style and folks were taking photos of him all along the way. It was a hoot. So JoAnn and I both bought the little jangling head coverings with the coins on the tendrils and we’ve agreed to wear them to dinner on the next formal night. Then we can take them off after we’ve had our fun.
This was a free wheeling discussion and there was more give and take than usual. Rhia came in a black caftan with rhinestones all around the neck and cuffs with a little tassle on the end. She had her sunglasses on and with her platinum blond hair, it was a real Hollywood look. We talked about Yuma Arizona of all places, MRIs, CT scans, sonograms etc.
Our waiter, Max, told of going into the city via taxi with some other folks who work on the ship. They went to an area and “all we saw were Filipinos.” It was funny to hear him describe all of this (he’s Filipino) and tell us about all his countrymen who work in many of these countries, and I would add, send so much money back home that the Phillipine economy is lost without it.
Diane Cousins
Wales First Lady of Comedy and Song. This is a woman of my age or probably older, rather plump to be understating it, and with a really robust personality. She’s still a handsome woman but I’ll bet she was a beauty in her hey day. Her comedy is everyday and very funny when Americans can understand her through her accent which is certainly present but not so thick that you want to leave the room. She had a form skimming dress on that Ed felt was not a good one for her. I don’t disagree with that but I will say that she had a great foundation under it because despite her matronly figure, she looked poised and nothing under the dress jiggled. Anyway, I enjoyed her.
Five days at Sea
Yeah! I love sea days though it must be a challenge for the staff. Most folks do like sea days but many aren’t sure about a five day stretch even though that’s what it was between LA and Hawaii. The entertainment staff sure has their work cut out for them at such times but they seem to put out a good selection of things to do both active and passive.
Safaga is our next port and Ed and I still haven’t decided what we’ll do. We’ve seen the Valley of the Kings, Luxor and Karnak twice before and while we’d love to see them again, it is a very long bus ride each way and it’s not a cheap tour for obvious reasons. So we may just explore Safaga. That’s not such a bad way to enjoy ourselves as we don’t mind doing exploring on our own sometimes.