A week-end in Oman

Our Iquama (work premit) is not finalised yet which means that every 30 days we have to get our passports stamped outside of the KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). We left things a bit late in organising a week-end away and ended up scrambling for a destination close by that didn't require a prior visa application. Oman turned out to be that destination. On wednesday evening at about 9:30pm we departed on Oman Air for Muscat, and arrived at a very crowded, humid Muscat at about midnight. The airport shuttle that Rean had taken very great pains to arrange didn't materialise, so we had to stand around and wait for them to come and fetch us. Fortunately Mieke slept through most of it! When we got to our hotel she woke up and had a great time of bouncing around the bed, hopping alternately on dad and then on mom. We were exhausted!

The next morning we had a late breakfast and then a long nap since the places we wanted to visit only opened after 4pm. We grabbed a taxi which dropped me off at Muttrah Souq, and took Rean to the airport where he rented a car. I had wanted to visit the souq (or market) because I don't get out much at home, and this was a chance to feast my eyes on glorious trinkets, carpets, scarves, jewellery, silver, incence, so many many beautiful things! Al Dhalam (Darkness in Arabic) Souq is the local name for the Muttrah Souq. It is claimed to be one of the oldest marketplaces in the Arab world, owing to the fact that Muscat is the world's largest natural harbor and has seen immense trade in the age of sail, being strategically located on the way toIndia and China. It has been named after darkness because of the crowded stalls and lanes where the sunrays do not infiltrate during the day and the shoppers need lamps to know their destinations (Wipipedia). It is not a cheap place to shop, but it was an incredible adventure!

Abayas can be so very elegant and feminine!

 

Beautiful silk carpet

Mieke loved this green scarf

 Our last day in Oman, we took our rental car and drove to the town of Nakhal where we wanted to visit an old fort dating from the 17th century. Named after the nearby date palm groves, Nakhal Fort, sitting one hundred feet high on its rocky promontory, has a commanding view of all that surrounds it. Embedded on top of large slabs of tawny yellow rock, the structure sits like a great architectural boulder carved into towers, windows and walls. The fort is fully suited to its purpose and in perfect harmony with its environment. The interior is characterised by plain, balanced spaces, open stairways, arched recesses, a multitude of accessible rooms with windows shuttered by beautiful wooden carvings and ceilings of latticed palm matting supported by polished mangrove and palm timbers . From its early history until as late as 1980, the Fort was the residence of the Wali who held his barza, wherein he heard pleas, petitions or complaints; and, with his council, sat in judgement. And, in fact, though the Wali no longer lives in the fort, he does, to this day, hold his barza there once a month every winter season.(http://www.newsbriefsoman.info/item/2006/04/nakhal-fort).

 

On our way back to the airport in Muscat, we took a long stoll along the arabian sea, on a warm coffee coloured beach. I must say that Oman and its gracious inhabitants stole my heart. It is a place I never even thought to visit, but I am so glad to have had the chance!