Oman Road Trip #2 Part One

Alright, so our normal work week here starts on Sunday, goes through Friday, with Saturday being our one day off, and then we get right back to it. Yeah, not ideal for relaxing and exploring. But then again, that’s not what we’re here for; so no complaints!

However, on the weekend of October 23rd – 24th, we actually get a Friday off, and we all take advantage of it. Bruce, Rand and Nick head to Musandam, in northern Oman, to meet up with Bruce’s social group to go diving. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of my equipment with me, nor do I really have the money to go diving and buy all new stuff, so instead I join some of my new PGAV friends, John and Maurisz, on a 2 day road trip to eastern Oman.

Anyways we set out to cross the UAE-Oman border and this is a bit trickier than say crossing from the States to Canada or even Germany into France (although historically, that’s always been pretty easy, hehe). We get through what seems like 5 or 6 different checkpoints in a ¼ mile stretch and we’re on our way. I noticed Mariusz is noticeably shaken or just not quite right and he finally confides that he was really stressed out. Apparently growing up as a boy in Poland and even as a teenager and college student, whenever he crossed borders into the Soviet Union or other Eastern bloc countries… well it was always a stressful situation to say the least.

We finally make it across and our first stop is the historical capital of Oman in the 6th and 7th centuries AD: Nizwa. Nizwa is one of the oldest cities in Oman and it was once a center of trade, religion, education and art. Its Jama (grand mosque) was formerly a center for Islamic learning; it also possesses a number of other renowned mosques, such as Sultan Qaboos Jama.

Set amid a verdant spread of date palms, Nizwa is strategically located at the crossroads of routes linking the interior with Muscat and the lower reaches of Dhofar thus serving as the link for a large part of the country. Today, Nizwa is a diverse prosperous place with numerous agricultural, historical and recreational aspects; it is also a center for date growing and is the market place for the area.

We arrived in town around noon, albeit about 5 minutes late as literally every single shop, store, restaurant, and place of business closes down as practically every resident heads to the local mosque (pictured to the right) to pray. What a spectacle as hundreds upon hundreds of male Muslims converge on the Jama mosque, remove their shoes and completely canvas not only the interior of the mosque, but also the streets and steps surrounding it.

Our next stop is Muscat, (Arabic: مسقط, Masqaṭ) the capital and largest city of Oman. Instead of myself describing the city, I’ll leave it to someone more capable:
"Muscat is a large and very populous town, flanked on both sides with high mountains and the front is close to the water's edge; behind, towards the interior, there is a plain as large as the square of Lisbon, all covered with salt pans. There are orchards, gardens, and palm groves with wells for watering them by means of swipes and other engines. The harbor is small, shaped like a horse-shoe and sheltered from every wind."

This is how Afonso de Albuquerque described Muscat, after the fall of the city in 1507. Pretty accurate description even today though!

The city holds fast to its past, roots, and traditions, shunning Dubai’s rapid acceptance of all things large and modern. Most of the buildings adhere to the traditional Gulf-Arab style of architecture, are usually bleached white or sand color and surrounded by extremely clean streets. It also seems that every single shop, office and building has a picture of Sultan Qaboos hanging somewhere. And lastly, while I’m not sure how new they are, Muscat also features numerous waterfront parks and linear parks, making the edge of the city feel very green. Another striking architectural feature is that of the enormous incense burner monument above Riyam Park, which was built to celebrate Oman's National 20th Day (pictured to the left).

We continue on further south towards the Al Bustan Palace Hotel; a majestic octagonal piece or architecture that juts out of its own bay by the ocean backed by the mountains (see the accompnaying picture that I did not take). The exterior of the building does not really lend to the opulence found within. The crème de la crème of the hotel is its magnificent atrium, which is large enough to house a Boeing 747 on its end. The lofty atrium is clad in 800,000 tons (!) of Blue De France and White Dionysus marble imported from France, Greece, Italy, amongst others. It is truly spectacular, especially as the lighting and coloring changes from one perspective to another. The exterior pool decks, multiple infinity edge pools, fountains, sculpture, manicured lawns, and expanse of beach only add to the ambiance, experience and undoubtedly, some extravagant costs!

We leave the Al Bustan and turn around and head back north to Muscat to find a cheap hotel and crash for the night. We settle on the Marina hotel, grab a decent Indian dinner and retire. We plan on waking up early and exploring more of Muscat… there’s just one problem.

- To be continued….