Muscat Oman

I am writing this post on Thanksgiving, so Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  This is another sea day for us.  This morning we had our pirate drill.  This consisted of the captain announcing that we were maneuvering to avoid contact with another vessel.  All passengers were instructed to leave the decks, balconies and their staterooms and to lie low in the hallways or stairways and if we heard a loud noise not to be worried. Assume they have some plan beyond that, but that was our part of the drill.  I don’t believe there have been many pirates in the last few years and United Nations forces regularly patrol the area…so hopefully the pirates will not be a problem. 

Our news did contain information on the plague (black death) that has broken out in Madagascar…but it appears to be in the capital city and we won’t be near there.

We visited Muscat, Oman on Tuesday.  After docking in Sultan Qaboos Port, we headed out on our tour called “Fascinating Oman.”  We had a very nice young Omani man (24 years old) as a guide.  He was dressed in the traditional Omani dress, which consists of the long collarless, white robe clled a dishdasha and a pillbox type turban (muzzar).  This type of turban can be either handmade by mothers and sisters ($300) or store bought ($20).  For more formal occasions they wrap a scarf to create a turban and he demonstrated this for us.  The later type must be worn in government buildings and to school.  Women wear the black Abaya outside the house just like in the UAE.

Their current ruler is Sultan Qaboos and he has been the ruler since 1970 and was 30 years old when he took office.  He is currently in Germany being treated for metastatic colon cancer.  Our guide said they don’t know much about the ruler’s family.  There was a threat of some sort made at his wedding ceremony early in his reign and since then no information is given out.  They don’t know if he is married or if he has any children and thus, as he appears to be dying, succession is a concern for the people in Omani.  The Sultan recently gave a message to his people ensuring them that he would be succeeded by someone they would like.  :-)

Sultan Qaboos is responsible for many political and economic reforms and brought the country into the modern age.  They don’t have as many oil reserves as their neighbors ranking 25^th globally.  According to Wikipedia, “in 2010 the United Nations Development Program ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. Additionally, Oman is categorized as a high-income economy and ranks as the 59th most peaceful country in the world according to the Global Peace Index.”

There are approximately 4 million people in Oman and 55% of them are Omani.  They have 3 sects of Muslims here, the Shiites, the Sunnis and a third group called Ibadis, which is dominant in Oman.   Our guide belongs to the third sect. He indicated that the only real difference was the way they hold their hands when they pray and that they all got along fine here in Oman.  Wikipedia indicates that the Ibadi beliefs are a mystery to the other Muslim sects and they are very secretive about their beliefs.  They are known for being very tolerant of both Christians and Jews sharing their communities.

Omani men can have up to 4 wives but he said he only wanted one, as they are too expensive.  He has to save up $20,000 for a wife.  In the past, they didn’t see their bride until the wedding night but now if they see someone they like, they can ask their parents to talk to her parents and vice versa.  I am not sure who the groom pays the $20,000 to, I thought maybe the bride’s family but then he said the bride could contribute up to 25% of the total.  So not sure….

Many brides and grooms live in the father’s house if there is room.  At the age of 23, you get 600 sq meters of land from the government on which you can build a house but generally it take awhile to save up the necessary money.  A small house costs approximately $120,000.  You must build a wall around your house or they won’t give you electricity.

Electricity is vital for air conditioning, which is a necessity as temperatures can reach as high as 57 C (135 F) in the summer.

Now most families have an average of 3 children.  Education is free for grades 1 – 12 for all Omani and also for colleges and universities.  There the government will also pay for your room and board.  There are also some private schools but they only go through grade 8 as you must attend the Omani public high school in order to attend the colleges or universities.

They have both public and private hospitals. 

According to our guide, the country is divided up into 9 provinces and these are further divided into 63 districts, each with its own elected leader.  The government is an absolute monarchy but with an advisory parliament.

In 2001 Oman budgeted about $2,4 billion for defense but they have more police than military.

You can become a citizen in Oman after living here for 20 years but you must also prove that you have sufficient money in the bank although these rules can be relaxed for certain professions if the country is in need of their expertise.

We had a photo stop at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which opened in 2001.  It was built from 300,000 tons of Indian sandstone and contains the second largest hand woven (single piece) carpet in the world with 1,7 billion knots and took 600 Iranian women 4 years to complete.

Our next stop was about 1 hour from the port at the Nakhal fort.  The population of the village of Nakahl is about 20,000 and most water is obtained from cisterns and thermal springs, whereas in Muscat, water is obtained from desalination.

We had a tour inside the fort that dates back to the pre-Islamic period but has been renovated and updated over the years.  It was built to protect the neighboring Oasis that contains thermal springs and also to fight off the Portuguese who had colonized Oman.

The fort houses a museum with traditional furniture and handicrafts.

After our fort visit, we went to the nearby thermal springs where we took pictures and talked with the local Omani schoolgirls who were there on a break.  Unlike most Muslim women, they didn’t mind having their photos taken with us and had a good time making hand gestures in the photos and trying on the big sun hats of tourists.

 

We headed back into Muscat for a visit and shopping at the Muttrah Souq (where Chris bought his Omani dagger that was later confiscated from him as we re-boarded the ship).  

We then to a fabulous buffet lunch at the Ritz Carlton.  The restaurant had a play area for children with a Persian carpet!

Our tour concluded with a visit to Bait Al Zubair Museum, http://www.baitalzubairmuseum.com/   

that highlights traditional crafts. 

Lastly, a photo stop at Qasr Al Alam Royal Palace which is the working palace of the Sultan.

Overall impressions…Oman is a clean, modern, prosperous country.

Next stop Mumbai and a trip to the Taj Mahal…probably won’t add to the blog until next Monday, which will be our next day at sea.