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Oman! I came as fast as I could!

  • vivianojane
  • Sep 20, 2016
  • 6 min read

“Eywaaaa!" "ايوا" was the word of the week in the gulf country of Oman. Meaning “yes” or maybe “yeeeaaaah” in Arabic, my friends and I pronounced it so often that our couchsurfer hosts in Salalah would join in throughout our trip. The other word of the week was “mutub,” “مطب” or “speed bump.” We would say it slowly when we went over one of the million speed bumps in Muscat and scream it when it was too late to slow down, sending our rented Volkswagon sailing, one time through a security checkpoint entering Salalah where the guards motioned the signal for patience.

We arrived in the capital of Oman, Muscat, late on a Saturday morning after a three hour red-eye flight and a six hour layover in Dubai. The Dubai airport is huge and out of the gate windows we could see the Burj Khalifa off in the distance.

The beautiful landscape of Muscat came into view from my plane window, red rocky mountains and cliffs, teal waters, white-washed complexes and mansions. I was so happy to finally be visiting the place that I had spent six months researching and preparing to live in, it sounds cheesy, but I really did cry when we landed. Can you come to love a place you’ve never seen before? One that was suppose to be your home?

A friend and I spent a night in a nearly-deserted hotel close by the airport. It seems that many Omani’s had travelled elsewhere for the Eid holiday. During this Islamic holiday Muslims sacrifice an animal, most likely a sheep to honor the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son. Part of the meat is given to the poor. During this time, Muslims visit family members and sometimes travel.

We travelled to a mall and some beautiful gardens the next morning. Oman is clearly a very wealthy country, everything is clean and very green. It was interesting to see the diverse groups of people in the mall and throughout the trip. Muscat is made up of 60% native Omani’s and 40% expats so it is not uncommon to hear many languages being spoken, especially English between Omanis and South Asians.

The next day we met the rest of our group (eight in total) and travelled to our comfy Airbnb. We went grocery shopping and made our way to the beach, right through a VERY expensive hotel/resort with an infinity pool and a private beach. We were elated to finally see the ocean, the Indian Ocean/Gulf of Oman!

We went on a very memorable and exciting tour of Muscat, seeing the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the famous Muttrah souk, Bait al-Zubair, a family-run museum, and the Sultan’s Palace in all its splendor. We saw amazing views of Muscat, mountains and the ocean. Although I’ve never been to Greece, Muscat seems comparable with it’s white-washed buildings with pops of color, mountainous landscape and clear waters. The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque displayed gifts from all over the world: a carpet from Iran that took four years and 600 women to weave and an enormous chandelier with Swarovski crystals from Turkey (may need to check that fact!). Around the exterior walkways of the mosque were various tiled works of art that represented art styles from all over the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.

On Tuesday night I met up with the one Boren scholar in Oman (sadly I was suppose to be the second until my switch to Jordan), a great friend who is loving Muscat. A also met a Gilman scholar and spent a night with them at their grand villa. We had shisha (hookah) with some of their American/British friends from West Point and an Omani friend.

In the very early hours of the morning we packed up our rented Volkswagon and set off for the small city of Salalah, 1000km from Muscat on the southern end of the country. Salalah is know for it’s khareef خريف, or monsoon season, when rain falls and turns every corner of the city into a natural green wonder. We hoped to catch the end of the season before everything became rocky once again.

After passing a few towns just outside of Muscat a land called the Empty Quarter stands in front of you for more than 800km. Essentially it’s the desert interior of the country and except for a few military outposts, desert plants and shrubs, a handful of gas stations and a few herds of camels, there is nothing. It was still a great experience to drive through a desert, I don’t think I’ve actually been in a desert before. You find beauty in a landscape where you expect there to be nothing.

After almost 10 hours and a few distant camel sightings later, we arrived in Salalah where we flew through that speed bump and the security checkpoint. And one turned corner later there were the rolling green hills. Stunning. The air was foggy and it was like we were suddenly in a different country.

After a quick lunch break we met our couchsurfing hosts (Couchsurfing is a community of people providing free room and board to travellers all over the world), two funny, friendly, and adventurous Egyptian guys. They were the best hosts I’ve ever stayed with, telling us all about Salalah and Oman. They showed us all over the city during the next two days.

They took us to a mountain viewpoint where we drank mango juice with milk and smoked shisha. Then we went to a expat beach club and resort where we bowled in a private bowling alley and played pool, having a great time with our new Egyptian friends, even though they beat us badly at bowling and pool! I even had a beer! And I thought Oman would be the LAST place I would ever have a drink!

We started off early the next morning and first visited a Wadi, a valley usually containing a stream, river, or water source. Again, the mountains were filled with green even through the monsoon season was coming to an end. Next we traveled to an archeological site that was unfortunately closed, but on the way we encountered a herd of 25+ camels right in the middle of the road! Our Egyptian friend cursed the camels as they rubbed up against his car while we marveled at them, their faces right up in our car windows!

One of our Egyptian friends rented a 4x4 so we could travel off toward the Yemeni border to a beach with amazing views. We packed our things and drove far out into the mountains. The cliffs were so high that you couldn't even see their peaks. The cliffs ended abruptly in clouds, which is where we soon found ourselves, with only 20 feet in visibility! I’ve never been to the Grand Canyon but I would say this place must rival it, an unknown wonder to the world! There were even more camels here, and I learned about the native people in the area who speak Jibbali, a language belonging to West Semitic languages rather than Arabic. The beach was stunning and we were able to spend the day, just the five of us, swimming in the ocean and cooking our own BBQ!

In the evening we went to a resort area by the ocean in Salalah, meeting a few American expat friends of our Egyptian friends. We had a nice dinner and had great conversations with our new friends. One of the most memorable stories we heard was a woman who couchsurfed with our Egyptian friend in Cairo and ended up stayed at his house for two weeks during the revolution. The woman had biked from Morocco to Egypt and was later evacuated from Egypt where she had to leave her bike, but we all hope she was able to continue her journey later. Oh the places you go, the people you meet. What a great experience in Salalah, all thanks to our new Egyptian friends!

Traffic rules are strict in Oman, as you may have been able to tell from the speed bump descriptions. Traffic lights turn yellow before they turn green again and all cars will continually ding at you (like when you don't have your seatbelt on) when your speedometer exceeds 120km. That’s 75mph, folks. We said screw it to that rule all the way back from Salalah to Muscat. We didn’t have much trouble, but a few military checkpoint guards laughed at us when we hurriedly produced our passports, driving licences, visas, and the car rental agreement. The most worrisome event that happened during our trip was almost running out of gas in the Empty Quarter, the desert. We passed a gas station with 110km left in our tank but didn’t hit another gas station until about 140km later. Our magnificent Volkswagon ran at least 30 more kilometers after we hit 0km. Alhamdulillah! I got a great video of us screaming for joy at the end.

Back in Muscat we went to Kargeen Cafe in Madinat Sultan Qaboos. A cozy nature-like place with low lights, Omani culture, and a great atmosphere, I wish I could say I ordered Omani food! Omani cuisine is an interesting blend of Asian, Indian, Western, and Middle Eastern cuisine. Back at the airport, which was crazy for the end of Eid, we had some road bumps in figuring out the rental car, but hey! We figured out how to rent a car and then drove it 2000km across the country! That’s pretty cool. All credits to my friend though, she figured it out and drove the whole way!

Can’t wait to see Oman again someday! Maybe this winter…?

 
 
 

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