In 2020 the Sultan Qaboos bin Said passed away. He had ruled from 1970 and oversaw the country in a great transformation. He made sure the people were well taken care of, built infrastructure and most importantly brought peace and safety to the region. In 2001 he dedicated a great mosque to the country, Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. It is a large and very nice mosque that we were able to visit. This is the only place in Oman where I really felt the need to cover up – Cover body and hair completely.
Opera house
We next stop at the Opera house but we don’t pay to go inside. I am not sure why, perhaps because of time. It is a very nice building.
Fish market
Fisheries are very important to the Oman economy. We visit the local fish market in Muscat. We see where fish salesmen sell their daily catch. It surprisingly doesn’t smell too bad in the market. The people who run the market do a very good job at cleaning. A cat or two wanders around waiting for pieces of fish guts to drop on the ground. They might have better luck at another market.
Back to souq
We return back to the Mutrah Souq. A few of us visited yesterday but the rest of the group did not. I am not in the mood to shop so I spend the time reading and walking around the market and surrounding areas.
Carpet Bagger?
Palace and forts and old town
We drive by some old forts and stop in front of the palace for a short stroll. This palace is the palace that is used for official visits. It is not a place of residence for the Sultan.
Meal with Sidab women’s group
Part of what makes Intrepid tours so great is that they carve out portions of the trip where you are able to meet with locals. Today we have lunch with a women’s group that helps support other woman and uses sewing and other skills to sell things to make money. One of their efforts is to sew interesting shopping bags to replace the disposable plastic bags used in the country. It is an uphill battle because people love their plastic bags.
We also learn about frankincense. Oman is said to have the best frankincense in the world. Now I know what those small rocks at the souq were.
Many stop at the museum but I head back to the hotel to rest for afternoon because still jet lagged. Some are meeting for dinner again at a nearby restaurant but I am still full from lunch so I skip the evening dinner.
I’ve been in Muscat Oman for over a day now and I find it to be a kind and peaceful country. It is conservative but it is less conservative than I initially thought it was. When I told people I was traveling to Oman I got many people saying “Where?”. Oman (Sultanate of Oman) is not one of those countries you hear talked about on the news. It’s been very calm and peaceful here since the 1970’s and is becoming a more popular tourist destination as of recent. Still in the USA it is not at the top of travelers lists but I believe it should be.
From the map you will see it is in a very tricky location, surrounded by countries that are not safe to travel to (besides UAE). Luckily Oman has a good relationship with all nearby countries. Their main export is oil but they also export fish. Tourism also ranks high in their economy.
The British and Portuguese were involved in this region at one time but for many centuries it has been an monarchy, ruled by a Sultan (passed down through male family lines). It wasn’t always referred to as a sultanate but earlier ruled by an Imam, not to be confused with the person who leads Muslim prayer.
To be fair I did not know this country either but met someone on another tour who had only good things to say about the country so it was put on my travel list. After things got easier after covid I made a plan to book a tour here. Now that I am here I would feel perfectly safe traveling on my own but I like the structure of the tour to organize visits to many different places for me in a short time frame.
In the morning of the first day of the tour the hotel has arranged a ride to the souq. My first instinct is to chill in my room until I meet with my tour group this evening but I force myself to go. I do want to buy at least one scarf. I have the same problem at this souq with no one giving me a moment to think. I have a moment of clarity and grab a cheap scarf so my shopping for the day is done. I walk around the Muscat waterfront while I wait and get a shawarma for lunch. There are others in my group in the van ride to the souq so I get to meet them early.
We meet with the entire group at 5pm and have introductions. Our guide Said tells us what the expect the upcoming week. We all go to dinner at the nearby Turkish restaurant and eat way too much food.
I am sad to say that I am very relieved I am leaving Bali since it hasn’t been a great visit heath-wise. I know most people have magical experiences here but I am not one of those people. I am also looking forward to a change of scenery. My next location will still be hot but more desert like and perhaps drier.
I head to Oman today but not without first a little drama. I have a group tour booked for my visit to Oman so most of my plans are already arranged for me. However they leave a little up to the traveler themselves, like the matter of visas. When I originally booked the trip many months ago I did my visa research or at least I thought I did. On my trusty spreadsheet my note was that no visa is required for stays of under ten days for those that are a G1 national (basically a list of countries with very powerful passports like the USA, where I am from). I thought that is the end of it. A day before my flight out from Bali I start to see conflicting information and I get worried. Some sites say visas are needed, some say they aren’t. Some say you can purchase a visa on arrival, and some say you can no longer do that. I decide to apply for a 30 day visa online just to cover myself in all the scenarios. While I am doing this of course the website errors out on me frequently….sounds familar. Also they require very specific uploads of photos: very small file size, no background in the head photo. I am scrambling with all my photo editing software (on my mobile devices) to get them what they need. After one rejection I finally get my approved visa shortly after I resubmit. Thank goodness that drama is over with!
I had to use google translate to figure out what my error actually was.
Lunch and one last minute head and shoulder massage before I leave. I spend a couple of hours and lots of money trying to mail things back home including a $60 picture I bartered down from over $100. I probably could have shoved the rest of my purchases in the luggage but now with this picture I have to mail things home. I grab a bunch of things I no longer need and head to DHL. They want to charge $300, three times the cost of my items, because they only send things express. Luckily I find a post office around the corner that has boxes and will send it all for less than $100. Still more than the cost of all the items shipping but what am I going to do? I can’t carry the stuff with me. They only accept cash so this visit includes me running around looking for an ATM first.
One more pizza
I go back to my hotel just in time for the rain to start. I spend the rest of the afternoon packing and following up on things. Soon enough someone heads to my door with an umbrella (its still raining). My car has arrived and we head to the airport. My flight has been delayed 45 minutes already but I am still planning on arriving for the original flight time. I’ve had flights get delayed then changed back to the original time. I am getting a little anxious because last time I flew out of Bali my flight got cancelled and I got stuck another night in Bali. I really need to leave tonight.
Eventually it is time to check in. The lady at the counter seems to be asking me more questions than I see at the other counters and it is taking noticeably longer than everyone else. She requests the visa information so I am very glad I have arranged it in advance. Since they technically aren’t required for short stays would she have not let me board the plane without one? Even the visa she has issues with because one of the dates is labeled in an odd way. She has to get her manager involved. Eventually everything checks out and I am on my way. We board even later than the late boarding time but at least we are taking off. The nine plus hour flight is mostly uneventful except me not sleeping as much as I would have liked. I did binge watch a bunch of HBO shows though since I am not a current subscriber.
We arrive in Dubai and get off the plane in a remote site and take a bus to the gate. The bus ride is long. I start to realize how large this airport actually is. After a security check and a long walk I have to take another bus to terminal 2 to catch my connection. The whole commute from one plane to another takes over an hour. My original layover was 3 hours but now it’s reduced to two due to flight delays. I luckily make it to my gate just in time. Note to self: Never book a short layover in Dubai.
I arrive in Muscat and I have a driver waiting for me who takes me to my hotel. He has a hard time initially finding my hotel because google is wrong. Luckily the hotel is not too far away from the pin. Note: At the airport I was not asked to show my visa. Hilarious, I know.
I am at my hotel in Oman. I have booked an extra night since I have come in a day early. An extra day should come in handy in adjusting to the new time zone. My room is meh. I love this tour group but the hotels they choose in some countries are something to be desired. It is advertised as a 3 star but it is definitely a two. There are little details like cleanliness and the quality of the bedding and such that make the difference as well as things being generally outdated. It takes me 5 hours to figure out how to work the AC but I finally do. The funny thing is that there is a large bag of random things that is just in my room. I peeked and it is food items, bar of soap, bottle of shampoo and more. I leave it for now. Update: The next day housekeeping comes by to ask for it! The other part I don’t like is that smoke from another room seeps into my room at times. I don’t think its a non-smoking hotel so I am not sure there is much I can do about it. It’s only a couple of nights, not worth moving all my stuff to a different room.
Growing With Leala 