New Year’s Eve in The Desert,

 

Sadly, the night of December 31 was the low point of an otherwise very pleasant trip to Oman.  In a fluke, I decided to travel to the sunny sultanate to avoid hardships in France: transport strikes and energy shortages were predicted during the holidays.  Strikes there were but I managed to avoid them and the weather was far too warm to force power outages. Oman is about eight hours from Paris and the day flight over Anatolia was mesmerizing: Barren valleys and snowcapped mountains, the rugged sea coastline of the Black Sea.  We flew near the snowcapped Süphan Volcano and Lake Van.  What was equally fascinating was the dense air traffic.  In one hour, I counted 12 planes flying at different levels.  The war in Ukraine has forced many airlines to divert flights and use the Turkish airspace: President Erdoḡan is ripping a nice profit from these overflight fees.

                                                                  Suphan Volcano and Lake Van

I first visited Oman in January 1991.  My one-week mission took place during the first Gulf war.  Although Oman was a rear base for the British forces participating in the offensive against Saddam Hussein’s army, the country was unfazed by the military bustles.  My mission was purely of geological nature.  The director of the mining department was French educated having grown up in Burundi.  He invited me for dinner at his home and I met his wife also from Burundi.  I kept very fond memories of Muscat, the capital, the surrounding mountains, and the country’s friendly inhabitants.  Omanis in their majority are adept of the Ibadism form of Islam, regarded are more progressive, inclusive and tolerant than the other variants.  I always promised myself to come back as a tourist.

From classical and medieval times, the Omani have been seafarers and sea traders.  They sailed far and wide and colonized the whole coast of Eastern Africa where they fought against the Portuguese colonizers.  For nearly 150 years the Portuguese occupied Muscat (1507-1650).  During the 19^th century, the Sultanate of Zanzibar was the Omani base in East Africa from where settlers and traders looking for slaves and ivory moved inland.

Oman is often compared to the Switzerland of the Middle East; however, the concept of neutrality is a bit of a stretch in the region.  Four 50 years, Oman was steered in a very pragmatic and diplomatic manner by the late Sultan Qaboos who, through non-interference in local conflicts, hedged his bet to ensure the self-preservation and development of his small country.  Sultan Qaboos was a leader like no other and has become a regional icon.  From a backward country, he transformed Oman into a regional power and a tolerant society.  He raised the standard of living and abolished slavery.  Knowing that oil and gas were limited resources he opened Oman to tourism, heritage tourism in particular.

Although it is a much larger country, Oman is less familiar to visitors than the emirates.  It is nearly as large as Poland.  Compared to the emirates, Oman appears to be like a genuine country with a more diverse economy and a rich tourism potential.  In four full days, we were only able to sample Oman’s cultural attractions west and south of Muscat: Wahiba desert; traditional oasis villages, falaj irrigation system and historic fortresses in the Al Hamra and Jebel Shama mountainous regions; port Sur and old and new Muscat.  We also sailed in the company of Indian Ocean dolphins. 

To improve the living standards of the rural population, Sultan Qaboos encouraged them to move out of their adobe houses to modern housing in the plains near the oasis the source of their livelihood.  As a result, traditional villages were abandoned, and many are partly ruined.  Now, efforts are directed towards restoring the village’s best house to attract tourists.  Oman is at the forefront in this initiative.  I remember visiting Libya where similar relocation took place (to better control the population, not for their wellbeing!) and efforts were made to showcase model villages, all short-term propaganda.  Misfah offers pretty scenery: the earth color of the crumbling village against the greenery of the oasis.

Being the oldest independent nation in the Arab world, Oman has many centers of power to prove it.  The country is peppered with powerful forts and castles all built in adobe, some dating from the Middle Age.  The frankincense trade contributed to the wealth of its leaders.  The forts have been beautifully restored and are worth visiting.   Muscat corniche and harbor are flanked with three imposing forts all built by the Portuguese during the 16^th century, the main legacy of their 150-year occupation.  Muscat must have reminded the Portuguese sailors of another rugged coast with a safe harbor: the Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro.  Visiting Muscat, I couldn’t stop seeing the parallel between the two cities.  Both display a historic urbanization of coves and plains between barren hills (no longer in Rio, now occupied by favelas).  The city is very spread out, Muscat’s modern urban developments are inland.

Coincidentally, the Portuguese occupation of Muscat strengthened Oman’s trading with India.  As soon as the Portuguese were kicked out of Muscat, the ships of the East India Company came to port in a friendly arrangement.  Following Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt, Britain developed a fixation on the Corsican general (not yet the Ogre).  It believed that he had imperialistic views on India.  In 1798, to protect its colonial property, Britain signed a formal friendship treaty with the sultan.  Oman became a British protectorate in 1891 and gained its independence in 1951.

Tourists love to rent Toyota SUVs even though the roads are in mint conditions.  If petrol is cheap: US$ 0.62/liter (when we were there), fines are hefty and reckless drivers may end up in jail.  The 120 km/h speed limit of is therefore well respected.   Oman is not the thrilling off-road Dakar Rally which in spite of its name takes place in neighboring Saudi Arabia.  Cars in Oman must be kept spick and span, a dusty car is an offence which carries a US$ 26 fine.  Anyway, it is ill advised for tourists to drive in the desert.  Foreigners and expat workers from Asia can no longer work as paid drivers; this job is now restricted to Omanis males and females.  Interestingly, Muscat has a fleet of female taxi drivers; only family and women are allowed to board their white and pink taxis. 

To explore the golden dunes of the Sharqiyah desert, we were driven by young Omanis wearing immaculate white dishdasha, their heads covered with either the stylish massar turban or the embroidered kumma.  The desert is easily accessible from Muscat and therefore popular with tourists and tour operators, sadly that is.  The Arabian Oryx Camp promised a Bedouin experience for New Year Eve.  I wondered if we had not joined a stage of the Dakar rally, the camp was such a hassle bustle with hordes of German and Italian tourists (my travel group was small, only 13 passengers).  Actually, there were Oryx antelopes to see, but the poor beasts were kept in a dirty enclosure at the entrance of the camp.  There were no tents but air-conditioned bungalows.  Style had been traded for comfort; esthetically, the bungalows did not match with the desert.  My bungalow looked like something out of a North American camping ground.

Our sunset Happy Hour in the dunes was a letdown: a pale sun and a glass of watery and warm Limoncello.  The buffet dinner was dry and taken in a nondescript shed.  I had smuggled a small bottle of Prosecco which I sadly and surreptitiously drank when waiting for a Bedouin show that never took place.  Otherwise, Oman is a great place to visit.