Muscat …. not Muskrat

 Kathy was not feeling well enough to go to shore today.  So you will have to put up with my writing for this post.  We took off from the pier before most of the buses to beat the crowds to the first big sight…the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.  On the way we saw a awful lot of very neat, tidy, clean and well ordered buildings.  Numerous ministries of this, that and the other, all clean fresh and beautifully landscaped in one area.  There were also museums, various schools (both public and private) as well as a fabulous Opera House for performing arts and cultural ceremonial preservation; in another area near-by.  There were also usual commercial shopping areas with many familiar names like Lulu. 

Down near the water and beach there was a stretch for embassy row, but today there were some VIPs in the area so the police were restricting access. I was disappointed because I wanted to see if the American embassy looked like an out of place fortress as it does in so many places we’ve been. (They often as not look like prisons with all the barbed wire and high walls). The hotel area was not far from the embassies and near the beach.

Opeera house

All this super nice, clean, neat building is new since the sultan over threw his father in 1970.  Even with the discovery of oil in 1962, the old sultan did not do much for his country, but sit in his palace and recluse away.  Qaboos, as we said, has shown himself to be an oil fired terror at building, based on his plans for a big future.  What we saw in Salalah was the active construction starting phase with all the dirt and unfinished buildings and we see here vision largely done.  And the result is good.

By the way, all this neatness is not without a significant amount of government input; both money and many rules.  No residential buildings shall be taller than 3 stories; commercial buildings are limited to 9 stories and ALL exteriors must be white (except I note, mosques and royal property). This whiteness gives a vision of a sea of white buildings when one approaches the port.  This is supposed to be to prevent visual “pollution” , preserve a cultural norm and save energy (makes sense).

The beach did have people out enjoying the ocean….not many, but a whole lot more than the zero we saw in Salalah.  Not surprising that the hotel area is close to the water.  It is rather clear that Qaboos and his advisors are planning for that time when oil runs out.  They know that to fall back on the traditional trade in dates, mother of pearl and fish won’t hack it . They are obviously aiming at the tourist trade. They have a special school for hospitality management and related subjects.  In fact that is where our guide for today is doing his post-grad work.

Women's area

That huge carpet and chandeliers
in the men's section

Holy cow!  The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is a stunner!  The outside is lovely and surrounded by beautiful gardens with fountains and running water as well as golf-green like grassy area.  It also has a generous car park with trees shading almost every space; cars don’t get hot. The women’s area has a very large, hand woven rug from Iran and 4 Swarovski Crystal chandeliers and 2 TV monitors on the wall so they can see the Imam. That’s all beautiful, when you are a man you get much more!

Some statistics for the men’s prayer room (hall is a better word).  It’s huge. Nearly 300ft x 300 ft (1 football field by 1 football field).  It has 36 Swarovski crystal chandeliers; 35 the same size as the 4 in the women’s area and one outsized one in the middle.  The big one is nearly 120ft tall, under an ornate dome, has 110 light bulbs and weighs 18,000 pounds.  This is the 2^nd largest single piece (was 1^st till the one recently done for Dubai) hand woven oriental rug on the floor.  It covers the whole area and was woven in Iran by 600 women AND it outweighs the big chandelier at over 48,000 pounds.

When asked about the cost of this magnificent project we were told that is unknown as all the money came from the Sultan's own pocket and one does not tell of the cost of their charitable work.

Our guide was very anxious to explain the rituals and actually “prayed” one of the shorter prayers for us.  The way he held his eyes half shut and sort of sang the prayer made me think that this comes from having been required to memorize it from  5 years old.  He then told us about all that memorization and when asked he said that children did not come to the mosque until 10 or older so as to not break the concentration of prayer.

The walk to the 'covered' parking lot.

We did ask about his family.  He has 8 sisters and 4 brothers, but his father has only the one wife for all those. He also told us about the rules for choosing a wife; it’s the same as the other places around here…no surprise. If you choose to marry a second wife, the first wife has to agree.  And if the first wife doesn’t want the second wife to live with them, the husband has to build the second wife a home as nice as the first wie’s home.  Also, whatever presents he gets for Wife #1, he has to also get for Wife # 2.  With the ability to have 4 wives, this could be an expensive proposition.

Sultan's yacht

Bos in front of Sultan's office

One last item.  We see lots of men wearing the mussars, those little embroidered caps, and the turbans. Yossef pointed out that the turban goes over the mussar and is wrapped on in a specific way.  He then demonstrated the wrap for us.  Certainly more complicated than tying a tie. We then learned that all the public sector employees are required to wear the white dishdash and a specific patterned turban done just so.  Also the school kids do this too.  He wasn’t sure what the specific rules of dress for the girls/women are, but they also are uniform.

Oh man! It's Salalah, Oman

Oman.  Where is Oman?  Better yet, what is Oman?  You may never have thought about Oman.  I know I certainly had never thought about such a small country, smack dab in the middle of a lot of Middle Eastern power house countries vying for world attention.  How little we know.

Seal of Oman on Palace gate

Sultan's palace in Salalah

You see, we may not know a whole lot about these countries, but John Kerry and Uncle Sam knew way more than we did.  So, way back in December of 2011, then Senator John Kerry, with the blessing of the Obama administration, flew to Oman on a commercial flight to give a present of an architecture book to the Sultan of Oman, Sultan Qaboos.  Why, you are probably asking.  I was.  Well, he approached the Sultan to help us open a dialogue with recalcitrant Iran on their nuclear intentions.

It had been more than 30 years since the US had had talks with Iran.  And we needed help to bridge that gap.  So Sultan Qaboos, long known as a moderate ruler, did his work and – 2 years later – we are communicating with Iran.

Pretty remarkable for a small Sultanate on the Indian Ocean, across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, tucked in between Yemen, the UAE, and Dubai.  So now is a time for a bit of a history lesson from our first day in Salala, Oman, the 3^rd largest city in this small but obviously powerful Middle Eastern country.

One of the few people we saw out and about.

A gold souk we were lead to.

Buying frankensense with our guide's help.

We were met yesterday morning with a young university man dressed in traditional garb whose job it was to stuff us with info about his country while showing us the “sites”.  Actually we only saw men and women in “traditional garb” in this country, compared to other countries we have visited.  By that I mean, men wear a long ankle length coat-like robe with stand-up collars.  On their heads, the men wear mussars, either a wrapped headscarf with fringes or a simpler round caps with embroidery.  And all men were dressed like that.  I asked our guide, Mohammed, what, if anything he wore underneath and he showed us a loosely woven cloth somewhat like our cheesecloth that men wrap around their bodies from the waist down.  That’s it.  Oh, and the ubiquitous sandals on their feet.  Women, on the other hand, wear the dishdasha also, but with loose-fitting trousers that gather at the ankles and a head scarf called a lihaf.  Of course, we saw more than our share of women in abayas and even burqas, only the eyes peeking out.

Qaboos Grand Mosque of Salalah

Our guide and driver entering the mosque.

Courtyard of Grand mosque

One of dozens of nooks with beautifully
bound Holy Qrans on the walls of the
main prayer room.

Main prayer room of the Grand Mosque

Kathy and Mohammed as we leave the Grand Mosque

Oman is a hot, dry climate reminding me of Arizona.  It only gets 3.9 inches of rain, usually only in January.  And there are parts of the country that get no rain – zip, nada—so water has to be pumped from the mountains there.  Temps can get as high as 122 in the summer.  See why Arizona? 

Camels wandering freely in the reserve area

Camels in the market

Stand with dried camel meat just waiting for the lunch crowd.

Goats by the truckload.

But Arizona does not have a camel market.  We visited a camel market, and saw gobs of camels wandering all over the landscape.  Camels are used for meat, although Mohammed said it is tough even after cooking for hours and hours, for milk, for racing, and for long-haul moves!  Cheaper than a moving van for the  Bedouins?  The camel market looked to me like a US cattle feeding lot before slaughter.  So I asked Mohammed who buys camels?  Apparently, it is a good market.  If you want a racing camel, you can find one there, but he will cost you more than the others.  Roughly the price of small car! And a heavy milk-producing camel is also a good buy.  You do mark your camels with tattoos, so, as they wander all over, you can pick out your brood.  And, while driving past camels, we saw several large tents with lots of regalia.

Mohammed told us those were wedding tents.  As it was a holiday, the day was chosen for a wedding. BUT the people attending the wedding were only men.  They eat and drink all day without women.  The women have a party of their own.  I asked Mohammed when the actual ceremony happened and this puzzled him.  Apparently, there is no official ceremony.  When the bride’s father agrees to the marriage, it is a done deal.  It felt a little paternalistic – and anticlimactic.  They still have a dowry system, so the bride goes to the gold market and buys a few thousand dollars of gold and the young couple probably lives with either set of parents after the non-ceremony.  No long white dress.  No church filled with flowers.  No dancing at a reception, unless the men dance together in their tents!

Wedding party tent. One of many we saw today.

Up close on wedding party; all men in white.

Empty beach front properties

Beautiful long sand beaches for miles.

The biggest difference is it has some of the most beautiful beaches we have seen in any part of the world – white soft sand and gentle blue-green waves lapping the shores.  It was a holiday when we were there yesterday and we asked Mohammed why the beaches were deserted on such a day.  He was vague in his answer, but told us women could not wear swim suits of any kind – had to swim in their dishdashis.  My thought: ugh.  The government, which is really Sultan Qaboos as he is an absolute ruler of the country, has bought up all the structures along the beaches and is planning on building hotels, restaurants, in the area. They are counting on those Europeans, especially Germans, coming for holidays in the future.  The beaches looked as good as our favorite beaches in Bermuda --- and that is saying a whole lot.

On to Qaboos. (Fun to say, since it sounds like “caboose”).  He overthrew his father the Sultan in 1970 to take control of the country.  His father was a kind of recluse.  At the time, the country had only 3 schools and 2 hospitals. The population was illiterate. People were living in poverty while the Sultan lived within his palace in great splender.  The new sultan, Qaboos, had other plans.  He has been on major building projects in the country, new airports, new housing,  lots of schools, hospitals, roads, parks and mosques.  And he is paying for it with newly discovered oil.  So there are no taxes for their citizens.  And, as expected, the Omanis love their now 70 year old Sultan. 

One looming problem: Sultan Qaboos has no heirs.  In fact, he is not married.  While this could be a big problem, he feels he has solved it by including his family in the discussions of who should succeed him.  If they can agree, that person will be the new sultan.  If not, he has written a name on a piece of paper, sealed it, and stored it away to be opened only if no agreement can be made within 3 days of his passing!

But back to Oman.  It has only 3.3 million people, compared to Yemen next door with 24 million people.  Its GDP is $71.7 billion in US dollars, which works out to nealy $24,000 per person – a relatively prosperous country with a 9% growth rate.

It is a Muslim country and has a gorgeous new mosque built in 2009,  air conditioned with a Swardoski crystal chandelier.  When one enters the mosque, you need to take off your foot coverings, wash your hands, face, mouth, nose and feet before worshipping, which happens 5 times a day. 

Now, about women and Islam.  Women are not allowed to worship in the mosque.  To visit the mosque, a woman, which included we tourists, had to cover our heads, and wear pants to cover our ankles, long sleeve shirts to cover our wrists and, may I say, in 90+ weather; it was darn hot!  To see women all over Oman covered head to toe made me so glad to be American!  However, Qaboos, when he took over, did decree (you can do that when you are an absolute ruler!) women will not cover their faces in public places.  And he has allowed women to vote, although any elected officials serve at his pleasure!

Reading the Bible, or was it just the Christmas story? I always wondered why those Wise Men visiting baby Jesus brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh?  Well, if that thought has ever crossed your mind, frankincense is one of the major products of Oman.  And it comes from frankincense trees that they “milk” similar to maple syrup trees, by cutting slits in the bark and the stuff oozes out.  It smells like perfume, so of course we are bringing some home.   

Our guide with the frankincense tree

Showing us how to draw the sap that
hardens into frankincense.

Frankincense forming from the cuts.

Coconut market;  another good export crop.

Yes, this was Thanksgiving Day.

A French quick response helicopter cruiser
as part of the international anti-pirate task force
in the waters of the region.

            

Ho Hum Pirates…

Here we sit.  Well, not exactly “sit” as we are "knotting" away at a good clip.  But our TIME is coming.  The cruise director came on the tv this morning to warn us that tonight we need to keep our room darkening curtains closed, all outside lights off and only necessary inside lights on.  It’s time for the PIRATES!!

What that means is we are going to be, about 3:30 this afternoon, going through a really tight squeezy place where we are on one way 2 miles from Somalia and the other way 16 miles from Somolia.  Somolia is where those tricky pirates like to hang out. 

Yemen coast 6 miles off port side as we leave the Red Sea

Coast of Djibouti and Eritrea 10 miles to the starboard

I know this stuff because I watched the movie “Captain Phillips” before we left St. Louis.  And it is a great movie with Tom Hanks, who does an extraordinary job of portraying a captain of a large ship under siege (kinda like with the Crusaders, only not).  I note that, although they have a full library of streaming movies onboard, they do not have “Captain Phillips” or any of the Jack Sparrow movies included.  And not even any of those oldies with pirates, parrots, and maidens to be rescued.  There are no books about that stuff either, in case you are interested.

Passengers relaxed and napping next sonic cannon.

One sonic "cannon" mounted aft.

One of 20 or more water cannons mounted on ship's
perimeter.

So this may be the real thing.  Bos and I will be sitting on our deck, casually reading our kindles, waiting at 3:31 p.m. for the appearance in the not-far distance of little rowboats zooming up.  Or not.  I may choose to take a nap.  Or maybe watch another movie.  We watched “Jobs” last night and, hard to believe, it was very good!  I also have some Mary Tyler Moore and a couple of Marilyn Monroe flicks. 

Ice cream choices at poolside.

And I wonder what happens to us if we, by accident, leave our curtains open? Or we keep unnecessary lights on?  Who is the judge?  Do they put us in the “brig”?  Do we go on bread and water?  (Might be good for us at this point!)  Or do they throw us overboard to the pirates or the sharks, of which we have seen none.

Am I a daredevil?  Or not…

Chaos Amidst Calm…

This is our second sea day and, while (or whilst, which I like much better, as the Brits say it) the Red Sea is calm and quiet, things aboard are getting hairy.  You see, the cruise line tries to keep things lively during these “down times.”  And this is precisely what I don’t want!

SCENE 1:  The deck has many many lounges as well as many many round picnic tables with and without umbrellas.  And that is part of the rub.  You see, on days like this when everyone is onboard, there are not enough of anything.  Early in the morning, as the sun is coming up, you will see a few clever folk surreptitiously sneaking up to the deck to “lay claim” to their favorite beach lounges.  This means they put their books, suntan lotion, hats, shoes on “their” lounges – and then go back down to their cabins to take a late morning nap.  You see, they would need 700 lounges up there to accommodate all the guests, sort of like providing 700 seats on lifeboats if something were to happen!

SCENE 2: Shortly thereafter the cruise director can be heard on the intercom saying, somewhat sweetly, “Do not leave your possessions on the lounges or we may have to remove them.”  He doesn’t mean “sweetly.”  He just says it that way until another hour passes and he has to repeat the message with more force.

SCENE 3: In the meantime, more and more passengers in their swimsuits (even bikinis, which, believe me, should never be seen on women of a certain age!) come up to the pool deck and start ogling the lounges they would like to take possession of!  And ogling and ogling.  Until the cruise director gives another somewhat hoarse message about possessions and lounges. But the passengers, by this time, are on their 2^nd or 3^rd bloody mary and are in no way going to give up THEIR lounge to the oglers!  Doesn’t matter how nasty everyone gets!  Possession is the first point of law, right??

SCENE 4: And it is about this time when the kitchen crew starts setting up for their outdoor luncheon buffet.  On shore days you can grab a quick hot dog or hamburger here.  But that is not creative enough for sea days.  So today we are having an Indian bonanza lunch out in the sun.  Yesterday it was a Tex-Mex extravaganza lunch and before that a Caribbean lunch. We’ve had Cantonese lunches there and Seafood lunches.  You name it, it’s some kind of funky food in the blazing sun.  And, since it is a buffet, people gather around, pile their plates full of the de rigeur cuisine of the day and let it all run together in the middle of the plate, while trying to keep an eye on their lounge.

SCENE 5: The problem of this is that they, the poachers of lounges, have momentarily left their lounges to eat and drink.  And those, oglers, remember them, are surreptitiously throwing books, sandals, hats on the floor and occupying the choice lounges now empty.  Until the original poachers get back.  And arguments ensue.  And cruise directors sonorously tell them to not hold on to their lounges all day.  And the Caribbean band and singers sing on … and play their instruments like we were somewhere in the Caribbean.  Splash.  Those are the few swimmers who try out the swimming pool and the very lukewarm hot tubs.

Fun, right?  Well, for this stodgy person, I prefer to curl up in the cool of my cabin, listening to my iPod with soothing “California” music, reading one of my 85 books in my kindle and once in a while, giggling to myself about the child-like adult fights over lounges, plates of buffet food. And then I just call room service. “Ketut?  Could I have a club sandwich brought to our room, please?  Thank you.”

A day at sea…