There was a momentary pause before I bundled myself into the taxi today, just as I caught sight of the ‘stuff’ magazines neatly placed in the backseat holders. I should have guessed. By this point I had already named the driver Guiseppe, mainly due to his Greco attire of navy suit, oil slick locks and sunglasses on this overcast and dribbly British morning.
While bikini clad girls stared ‘seductively’ at me from their front page triumph, I began to stare forlornly out the window at the rain, reminiscing about the previous week's gallivants when I also had been bikini clad, hop scotching the boiling hot Oman beach sand, straight into the cool relief of the air con of the humungous German embassy with it's decor fit for a Disney princess.
It is not often that the opportunity arrives for a visit to Oman, less often to stay in an embassy residence, but my friend’s aunt had recently acquired the post of Omani German ambassador. Even without this added ‘extra’, for all those with an interest in the Middle East, Oman is definitely worth the comparative visit. First we had to cross our fingers for a week, eyeballing Eyjafjallajokull’s ash movements. Volcano permitting, It would be a feeble sixth in my ultimate bid to see all the Arabic and Middle Eastern countries of the world.
Oman’s capital Muscat is similar to its neighbouring Dubai in that it is brand new, slightly artificial and a confusing juxtaposition of middle-east and Starbucks culture. Unlike Dubai the expats aren’t the majority and the locals make an avid point to wear their traditional dress of white ‘dishdash’ and hat or headwrap at all times, be they gunning it down and overcutting people on the perilous roads in their brand new Ferraris, or hanging out in the hotel bar with a pint and a prostitute. I wouldn’t ask for a photograph, this never seems to go down well.
The architecture is a lot less masculine and overpowering than Dubai. Government laws placing limits on construction height serve well to protect the views of the area’s stunning mountainous landscape and although they are new, a real effort is made to maintain the traditional Gulf feel of the mostly uniform white buildings, with ogee arches, intricate stone carvings and stained glass windows, particularly in the embassy quarters. Further out of Muscat, houses surrounded by vast desert plains are more colourful... blues, greens, yellows, we even came across this entirely pink, Barbie inspired number.
Private beaches are available for a spot of ‘gawp free’ sunbathing, one of which, to our delighted boozy discovery, at night evolves every month into hosting a red bull sponsored, (albeit tamer) version of Thailand’s full moon event. No? Fancy a spot of culture? Well Oman has forts, lots of them, and old scribblings on the rocks are still visible from passing ships, dating as far back as the 1800s. This we saw in conjunction with a day of dolphin watching, which can be done by hiring a boat and a driver for a couple of hours for around 100 pounds in total (20 pounds each).
Other activities include off road driving through wadis or dried up lakes (prone to flash floods) and mountains for which you need a 4x4 and which nearly gave me about five heart attacks in total, despite our very capable driver. The latter is a good opportunity to get to the heart of Oman’s natural environment as well as to witness the oasis and mountain living. If you’re an outdoorsy type, this can also be combined with trekking and camping and if you like the company of goats, lots of goats, this is definitely one for you.
How I wish that volcanic ash cloud had managed to time itself just that little bit better to give us more time, and allow for less of those early starts in our valiant bid to cram all this in, as well as give us that extra edge on our roof top suntans, but alas it was not meant to be.
Now home, at least I have some gorgeous souq purchased trifles to make me smile as I shiver in my embittered ball of copious knitwear.
not to forget the uber cool tea cosy :)
Should you wish to learn more about Oman and gain a more in depth knowledge of it's personal face then perhaps read this blog written by a few local Omani women.
http://howtolivelikeanomaniprincess.blogspot.com/
