Oman... O MAN!
I just got back from Oman.
Oman is slowly emerging from its hermit shell, revealing a land of friendly people and dramatic landscapes peppered with forts. Although it remains, in many ways, the most traditional country in the region, it's often more outward looking than it's given credit for.
Although Oman is viewed by many as one of the most traditional Arab countries left in the Middle East, it is far more developed than Saudi Arabia. Unlike Saudi, alcohol and pork are allowed in the country, and women are allowed to vote (with 5 already serving as the heads of ministries). Although there is still censorship here, the people seem to be very proud of their government. The Omani government, unlike the Saudi government spends a great deal of its money towards the welfare of the Omani people. Whether it’s starting a business, buying a house, or receiving health care, the government pays a huge portion of the cost. I thought this was pretty phat.
Oman is a beautiful country which has far less than Saudi Arabia in terms of resources and money, but I believe has far more to offer its people. When I first stepped off the plane at the Seeb International Airport in Muscat, I admit I had my misgivings about the whole trip. The airport was run down, and kind of dingy, and we had to take a bus from our airplane to the terminal, which overall, spoke “ghetto” to me. The entire place also did not look all too different from Saudi, with buildings of traditional Islamic architecture, which made me wonder what exactly there would be for me to see here. It WAS 12 midnight however, and dark, and little did I know that any misgivings I had that night would be completely erased the next day.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Muscat. We tried to gain a reservation for the prestigious palace-turned-hotel Al-Bustan Palace, but that place was full. Oman has amazing scenery to offer all who make the journey to its land. It is honestly the only place I have seen where huge mountains, barren desert, lush vegetation, and blue ocean have existed all right next to each other. This is the view I awoke to, and as it turns out, was the typical scenery on an average drive to anywhere in the city. It really was beautiful. The moist, fertile conditions served as an ideal environment for green vegetation, making Muscat appear nothing like the dry, sandy landscape of Saudi Arabia which I was used to seeing.
The biggest difference I saw between the people of Oman and Saudi lay in the personalities of the citizens Strangely, this can be summed up each nation’s cab drivers. In Muscat, many of the cab drivers actually took the time to learn English so that they could converse with any tourists they took around. They were incredibly nice, and sensing that we were tourists, they were always giving us bits of history of Oman, or telling us which landmarks were the best to see and when they were open, what dress code was appropriate. I had always heard from other Arabs that Saudi Arabia was among the most hated by all of the other Arab nations, but until now, I did not believe or understand why. One of our Omani tour guides told us of how he tried to visit Saudi, and the customs officials mishandled his passport, hassled him, and almost threw him in jail. This stuff had happened to me as well (except for the jail part), but I usually thought it was because I was an American teenager and they were profiling or something. Omani people just seemed to be a whole lot more laid back, social, and nicer in general. Now, I’m pretty sure the fact that we were tourists with wads of cash to spend helped them be just a liiiiitle bit nicer, but hey – I’m just going on what I saw.
Culturally, Oman did not seem to offer as much as Saudi Arabia, and this is my only complaint. But then again, it would be hard for ANY Islamic country to compete culturally with Saudi, the Islamic capital. Because we were only in Muscat for four days, we did not get a chance to venture outside of the capital, and I believe this is also a big reason why we didn’t see more culture than we did. There is tons to see in Oman, with large, colurful mosques decorating the city every few miles, the most beautiful being the Grand Mosque. We also saw the official palace of the ruling Sultan, as well as a few old mud forts built by the Portuguese in the 1600's. In all seriousness, the wads of pictures I took cannot even begin to do justice in portraying the coolness of all I saw.
Although tourism is fast becoming one of the major industries of Oman, and, like Dubai, it is starting to feel like much of Muscat has been built specifically to fuel the growth of this industry, I still had a great time. I took tons of photos (which will be posted in the next few days), and even brought one of the funny hats which the locals wear (which, if you're cool enough I'll wear for you). So if you're looking to visit new land with a beautiful landscape, a strong middle eastern flavor, an open minded view of westerners and western ideas, I would mos def recommend Oman at a place to go.
Oman is slowly emerging from its hermit shell, revealing a land of friendly people and dramatic landscapes peppered with forts. Although it remains, in many ways, the most traditional country in the region, it's often more outward looking than it's given credit for.
Although Oman is viewed by many as one of the most traditional Arab countries left in the Middle East, it is far more developed than Saudi Arabia. Unlike Saudi, alcohol and pork are allowed in the country, and women are allowed to vote (with 5 already serving as the heads of ministries). Although there is still censorship here, the people seem to be very proud of their government. The Omani government, unlike the Saudi government spends a great deal of its money towards the welfare of the Omani people. Whether it’s starting a business, buying a house, or receiving health care, the government pays a huge portion of the cost. I thought this was pretty phat.
Oman is a beautiful country which has far less than Saudi Arabia in terms of resources and money, but I believe has far more to offer its people. When I first stepped off the plane at the Seeb International Airport in Muscat, I admit I had my misgivings about the whole trip. The airport was run down, and kind of dingy, and we had to take a bus from our airplane to the terminal, which overall, spoke “ghetto” to me. The entire place also did not look all too different from Saudi, with buildings of traditional Islamic architecture, which made me wonder what exactly there would be for me to see here. It WAS 12 midnight however, and dark, and little did I know that any misgivings I had that night would be completely erased the next day.
We stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Muscat. We tried to gain a reservation for the prestigious palace-turned-hotel Al-Bustan Palace, but that place was full. Oman has amazing scenery to offer all who make the journey to its land. It is honestly the only place I have seen where huge mountains, barren desert, lush vegetation, and blue ocean have existed all right next to each other. This is the view I awoke to, and as it turns out, was the typical scenery on an average drive to anywhere in the city. It really was beautiful. The moist, fertile conditions served as an ideal environment for green vegetation, making Muscat appear nothing like the dry, sandy landscape of Saudi Arabia which I was used to seeing.
The biggest difference I saw between the people of Oman and Saudi lay in the personalities of the citizens Strangely, this can be summed up each nation’s cab drivers. In Muscat, many of the cab drivers actually took the time to learn English so that they could converse with any tourists they took around. They were incredibly nice, and sensing that we were tourists, they were always giving us bits of history of Oman, or telling us which landmarks were the best to see and when they were open, what dress code was appropriate. I had always heard from other Arabs that Saudi Arabia was among the most hated by all of the other Arab nations, but until now, I did not believe or understand why. One of our Omani tour guides told us of how he tried to visit Saudi, and the customs officials mishandled his passport, hassled him, and almost threw him in jail. This stuff had happened to me as well (except for the jail part), but I usually thought it was because I was an American teenager and they were profiling or something. Omani people just seemed to be a whole lot more laid back, social, and nicer in general. Now, I’m pretty sure the fact that we were tourists with wads of cash to spend helped them be just a liiiiitle bit nicer, but hey – I’m just going on what I saw.
Culturally, Oman did not seem to offer as much as Saudi Arabia, and this is my only complaint. But then again, it would be hard for ANY Islamic country to compete culturally with Saudi, the Islamic capital. Because we were only in Muscat for four days, we did not get a chance to venture outside of the capital, and I believe this is also a big reason why we didn’t see more culture than we did. There is tons to see in Oman, with large, colurful mosques decorating the city every few miles, the most beautiful being the Grand Mosque. We also saw the official palace of the ruling Sultan, as well as a few old mud forts built by the Portuguese in the 1600's. In all seriousness, the wads of pictures I took cannot even begin to do justice in portraying the coolness of all I saw.
Although tourism is fast becoming one of the major industries of Oman, and, like Dubai, it is starting to feel like much of Muscat has been built specifically to fuel the growth of this industry, I still had a great time. I took tons of photos (which will be posted in the next few days), and even brought one of the funny hats which the locals wear (which, if you're cool enough I'll wear for you). So if you're looking to visit new land with a beautiful landscape, a strong middle eastern flavor, an open minded view of westerners and western ideas, I would mos def recommend Oman at a place to go.
posted by Chris at 12:08 PM
1 Comments:
I did the Oman thing back in grade eight, but we did it a little differently. We went camping in the desert and didn't see any of the man made things that you were talking about. I will agree with you that they have their head on straight in regards to infrastructure, but I disagree with you saying that the Saudis are the most hated Arabs; as everyone knows it’s the Kuwaitis! :)
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