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land of gold and frankincense
Published in the April-June 2009 issue.
The Sultanate of Oman has put out the welcome mat to world travellers, and Robert La Bua discovers any number of reasons to visit.
Any country whose official name includes the word “sultanate” is bound to stir curiosity and wonder in the minds of western travellers, whose more familiar republics and federations are no match in the mystery stakes for faraway lands with exotic appellations. As those who’ve already been know, the Sultanate of Oman delivers us into waking fantasies of vivid flora and fauna, idyllic beaches, dramatic landscapes and friendly people.
This enigmatic country, long sheltered from the insidious invasions of the outside world, is now rolling out the welcome mat. Write about the many attractions of the Sultanate of Oman using cliches and buzzwords? It would be too easy, and unfair, to pigeonhole this extraordinary land with trite adjectives. If the satisfaction of travel can be defined as the degree to which expectations are superseded, then Oman is a traveller’s destination, effortlessly surpassing prior imaginings. One reason is simply that so few people know what to expect of the country. Another is the sheer quality of the attractions and experiences on offer in this land of make-be-real.
Oman is not a mass-market destination: there are no welcome booklets with coupons offering 25 percent off museum admission; no tour leaders waving flags, beckoning to dawdlers to move it up a gear. What you will find is a culture of welcome, in which a simple expression of interest in a fragrant aroma may see you whisked off to the fabled Amouage Perfume Factory showroom to inhale the heaven-scents of Oman’s legendary hospitality, or the admiration of a trinket in the souq could see it slipped into the bag with your purchase as a gift of appreciation.
Only recently have Oman’s attractions begun to see the light on a wider scale: the western world, ever more able to tap into the country’s appeal, is turning Oman into a bestseller. Yet the country is not overrun by tourists. Catering to intrepid trend-setters, who sand-board down the dunes of Wahiba Sands, smirking at reports of blizzards back home, Oman does not claim to offer something for everyone. It offers everything for everyone: what you do is up to you.
Here, you’ll find a diversity of attractions outclassing those of far larger countries. Its accessibility surpasses that of many a lesser travel destination, yet Oman remains untrammelled by tourist hordes – to the glee of the sand-boarders and trendsetters popping dates during afternoon tea.
Almost all travel to Oman begins among the discreet charms of its capital, Muscat. The crass brass and glass seen elsewhere in the region are happily absent here, in a city with building codes suitable to its superb setting. Nowhere do stark desert and mountainous terrain form a more beautiful backdrop to a city than here, where nearly all the buildings are white.
Muscat is Oman’s quiet minder, as stoic in its stewardship of the country’s development as it is enthusiastic about its burgeoning increase in recognition. Against the dramatic landscape, there are museums, souqs, mosques and five-star resorts as in other countries – yet Muscat is unlike anywhere else. It is a suitable introduction to the rest of the Sultanate of Oman, whose very name evokes a sense of excitement and exoticism.
On a map, Birkat Al Mawz is a speck; in real life, it is the apotheosis of the desert oasis we imagine in escapist revelry: thousands of deep-green palm trees packed into a narrow valley. From above, it is a river of botany; amid the trees, it’s a shady walk along the water. Where there are trees, there is water – which, in Oman, is cleverly transported by aflaj, ancient irrigation channels for modern times.
Nearby Nizwa, former capital of Oman, possesses an air of confidence that swirls around the imposing fort that surveys the town below. Perhaps this assurance contributes to Nizwa’s place as a centre of learning in a country where education is highly valued.
Just a short drive from Muscat lie Wadi Shab and Tiwi, coastal oases whose emerald waters flow to the sea. These recreational areas are favourites with hikers. Visitors seeking vast expanses of sand to confirm their pre-arrival preconceptions, and taken aback by the lush vegetation of Nizwa and Wadi Shab, will find solace at Wahiba Sands, where apparently endless dunes, unblemished by signs of significant life, spread far and wide.
Sur, which means “south” in Portuguese and “wind” in Arabic, offers one of Oman’s most memorable experiences. On the beaches of Sur, enormous green turtles come ashore each year from June to September to lay eggs in the sand – on the very same sand-strips where their own lives began decades earlier. Often, human development alters shorelines, causing turtles to lose their way. Oman, ever aware of the value of its natural resources, has so far prevented rampant development of the country’s tourism industry.
Exotic even for Omanis is the Dhofar region, an area that’s long been something of a world apart, home to the monsoonal khareef season that turns this part of the Arabian Peninsula into a verdant land, green enough to rival any emerald isle. Who knew? It is in Dhofar that the essence of Oman can be found – in this case, frankincense, once as valuable as gold and now prized for its aromatic and medicinal properties. No need to buy perfumes off the shelf in Dhofar: have a personal scent created just for you.
The Musandam Peninsula is Oman’s little secret. A territorial enclave at the northernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Musandam is a place of extravagant landscapes unlike those anywhere else in the world. The daily life of Musandam’s colourful residents would make an excellent screenplay, were a writer bold enough to dare conjure such a phantasmagorical society.
Would he or she give a few lines to the resourceful inhabitants of Kumzar, villagers with their own language living in a place accessible only by boat? Would he throw in an action scene featuring the parade of speedboats that criss-crosses the Straits of Hormuz?
On the surface, Musandam is a backwater; below that surface thrives a society whose “live-and-let-live” attitude contrasts with stereotypical portrayals of Gulf cultures as staunchly conservative. Perhaps it is its separation from the rest of the country or its position between cultures that puts the locals in a mind-set of their own.
Also below the surface lie Oman’s strikingly beautiful marine attractions. Oman is a water-lover’s paradise, with windsurfing, parasailing and other aquatic action easily available above the water, and much exploration of coastal underwater worlds to be had below. The waters off Oman are home to some of the richest dive sites on the planet.
Even beneath the sea, the Sultanate will surprise and entertain its guests – as any number of cobalt-blue denizens of the deep would be glad to confirm.
And where exactly is this land of travel plenty? The Sultanate of Oman is located in the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula. The country’s strategic position at the entrance to the Red Sea, a body of water that’s played vital trade and military roles for millennia, has seen it catch the eye of more than a few rulers, in the region and beyond.
Persians and Arabs were among the land’s first settlers, followed by the seafaring Portuguese. The expulsion of the Portuguese in the mid-seventeenth century saw Oman change from colony to ruler as the Omanis not only ousted the Europeans from their own land – they also helped run them out of various regional territories they controlled, Oman the only country in the Arab world to have been ruled by overseas territories but gained handsomely by it.
In recent times, Oman has undergone rapid modernisation under the guidance of Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, who ascended to the throne in 1970 and remains the beloved leader of an ever-stronger country. As the Omani Renaissance continues into the 21st century, the rest of the world will undoubtedly become more familiar with this low-key nation’s appeal. And the lucky few who visit soon will see for themselves why the Sultanate of Oman is a destination of choice among those in the know. •
Photography by Robert Le Bua and the Omani Ministry of Tourism.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
getting around
where to stay
- See our following hotels and resorts story for accommodation choices in Oman.
further information
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