In April 2006, some BSP members and friends visited Oman, the land of frankincense and roses. Here is our story...

Thursday 6th April 2006

This was my first visit to the Middle East. Our first glimpse of Oman came as the plane was making its descent in the early morning light of Thursday morning. We could see the coastline, and the sea looked calm and still, just like a mill-pond! (Is it the Arabian Sea, or the Indian Ocean?) My first impressions, as we were coming in to land, all the buildings I could see, were white.

We changed some money and purchased our visas. There was no form to fill in, but they stamped our passports. Then we had a brief wait until our transport arrived, which was two mini buses.

We transferred to the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which was at the top of a hill. The view of the hotel from the base of the hill reminded me of a cruise ship with decks and windows. We had to wait a while until our rooms were ready. All we wanted to do was sleep, after the overnight flight. Finally we got our keys, went to our room and crashed out on the bed for a couple of hours, at least!

We met at 1.30 p.m. in the poolside bar, for lunch beside the pool. Our table overlooked the stunning view over the bay and the sea which was a deep blue. It was very hot with a warm, but not at all cooling, breeze. I said, “I wish I could do “work” like this, every day!” Sima said, “What inspiration can you get from the palm trees?” I suggested dates and coconuts. The menu was English-style, but I noticed the Club Sandwich consisted of “turkey ham”. Instead, I went for a steak baguette with melted mozzarella, which came with fries and coleslaw. A poor, thin little cat was hovering under the tables waiting for food (I secretly saved it some steak!)

After lunch our transport returned, this time in the form of a small coach, and drove us first to a large, palatial hotel – this, we were told, is where royalty and film stars stay when in Muscat. Not the Crowne Plaza, then?! We went inside and there was a 3-dimensional model of a fort in the entrance hall. We experienced, for the first time of many, the evocative aroma of frankincense burning. The interior of the hotel was very sumptuous with exotic furnishings, ceramics and a large fountain in the centre.

Then we were driven past the Sultan’s Palace, but the bus did not stop for us to get out. Then we went to a cultural museum. We had to surrender our cameras while we went inside and looked at examples of Omani clothing, home furnishings and weapons and utensils. We learned that the traditional white gown that many of the Omani men wear, is called the dishdashah, and the traditional shaped dagger that can be carried, the khanjar.

After the museum we went to the Muttrah Souk. Of the wares on offer were frankincense and frankincense burners, pashminas, Omani silverware and jewellery, silks, clothing and perfumes. The aroma of the frankincense burning everywhere in the souk was very strong, it was making my eyes smart! We did not get lost in the labyrinth of streets – the souk was actually quite small – if you went off the central spur, you always came back onto it down another alley, so you could not get lost. We came out onto the seafront promenade just as it was going dark, and took some photos. It was about six o’ clock.

Next we went to a restaurant in the Marina for dinner. It was a fish restaurant called the Blue Marlin. We had a choice of Greek salad or fish soup to start (no prizes for guessing what I went for!) But the main course was fish, or fish, a choice of hammour (which we later found out was grouper) or King fish. They told me the hammour was like cod so I went for that as the only other thing they could offer me was a burger, and I didn’t really fancy that. We had Sprite and water to drink. The fish was actually quite nice, I got more used to the fishy flavour after the first mouthful, and it was nicely grilled with a slice of lemon. It was, however, served with the ubiquitous chip! Dessert was a fruit salad, which was quite refreshing. But I had to leave the watermelon and the papaya as I didn’t like the flavours. I made everyone laugh, saying I wasn’t really a fussy eater, I just kept being given the very things I don’t like!! I fell asleep on the coach on the way back to the hotel! I was so glad to get to bed that night and have a full night’s sleep!
 

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