Land of Frankincense:
Monday,
30 January 2017
I
tried to doze off but any attempt was made futile by the two hags sitting
behind me. They sat across the aisle from each other and just couldn’t stop
yakking and loudly too. I gathered they were Omani but from some governorate in
the south or middle of the country as they were very dark. I just don’t
understand people like them who couldn’t understand that even though people
choose to travel by public transportation at night, they still want to rest and
sleep. They talked loudly non-stop and when they eventually stopped and dozed
off a few hours later, I still couldn’t sleep! It also didn’t help that the
woman across the aisle from me stretched out until her legs rested on the seat
next to mine! I mean, come on! Where is your courtesy to fellow passengers? Did
you think that only you yourself want to sleep but not others? Did you not
think how disgusting it was for me to discover your feet – wrapped as they were
in your blanket – next to me? Seriously, some people just shouldn’t be allowed
to travel by public transportation!!!
We
had to get down twice: the first time, to pay the exit fee of AED35. The man
who took the payment issued a receipt and I then went to another window to hand
over my passport and the payment receipt. The second time we stopped was after
we had crossed into Oman. Visa on arrival was OMR5 for a ten-day visa. OMR1 =
MYR11.40 O.O and it was a good thing we managed to buy some Omani Rial in KL
before we left for this trip.
We
continued our journey, me having lost any hope for sleep by this time. The bus
stopped a few times the closer we got to Muscat to drop off passengers and then
asked us to change to another bus. We finally pulled into the Mwasalat bus
station in Ruwi. It was just before the call for morning prayers. We used the
bathroom and I performed ablutions before heading to Sultan Qaboos Mosque
nearby (not to be confused with Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in the Ghubrah
district of Muscat. There was a ladies’ section but the door was locked and
none of the male mosque goers came to our aid. In the end, I borrowed a prayer
mat from the Mwasalat ticket office and prayed outside the door leading to the
ladies’ section. Seriously, being a Muslimah shouldn’t be an inconvenience.
Grrr! On that note, there are some mosques that we came across in Oman that did
not allow for female worshippers (there are some that did). I know that
Algerian women cannot perform prayers in their mosques which I thought is very
strange and disturbing.
After
prayers, we returned to the ticket office and bought bus tickets to Bahla. The
bus destination was Ibri and it would stop at Nizwa and Bahla along its way. We
then sat down to wait. I also went to buy some samosa and hot milk tea (it
tasted like it was spiced with cardamom or sth but it was good!). The bus came
and we loaded our bags before boarding. We stopped for ten minutes in Nizwa before
continuing on and that was when we found out that the return bus from Bahla was
at 15:30 and not 17:10 as stated in the Mwasalat website. No complaints there
as we were initially apprehensive at reaching Nizwa late and after dark. We
only had our Airbnb host’s YouTube guide to the apartment (which I studied
twice and the second time, I had to rewind, pause, and play again to remember
the landmarks. Mustafa, our host, had earlier told me that there’s no proper
address. We did know that it’s about 500 metres from Nizwa Fort).
At
Bahla, we asked the bus driver if we could leave our bags on board as we would
be travelling by the same bus back to Nizwa. He agreed and that was our luggage
problem sorted!
We
walked the few steps to Bahla Fort. Now, Oman has a lot of forts (there are over
500 forts, castles and towers in the Sultanate!) built way back when on the
orders of tribal leaders. Some were built on strategic seacoasts to protect
Oman’s shipping interests, some at valuable oases or on frankincense and myrrh
trade routes, some built on fortifications dating back to earlier Persian
occupation or pre-Islamic times. So while they did (and do) have tribes, they
were not nomadic herders living in tents who roamed around but were some of the
finest architects and engineers. I think it’s also appropriate for me to add
here that unlike the other Arabs who don the kaffiyeh, the Omani men wear the
kuma (prayer cap) or massah (embroidered wool turban tied neatly around the
head) and dishdasha, a long garment with a slit in front and a long tassel
hanging down the neckline and off to the side. I think the headdress and
dishdasha are neat and give the Omani a strong sense of identity.
Back
to Bahla Fort: it is the one of the biggest and oldest fort in Oman and the
only fort to be listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was in the list of
world heritage sites in danger before it was restored in the 1990s. The whole
complex was huge and we happily spent about three hours in there. I even
performed prayers in the mosque there. Entrance fee cost 500 Baiza (Bz) or ½ Rial.
At Bahla Fort
Besides
the fort, Bahla is also well-known for its pottery; alas, the souk was closed
from noon to about 16:00 so we didn’t manage to visit the souk. The Mwsalat bus
arrived promptly at 15:35 and we reached Nizwa less than an hour later. I asked
at the Mwasalat office if there was a micro bus that we could take but we were
advised to cross over the main road and take a cab instead. So we crossed over
to the National Gift Market and took a cab to the apartment, heading towards
the souk before turning right. The cabbie wanted OMR6 so we bargained the fare down
to OMR2.
We
reached the apartment block (I was amazed we managed to do that what with the
lack of address and all. Mustafa had advised us to get the local SIM card to be
able to play the YouTube clip to the cabbie we managed to get but we didn’t)
and had to climb up to the third floor with our bags (no elevator!). We heard
some noise and thought it came from the apartment across the hall so we were a
bit surprised to find a man inside who turned out to be Mustafa himself as we
didn’t expect to meet him at all (he had also given us the code to enter the
apartment so we didn’t need any keys). Mustafa greeted us and showed us around
the apartment. We managed to take some pictures with him before he left.
With Mustafa, our host. He’s wearing the kuma and dishdasha
Sunset over Nizwa
We
stayed in that night.
Tuesday,
31 January 2017
We
left just before 09:00 and walked to Nizwa Fort. The fort is one of the most
popular and most visited tourist attractions in Oman due to its amazing old
Omani architecture. The fort is unique due to its cylindrical main tower which
is also the biggest fort tower in the Sultanate. Entrance is again 500 Bz. Unfortunately
some rooms were closed to visitors so we spent only about two hours there (I predicted
three hours when I looked at the size of its tower). There are rooms furnished
with cushions and crockery (to indicate they were dining rooms), some with pots
and pans (denoting kitchen), even an ablutions room and a room for a shepherd! All
these gave us a good idea of how they used to live in the fort. There’s also a
mini museum on the history of Oman. We also climbed up the tower for a bird’s
eye view of Nizwa.
At Nizwa Fort
At the small museum in Nizwa Fort
We
left just after 11:00 and wandered to the nearby souks. There are a few souks
there and although the whole complex is the site of the one of the oldest souks
in Oman, the old complex had been torn down and what you see now are the modern
version of the souks. There are areas selling potteries, weapons, silver and
crafts, meat, fruits, even a goat souk but only opens on Fridays (!), vegetables,
halwa... we had fun walking around exploring and soaking in the atmosphere. One
thing missing? Women. Local women mostly stay at home. Those who do venture out
are the elderly women or very young girls. However, no one gave us a hard time
at all.
This shop was doing a brisk business of halwa
At the indoor souk outside a shop selling crafts
At the outdoor souk
We
then explored the shops before returning to the apartment to rest. Most shops
are closed anyway from noon to about 16:00 for siesta. Anyway, it was much too
hot to be wandering around anyway. And it was supposed to be ‘winter time’!
We
returned to the souk after dark to explore before returning to the apartment.
To
be continued
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