Happy New Year!
Prior to my absolute banger of a new year’s eve (asleep by 10:00 pm), I had one final 2023 trip, to scratch a travel itch I’ve had for awhile: Oman.
When it comes to middle eastern countries, I feel like the choices are often limited to
- Safe, oil-rich, tiny, and kind of bland countries that officially came into existence around the time I was born and offer limited opportunities to delve into historical sights (Qatar, UAE)
- Countries that are simply teeming with historical interest but visiting could easily cost me my job if not my life (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen)
Oman is the middle ground. While Muscat doesn’t offer the same level of sights you’d see in Damascus, Isfahan, or Sana’a, it offers all of the safety, sunshine, seaside, and ease of arrival of Dubai or Doha, plus a bit more history and interesting (to me) sightseeing.
Plus it’s only a three hour flight from Islamabad, making it a practically obligatory mini-break.
The capital city, Muscat, has been an important port since the first century CE. But how Omanis, especially ones without modern machinery, carved an actual city out of these rocks is beyond me.
Mutrah Harbor, surrounded by unforgiving landscape (FYI, that’s not a cruise ship, that’s the Sultan’s private yacht)
The souk, which has been here in various forms for 200 years, made for fun wandering. I didn’t buy much because most of what was on offer is imported and available for better prices in Pakistan. But two products are genuine Omani treasures: dates and frankincense.
Frankincense burns at seemingly every other shop. You can also buy myrrh and gold here, making it a one stop Christmas shopping destination.
Historically, camel caravans transported Oman’s world famous frankincense along the silk road. Today, diffusers pump the smell into the airport and hotel lobbies while a giant incense burner monument adorns a Muscat hilltop.
The former sultan, who died a few years ago after a half century reign that brought Oman from poverty-stricken backwater to thriving modern country, made some major investments in modern architecture. I visited the opera house and the Grand Mosque, both of which proudly incorporate styles and materials from many other parts of the world.
Some of the Oman’s best sights though, are outside the city. Given that I had visited the Great Barrier Reef earlier in the year, I likely would not have prioritized a snorkeling excursion if a colleague who made the same trip over Thanksgiving hadn’t clued me in about the sea turtles.
How cool was this?
The same colleague also recommended the Bimmah Sinkhole + Wadi Shab day trip. She was on a roll. Stunning swimming opportunities.
The sinkhole is next to the ocean and filled with seawater
Wadi Shab’s fresh water comes from the river
Unfortunately, my guide was maybe not the greatest and didn’t really clue me into what we were doing at any given time. Consequently I left my camera on the river bank at exactly the point where it turned out I most would have liked to have it. By the time I realized, we had gone too far to turn back for it. So I will have to borrow someone else’s video to show you what it was like swimming through the pools and into the cave with the waterfall.
There is plenty more of Oman to explore but for me, this scratched the immediate itch..
When I returned to Islamabad for my very mellow New Year, I looked back on my 2023 travel and was kind of impressed.
- China (Yangshuo, Beijing and Ningxia)
- Cambodia
- Hong Kong (part of China but with its own flag, currency, and passport control)
- Australia
- Macao (ditto Hong Kong, above)
- USA
- Qatar
- Pakistan
- Nepal
- Thailand
- Oman
If you count Macao and Hong Kong, I think I visited more countries in 2023 than in any other year except for 2015, when I had two full months post-Peace Corps and made my way through many tiny European countries. If you had told me how 2023 would shake out while I finishing up my time in a Chinese quarantine hotel December 25, 2022, I would not have believed you.
But you know what? I might be content with sticking closer to home for the next couple of months. (Don’t hold me to that though.)
In Foreign Places 