Desert Safari and Sand Dune Bashing Blog # 4

Desert Safari and Sand Dune Bashing

February 24 & 25

Today we set off for our desert safari camping. We stop on the way in Brikat Al Mauz to view the ancient Oman irrigation system developed by the Persians in the 16-century that have been maintained and are still used today. Getting water in Oman is important because sometimes it doesn't rain for 1 or 2 years. While camels can last for 4-5 weeks on the dessert without water and Acacia plants survive with green leaves everywhere... Arabs apparently do not. Amazing irrigation systems have been developed to get water transported to terraced gardens high in the mountains and drinking water is trucked in to villages to fill round white water towers, which sit on their roofs like clouds in the startling clear blue sky.

Just opposite the irrigation system passing a mosque is a graveyard.  It consists of slices of thin limestone rocks perched rather precariously in the ground... 3 for a woman, 2 for a man and 1 for a child. The same rocks are used whether the person was rich or poor. The rocks won’t last very long. 

Our guide, Don, explains that bodies have to be buried within 24 hours, women aren't allowed at the graveyard and once buried no one visits these graves again. Good byes to deceased family members occur in the privacy of the home and after a week of grieving life moved on.  Don becomes philosophical telling us the way funerals are conducted in Sri Lanka with embalming so families can view the body for a few days and then cremation. According to his Buddhist faith he explains in the cycle of life all humans normally will suffer pain due to difficulties with greed and lust but each person must strive to be a better person and be less materialistic in order to get to Nirvana with a vision of the future. We listen soaking up the wisdom of this man's perspective.

The landscape we view begins to change from gravel desert with areas of oases surrounded by palm trees eventually to reddish fine sand, true rolling sand dunes 100-150 meters high - which seem to flow like waves with corridors and valleys. The Wahibe sands are said to be the largest desert expense in the Middle East (180 kilometers north to south & 80 kilometers east to west). 

Don stops to remove some air from the tires of his land rover and tells us we are about to go dune bashing so wants to be sure our seat belts are on. He drives aggressively straight up the sand hillsides over the peaks and down into valleys. It felt like our car should turn over any minute - certainly it would have in a regular car. I ask Don if he ever turned a car over. No he said because he is experienced and besides he has special bars placed in the car ceiling for protection if this happens! This warm, gentle, Buddhist philosophical man suddenly is infused with energy and as he floors the car pedal surfs up and down the sand hills. All at once the car got stuck.. it is not unlike being stuck in snow - the more he pushes the pedal, the more we sink into the sand.  We can smell the burning of the car clutch and eventually he gets out and starts digging out sand from under the tires. Stuck in the middle of sand dunes with no one in sight I envision being out here all night and think this is may be where I end my life. Perspiring and looking a little frantic but staying calm, Don tells us not to worry. Eventually with persistence he prevails and we are off again dune bashing with delight.

Desert Camp

Eventually we arrive at our desert camp safely.  There are only 12 of us at this camp and we have dinner talking with a couple from Amsterdam who ask us if we believe that 9/11 was really an American conspiracy? Also they tell us that Americans landing on the moon first was just a Hollywood movie hype and not true. At sunset we sit on the top of the sand dunes watching the sun go down and think we have arrived in Nirvana. John confesses he wasn’t sure about this desert camp idea when he booked it but is really glad we came here. We are happy. We sleep in a barasti hut, which has no electricity, but we do have a toilet although there is no toilet seat. As a result in the night I hear John peeing outside our hut and ask him why he is doing this? He tells me he is trying to keep the toilet dry for me to sit on.  But there is no seat!

The next morning Don says we need to experience a professional dune basher. We met Zahill, a 23-year-old Bedouin who owns 40 goats and a few camels. He is very handsome with his dark, long hair, hooked nose and wears the traditional white and red turban and white dishdasha. He takes some more air out of our car's tires. For the next 2 hours we are dune bashing... he does not put on a seat belt, the gas empty sign is lit up and he turns up the Arab music. This is a bit like being on a fairground roller coaster only there are no tracks and the machine operator is deliberately unpredictable and erratic. His first smile at me (sitting in the front seat) is when he knows he has scared us. I ask Zahill if he has ever gone over in the car. . and Don translates that he has sometimes but tries to reassure us that Zahill is experienced at this, having started to learn dune bashing when he was 7 years old. Experience is everything he says.  For Bedouins no rules apply on these sand dunes whose lifestyle is incredibly harsh and dependent on nature. I ask myself if we are ridiculously stupid to put our lives in the hands of an unknown, 23-year-old Bedouin Arab man and a Buddhist Sir Lanka man.. or just trusting of these lovely people who don’t have us sign a contract they aren’t responsible.

Bedouin People

After dune bashing we visit a genuine Bedouin camp, isolated in the desert and surrounded with herds of goats and camels. The bathroom consists of a cement block room with tiles inside and a hole in the floor but no toilet paper. . why did I forget toilet paper? Here there is no running water or electricity. How do these people survive? John says they can’t live here all year and believes this is just for tourists. The Bedouin are no longer nomadic because their children are required to go to school. They have trucks and can pick up their water in the nearby village and make a living herding goats, selling camels and selling carpets or trinkets.  Inside their tent-like structure it is beautiful..the floors are covered in oriental rugs and colorful pillows surround all the walls. They serve us coffee, dates and the traditional candy dish. Don tells us they live here all year long. We don’t know how they can manage the summer heat in the desert.

There is a rather large and well-fed grandmother who married at age 14 sitting on the floor wearing a black burka mask and brightgreen jaba. After putting a burka face mask on me and a head scarf she agrees to be photographed with me. Her 32-year-old daughter is doing math homework with her daughter who is in 3^rd grade. She understands a little English and clearly wants her daughter to be successful with her homework. She tells her daughter she has done a math problem wrong. There are 5-6 other children in the tent and a young teenage lad. I’m not sure whose children these are but likely the mother’s.  She paints a henna flower on my leg.. and tells me not to wash it for a day.  I wonder if it will come off eventually.

Getting a henna flower on my leg 

These people seem gentle and friendly – wonderful hosts. I am told that Bedouins and Oman people in general are trustworthy and honest. Don says you don’t need to lock your doors – Oman is one of the safest countries in the world. Again our preconceptions and beliefs are wrong.

Carolyn

Expats, Mosques, Palaces & Souks in Muscat Blog #5

Expats, Mosques, Palaces & Souks in Muscat Bog #5

Entering Muscat

Muscat, the capital of Oman, is an incredibly modern, clean and cared for city with beautiful, simple, elegant architecture. It is not spoiled by billboards or MacDonalds or garbage strewn about but instead is sprinkled with gorgeous gardens, palm trees, neat golf course-like manicured grassed areas and enfolded in a horse shoe of camel colored mountains around the harbor with bluish-green ocean filling the middle against an unrelenting blue sky. This is the 6thday of blue sky and I marvel at its lack of clouds as I think of Seattle and its seemly never-ending grey backdrop. We pass Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi expats in sky blue coveralls and white helmets working on roadways and buildings under construction or cleaning buildings and planting gardens. The city stretches out 60 kilometers in length and has a population of 734,000 people. 

Laundromat 

We start the day by taking John's laundry into a local Laundromat. In a small room no bigger that 400 square feet there are 5 men from India washing and ironing. They are intrigued by John with his 6 jockey underpants and 3 pairs of socks and are delighted when I ask them for a picture. I tell them they should not pose for the picture - they keep ironing using old-fashioned irons like my mother used. I think I have never seen John iron and wonder if these men will iron his underwear?

This makes me think about the expatriates, which represent 27% of the population in Oman. There are over 500,000 expats here from India as well as others from Pakistan, Bagladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines and China in that order (as well as Brits 

and some Americans in the oil fields). They come here because they can make more money and can send it home to help their families. They are willing to do the lower level jobs, which the Omanians apparently don't want to do.  99% of the construction workers building the amazing mosques, government buildings and roadways we have seen are expats. I ask Don what the Omanians do for work and he laughs telling me 50% of them are employed in the government sector. While the Sultan is encouraging them to work in the private sector, Don tells us they are resistant to do this because they want their weekends off to be with their families. They work 7:30 to 2:30 and have half day Wednesday to Saturday free. Of the expats, 44% of them are doing labor work and 60% professional work. For those doing the construction work they get paid approximately $300-500 a month whereas the minimum wage for Omanians is $1000 a month. 

Most of the shops are operated by Indians even the fish, vegetable and meat souks but in order to operate them they must have an Omanian sponsor and renew their visa each year. They aren't allowed to buy their own place. But their lives are better than in the in the countries they came from so they seem content with this arrangement. This makes me think of the illegal Hispanics in the US who provide cheaper labor, which Americans shun but risk deportation. Surely there is a better way - have the Omanians found it?

Museum 

Mosques

Mosques with minarets are ubiquitous - even in shopping malls and gas stations. John is impressed with the minarets with electrically powered speakers so that the prayer calls are mechanized. We pass an amazing Opera house built by the Sultan with his "own personal" money as a gift to the people as he is a music lover. He also has his own private symphony that plays for him twice a week. John likes this idea.  

We head for the Grand Mosque - again built by the Sultan with his "own" money and donated to the people. I wonder about the concept of the Sultan having personal money versus government money -doesn't he have it all? Because it largely comes from oil and land, isn't it the people's money? I have trouble with the idea of royalty and monarchies. But he is doing good things with the money, which makes it all right compared to some other countries with monarchies, or democracies that don't want to use the money for health care or education. Perhaps the US needs a sultan with integrity?  There are some downsides--the Sultan does not take insulting.  Criticizing the Sultan is not kosher, and has landed several people (young and innocent) in jail recently due in part to postings on social media.  

We arrive at the Grand Mosque, which took 6 years to build and opened in 2001. It had a team of international architects from around the world and mainly Indian craftsmen. Sandstone from India was carved on the outside and the inside walls are of the finest marble from Italy. It had the biggest chandelier in the world using the finest Swarovski crystal but now is in 2nd place because Abu Dhabi built a bigger one--- the UAE wanted the biggest of everything in the world. In contrast to Dubai, Muscat is not allowed to have high rises; the 950 meter minaret at the mosque is the highest minaret and highest structure in Oman. The mosque is 416,000 square meters and the men's prayer room can hold 6,600 men for prayer while the women's hall holds 750 women.  It has 5 minarets to represent the 5 principles of Islam. Marbled washing areas are available separately for men's and women's ablutions before prayer.  The prayer halls have video and speakers installed so people can view everywhere.  We go into the library where special rooms for men and for women with computers are available for them to study Islam. The priests, known as Imams, in Oman can marry and have families and are highly educated.  I am overcome with the simple beauty of this mosque and glad to have been allowed to see it. In other mosques in Oman you must be Muslim to enter. Undoubtedly they are different than this one. The beauty of the Grand Mosque reminds me of the Taj Mahal, which was also built by a Muslim, although for the love of his 3rd wife, not the love of a God (but John says they may be one and the same). John disagrees with me about this comparison to the Taj Mahal, which he thinks is one of the wonders of the world. Although from the outside this may be a valid comment, even as a non-religious person I found the interior of the men’s prayer hall to be superior to the Taj and awe-inspiring with its stained glass windows, 35 chandeliers and Persian rugs.  The Persian carpet in the main hall weighs 21tons and was made in Iran by 600 female weavers for 4 years. I try not to think of the plight of these women to make this masterpiece.

Sultan's boat

Fish Market 

We leave the Grand Mosque and go into town to the souk. Don pays for parking via his cell phone.. no waits for stickers to place on our car window. Knowing that John hates shopping and my indecisiveness about buying I am worried about this shopping event together. 

But it is 20 minutes until shops close at 1 pm so he is saved and this knowledge relaxes him into action. He barters with confidence and allows a vendor to wrap a turban around his head so I can take a picture. Even with a turban professionally wrapped on his head this doesn’t help him masquerade as a Muslim.  Even after Don had said non-Muslims were not allowed in the other mosques, John eager to see other “authentic” mosques asked, “How would they know I wasn’t a Muslim?”

We ended the day with Don eating Indian food and talking about religious beliefs in Oman and Sri Lanka. I think Don could turn me into a Buddhist, except for their slaughters of the Muslims in Burma.

Carolyn 

Women in Oman Blog # 6

Blog #6

February 27

WOMEN IN OMAN 

Girls start wearing abayas when they reach puberty. I wonder about the meaning of this attire. Since the abaya is synthetic and they wear other clothes underneath it and the weather in Oman can get up to 120 degrees in summer, it is a real commitment.  Our Sri Lankan guide, Don, tells me that they dress like this only when they are out in public but at home with their family and husband they can be without a headscarf. However, if they have a male guest in their home they will again cover up. Furthermore, Don explains that the reason all the houses have such high, sandstone walls around their perimeter are so the women have privacy to come outside and not be seen by others.  John tells me the significance of this attire has to do with sexual repression. I comment that with the number of children they are having they may not be repressed. Or, is it that their faith forbids birth control. I ask John what data or evidence he has for his theory? He tells me it is his own theory.

Where are the Omani women? Are they always hidden in their homes? What are they doing? Are they happy being married at age 13 or 14 to a man who may have 3 other wives? Yes Oman law allows a man to have 4 wives.  Do Omani women want to work or get an education before marrying and having babies? I ask Don if he knows 


any Omani women and if they are happy?  Yes he says he knows some and thinks they are happy for they have grown up this way and this is normal for them.  Indeed, in the 1970’s there were only 3 schools in the whole of Oman and they were for boys. 

With the Sultan Qaboos in charge a lot has changed. Now there are 1,038 government run schools and the Sultan Qaboos University opened in 1986 to both men and women.  We walked through this beautiful university campus and John thought it looked a bit like Stanford.  We met an Omani professor of business and finance and he said he did his undergraduate education at the University of Oregon and his MBA at Oregon State University (funded by the Sultan). Education now is free and mandatory for boys and girls. I ask Don how many women are currently in politics and he says 3 ministers out of 33 and 1 council member out of 84. The numbers are low but so are the numbers of women in politics in USA, which has been educating women for a much longer time period. Change can be slow but this country seems to be on the fast track. Don tells me that currently there are more women in the Sultan University than men – so it seems women are making progress since this university has 18,000 students enrolled.

Unlike other Arabian countries in this peninsula it seems that Omani women are getting fair treatment as they are offered equal opportunities at least in education, are starting to take up professional careers and the Sultan is emphasizing jobs for them. The Sultan said the following in a speech – “many years ago I said that if the energy, capability and enthusiasm of women were excluded from a country’s active life, then that country would be depriving itself of 50% of its genius.  I have taken good care that this should not happen to Oman”. I get the feeling that Omani men respect women. I can’t imagine that what I’ve been hearing about sexual harassment, rape and female degradation in India media would happen in Oman. (This week India just passed a law prohibiting this behavior). Oman men and the culture in general seem peaceful, calm, honest and friendly. On the other hand, I don’t have the same feeling in regard to Saudi Arabian men and their treatment of women. Perhaps this is an unfounded misperception; I have no data to prove this theory.

Marriages in Oman are arranged by families as they always have been. However, only two decades ago women married at age 13 or 14 years of age and presently they are more likely to be in their early 20’s before marrying.  Apparently, women aren’t allowed to go out on dates before marriage and in fact the lives of boys and girls begin to be segregated after third grade when they are sent to separate schools.  This segregation pervades many aspects of their lives such as men and women praying in different prayer halls or using computers in different rooms in libraries. The parents of the bride decide the dowry and negotiate this dowry with the groom’s parents and must pay it before the marriage occurs. Gold jewelry plays an important part in marriage ceremonies as the wealth and status of the family is judged by the jewelry worn my women. (In UAE the government pays the dowry.) One-third of the dowry goes to the parents and the minimum dowry amount is 3000 rials (~$9,000), which is used to buy furniture for the bride.  The wedding celebrations start with a women’s henna ceremony and the henna is provided by the groom’s family. Even at the actual wedding the men and women are in different rooms.  I am doubtful whether these traditions can last with the education of women allowing them the ability to be self-sufficient and employed. Divorce is allowed. Already I get a glimpse of this change happening. Today the Oman Dental Association Conference was held at our hotel. There seemed to be more young women in black abayas at this conference than men and when one young woman’s abaya opened slightly it revealed blue jeans underneath. All is not what it seems from the outside.

Women’s Bedouin Market

I was excited to go back to the interior to Ibra to see the women’s market. I thought this would be a chance for me to see women interacting with each other and get a sense of their happiness. This market began in the 70’s as a health clinic for Bedouin women and then transformed into a place where women could sell clothing to other women. Men were not allowed until a few years ago. When we got here the first thing that struck me was the intense splash of color in the garments of the Bedouin women. The black abaya coveralls were gone. The mostly Bedouin women had on brightly colored and designed head scarfs and their faces were uncovered. But more than that they had on the most amazing jallabias (dresses) worn over sirwalls (trousers). The fabrics are embroidered with lace, sequins, jewels, bright threads, beads, coins and other materials. They were all different according to personal design. Many of them had their eyes painted with black kohl. They sat on sequined cushions surrounded with their fabric, ribbons, and laces while sewing detailed designs. Unfortunately photographs were not allowed so I could not take pictures in the market. However I bargained for a pair of the brightly colored gold trouser cuffs to put on my blue jeans at home.  I tried them on and the women laughed. Don said this is not a place for tourists who normally don’t buy this sort of thing. The cuffs were not cheap and were made from a cotton food sack – recycling is evident. The woman said I looked like I could pay more and Don told her in Arabic, no this is all the money her husband would let her have. She laughed and gave them to me for that price. I conclude the women have good business sense and may be happy in this market with other women.

Food

I have not talked about Omani food because I am not sure it exists. Mostly it is Indian cuisine. I eat reluctantly because on our trip to India I got giardia and it took 6 weeks to recover. We wanted to find an authentic Oman dining experience for our last night in Oman. Don suggested such a place where we could eat sitting on the floor using our hands. Lonely planet said this place was okay. After a 20 dollar taxi ride we arrive at Bin Ateek, a restaurant on the highway embedded in between a MacDonald’s and a gas station. We are shown to a small dark uninspiring room with cheap rugs on the floor, uncomfortable pillows next to the walls, an ancient TV in the corner and long, fluorescent lights in the ceiling. We are told to take off our shoes at the door and are left waiting. We order the foods according to pictures from the menu and can hear children in other rooms jumping up and down and listening to TV. This is the way Omani women can eat out of their homes and still be in privacy.  We are served coffee that tastes like sweetened tea, fried chicken that has cooked too long and some sort of sogging bread in milk and I ask John if it could be camel milk. John’s dish seems to have no spices and little taste and he craves the spicy Indian food that he has been eating all week long. This is not exactly a Mediterranean diet or for that matter authentic.  Perhaps it is more like MacDonld’s authentic American diet.  We take another expensive taxi ride back to the hotel and get caught in a traffic jam with everyone rushing out of Muscat to their families because it is Wednesday night and the weekend is beginning, which runs from Friday to Saturday.  John comments that it is just like Friday in Seattle leaving on I-5 for Vashon.

We say good-bye reluctantly to Don who says he will take us on a tour in Sri Lanka and I wonder what Jordanian women will be like.

A SULTAN WHO CARES blog # 3

A SULTAN WHO CARES 

Blog #3

February 23, Saturday

When John suggested going to Oman, I had to check a map to see where it was.  Bordered on one side by Yemen, another by Saudi Arabia and Iran across the gulf...  plus set in a region of Arabic turbulence, religious and political unrest and turmoil I wondered about the wisdom of this as a choice for an American woman on holiday. Maybe I should bring my Canadian passport? Consequently I was completely unprepared, but pleasantly relieved to find this country to be a calm and peaceful society as well as a geographical wonder. Perhaps this might be one of the safest countries in the world - politically and environmentally. It has a Cinderella story - only this time it is the enlightened Sultan of Oman (Quaboos) who is to be loved as a monarch but perhaps not by a princess but a prince. 

Oman’s Past History

Oman has a past history of being the first to embrace Islam fully (AD630) and be under Imam rule until 1154 – a previously rich country with extensive trade and an uneasy, warring past with the Persians and Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries. Finally a treaty with Britain results in Oman’s ability to oust the Portuguese and assure its peace at sea.  Eventually the country is weakened until it becomes the poorest Arab country.  Four decades ago in the 70’s when I was in graduate school, Oman had only 3 schools (just for boys), 1 hospital, no paved roads, electricity or running water... life expectancy was in the 30’s and ruled by a Sultan from between 1938 to 1970 who was self-centered, controlling and afraid of change. Even when oil was discovered in 1964 permitting the possibility of funds to help the people, the Sultan (Said bin Taimur) refused to spend money on development projects, opposed changes in education and health care and sought to keep Oman isolated from the modern world. 

In 1970 the Sultan's 30-year-old son who had been educated in Britain staged a non-violent coup against his father with British support. Exiled to London, Sultan Qaboos took over and is still in power now at age 72. He is known as the Sultanate of Oman. In four decades he has used the oil money to transform Oman by building an infrastructure of good roads and housing, health care, and schooling. All people have free health care and university educations (for men and women).  There are now 5 universities and 15 colleges that create work in applied services and technology. There are 17,000 students presently in college. And to my amazement there are no income taxes! Life expectancy is reported to 75 and 76 years for men and women. 75% of the Islamic people are of the Ibadhi faith known to be more tolerant and accepting than other Islamic sects and to mainly live in Oman. Considering where Sultan Qaboos started in the 70's these advancements represent an incredible transformation. He appears to be attentive both to the need for modernization and for increasing global relationships as well as for ensuring Oman culture and preserving culture and some traditional ways of life. UNESCO said that Oman has done more for human development than any other country in the world. This in sharp contrast to the current Syrian monarch, also British educated, who has turned out to be even worse than his father in caring for the people. Ironically the Oman Sultan who has brought all this about has no children for succession and is said to be gay - an extraordinary Islamic Sultan whose identity is not up for discussion but deserves to be loved (in his own way).

Sultan's Palace 

Currently there is a 5-year Oman plan to diversify economic resources and to rely less on oil for income (a billion barrels of oil a day). Today we went to Jabel Akdhar, a spectacular mountain 6000 feet high where we walked through a village where people are growing desert roses, peaches, pomegranates, walnuts, and lemons on terraced lands. A massive 3 km road has been built up the side of this mountain to bring tourists as well as water, schools, medical care and to transport goods. Much of the vegetables, rose water and spices we viewed in the Nizwa market in the morning came from these areas.

Our New Guide Don 

Our new guide Don makes me feel so uneducated.  He is from Sri Lanka, worked in the Oman navy and speaks English, Arabic, and German with ease plus his own language and he is a talking textbook with facts and history about everything. We can ask him a question and get a detailed and thorough reply. His family is still in Sri Lanka and he returns home in the hot months of June through August. He has been in Oman 17 years but it is unlikely he will be able to receive citizenship. He has to renew his visa every year and doesn’t pay taxes. About 28% of the people currently living in Oman are expatriates.

Today Don explained the history of Oman back to AD400 and eventually we had to ask him for a break because we couldn't absorb all the information. I wanted to take notes but didn't have my trusty notebook so likely am only retaining 1%. 

As we walked through the old Nizwa market he showed us special medicinal herbs for lowering cholesterol and strange looking vegetables we had not seen before. 

As we had noticed yesterday, there were practically no women to be seen ~ men run all markets while the women remain hidden inside. How long can this last with women now receiving education? 

At the top of the mountain Don took us to a very nice hotel where we had lunch prepared by a Sri Lanka cook and served by a Philippine woman. The women we have been able to talk to are from other countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and Japan.  The Omanian women are a mystery to me .. very shy and mostly hidden. I wonder about their parenting skills.

Tomorrow we leave for the desert and tenting and hope to see some Bedouin people. We will have no internet. Still have been unsuccessful in sending out my blogs but will persist!