THE MASKED LADIES OF OMAN

Our trip to Oman came about as sort of an after thought. We were planning a Tanzania Safari and decided to travel to Kilimanjaro Airport via the Persian Gulf. I had seen a couple of photos of Oman, and decided to add it on at the last minute.

Getting to Africa is always a problem. My body has never been able to tolerate the full ordeal from the West Coast to Africa in one fell swoop. I had flown nonstop on South African Airways from Miami to Cape Town and from New York to Johannesburg, but these flights were done in Business Class which probably accounts for my survival.

My usual modus was to fly nonstop to some point in Europe and to arrange as loose a connection as possible. Since all flights from Europe to Africa depart in the evening, we would have a chance to get a few hours of sleep in between flights at an airport hotel. On the return, I would try to actually spend the night in Europe. These flights are hard to find, and they are never cheap, but they are the only practical solution in my case. While looking for appropriate flights for the upcoming safari, I noticed that the search engines kept coming up with flights to East Africa that connected in the Persian Gulf.

The 15 hour haul from San Francisco to Dubai on Emirates Airlines was a complete non-starter for me. But the flight from the Gulf to Dar es Salaam looked doable and had the advantage of a daytime arrival. African airports are scary enough in daylight. They are terrifying after dark. So, maybe we could travel to the Gulf via Europe, and then on to Africa from there. We did just that – flying from San Francisco to Amsterdam on KLM, laying over, and then continuing on to the Gulf. As mentioned, I decided to put in Oman at the last minute and we thus arrived in Muscat via Doha on a February evening in 2013.

Muscat turned out to be a small, atmospheric port city, the diametric opposite of Dubai, its glitzy neighbor to the north. We checked into the Muttrah Hotel, the only acceptable hotel in the center of the Old City. Our first stop in the morning was the Muttrah Fish Market – not far from the Corniche and the Souq – the market is small and manageable. It has been little effected by tourism and, in addition to piles of tuna, snapper, swordfish, shark and squid, the market is full of real characters.

The Muscat Souq was located nearby and was small, clean, friendly and manageable.

The following day, we picked up a rent-a-car and drove to a hotel near Nizwa. There wasn’t much to choose from in the area and the reviews on the Golden Tulip Nizwa Hotel were mixed at best. But the hotel turned out to be fine and, like so many hotels in the Persian Gulf, had a fantastic Indian restaurant.

Early the next morning, we were off to the Sinaw Weekly Market. I hadn’t been able to find much information on Sinaw. In fact, I had trouble even finding it on a map, and the GPS didn’t help. We more or less had to drive around until we finally bumped in to it. Fortunately, Sinaw was in the middle of the desert and there weren’t many “urban” centers to choose from in the area. Also, the roads were fine.

But, the search paid off, as this was a truly unique experience – camels, goats, fish, guns, swords and a cast of characters you couldn’t make up, including the Masked Ladies of Oman.

Our next stop would be the Nizwa Market. This was basically a livestock market, specializing in goats, but there was a large section for vegetables and fruit, as well as the usual area for small arms, daggers, and other daily necessities. Again, I found it to be a fascinating venue with a colorful supporting cast.

After Nizwa, we drove to a hotel near the airport. The next day, we took the short flight to Dubai on Emirates Airlines. After about a week, we flew on Qatar Airways to Dar es Salaam and on to Kilimanjaro International Airport.

I’ll have to say that Oman came as a complete surprise to me. It was exotic and colorful, but also completely user-friendly and hassle-free.

Tags: arabia, camel market, goat market, market, mask, muscat, nizwa, oman, persian gulf, sinaw, souk, souq