Muscat, Oman and Dubai

March 30, 2011, Muscat, Oman

Oman is a vast desert with mountains and fertile areas which are somewhere else.  We see piles of dried rock in various colors and in amazing mottled textures.  It is very dry and hot but not uncomfortable.

 Oman is billed as the “most improved” nation.  In 1970 slavery was common and the whole country had only six miles of paved road.  A younger sheik came to power and spent the increasing oil revenues on infrastructure, education and health.  Life expectancy has risen from fifty to seventy-two.  It is oil-rich although small.  Its population is about three million, and it is highly urban.  Tourism is rising and it has a number of “seven star” hotels although it seems to me that it is hot with little to attract one other than water sports and why come this far for that?

As an early adopter of Islam, this is a conservative country.  Dress is modest, alcohol is forbidden, and public displays of affection can get one in big trouble.  Women of the area are covered up.  It is hard to see from the road, but I see no women in the coffee shops.

For reasons that escape me, I agreed to a Catamaran sail and swim cruise.  What was I thinking of?  There is nothing wrong with the cruise: the ship is clean, the sail a reasonable length, I do not go in the water and am glad when I hear that it is colder than expected, we are offered fruit, juice and pastries. They count the swimmers into and out of the water. It is a perfectly well run operation.  We will not step onto an Omani street.

On the way back to the dock, we are regaled with pirate stories.  It seems that there have been eleven piracies in the past two weeks, the pirate ships are very fast and they travel in flocks.  The only thing we have going for us is our size—we are hard to climb aboard—and the fact that the pirates probably don’t want us.  Call it denial, but I am not worried.

March 31, April 1, 2011 

In Dubai we have a tour on the second day, but the finest day is on our own.  We decide to see an authentic old section and a new souk (or mall) modeled after the old one.  We have a good day taxiing around town.  The old section, Bastakiya, was formerly a crowded neighborhood with as many as a hundred people living in one unit.  Now it is clean, the buildings neat and the area if filled with art galleries and shops.  The streets are surprisingly quiet.  Almost no one is on them and many parking lots around town seem empty although the big malls are full.  Bastakiya is known for the square towers on the houses which formed an early form of air conditioning.  We also visit the center for cultural understanding.  They are gracious, and if I came again, I would want to contact them to arrange a home visit or other event.

Madinat Jumeirah is a modern recreation of the old quarter.  Many times larger, filled with shoppers, shops with clothing, antiques, cosmetics and more, restaurants and hotels.  We sit on the terrace of Trader Vic and share a dessert sampler and watch boat glide silently through the canal in front of us.  How do they do that?  However, Dubai is not an inexpensive city, and I am not really interested in making an investment so we do not buy very much.

The next day we take a tour which includes the Mall of the Emirates and its indoor ski slope which is amazing.  There is also a large double plastic bubble ball which can contain a person who is then rolled down one of the slopes.  We visit the Burj Kalifa, the world’s tallest building with a ninety-five mile view on a clear day.  We assured that the day is very clear but we are unable to see the Palm Jumeira, the artificial island in the shape of a palm tree.  Beyond the individual landmarks, Dubai with its rule that each skyscraper must have a unique designs and dozens and dozens of skyscrapers is an architect’s playground and an absolute amazing.