Oman may seem an unlikely candidate for Hot Tourist Spot of 2006. Saudi Arabia and Yemen are its next-door neighbors, and Iran is just a stone’s throw away across the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow entrance to the Persian Gulf.
But Oman itself is a peaceful wonderland of dramatic gorges, sweeping deserts and hidden villages, dotted with literally hundreds of fairy-tale forts and castles. Europeans have already discovered this Middle East jewel, and more visitors are bound to follow.
Oman remained hidden for so long because of its former ruler, Sultan Said bin Taimur. The sultan was terrified that oil money would wreak havoc on his country’s ancient culture, so he developed a simple way to handle the perils of progress: He wouldn’t have any.
The oil money poured in, but the Sultan didn’t spend it. In 1970 the whole country still had only two primary schools and not a single secondary school. In all of Oman there were only five miles of real road.
In July of that year the Sultan’s only son decided he’d had enough of living in a rich backwater and engineered a palace coup. There was only one injury, and that was to the sultan when he shot himself in the foot. The son, now Sultan Qaboos bin Said, packed Dad off to London to recover at the Grosvenor Hotel, and that is where he stayed for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, the new sultan set to work to catch up with the rest of the world.
Changes in capital
It is Muscat, the capital, where that progress is most clear. In 1970 the city was still ringed by a wall with a gate that was ceremonially slammed shut every night. Today it has become the Gate Museum, with exhibits tracking the city’s dramatic changes – although, interestingly, there is no mention of the decisive role Sultan Qaboos played in kicking out his father and wrenching Oman into the 20th century. Modern Muscat has sprawled far beyond the old city walls, but the roller- coaster topography means the city has developed into a series of distinct enclaves, separated by hills and peaks.
From Muscat, about halfway along Oman’s Gulf coast, all the way east to the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula, the hills, which run the length of the coast, fall dramatically into the sea. Until very recently there was only a rough and ready road along this coast, but that is changing rapidly. Wadi Shab is the prime diversion. A wadi is a gorge, likely to be dry unless there has been recent rain, but this one usually runs and has some beautiful waterholes as you walk farther inland.
Travelers heading east are probably en route to Sur, site of Oman’s biggest dhow yard. Visitors are welcome to wander in to see traditional Arab sailing dhows under construction using totally traditional methods, although the craftsmen all seem to be from Kerala in India. Right at the eastern tip of the peninsula, endangered green turtles come ashore to lay their eggs at Ras al-Jinz.
Looping back toward Muscat to the south of the hills, there are more wadi side trips to make before arriving at Nizwa, dominated by the enormous round tower of its impressive fort. The souq (market) below the fort is definitely worth a wander, especially on Thursday mornings, when goats and other livestock are on sale. Nizwa seems to have a bigger selection of hotels than anywhere outside Muscat, which is surprising for a town that once had such a fiercely conservative Islamic reputation that the intrepid English explorer Wilfred Thesiger didn’t dare to venture into it when he arrived here after his epic crossing of the Saudi Arabian deserts of the Empty Quarter 50 years ago.
ountain attractions
Nizwa makes a great base for two forays into the hills. At 10,086 feet, Jebel Shams is Oman’s highest mountain, but it is Wadi Ghul, below the peak, that is the big attraction. It has been described as “Oman’s Grand Canyon,” and one peek over the edge will convince you there is some truth in the boast. Wadi Ghul gets nowhere near as many visitors as the real Grand Canyon, and it also has far fewer safety barriers. There is a hotel close to the canyon rim from where you can make a heart-stopping walk down into the canyon, ending at the ancient abandoned village of Sap Bani Khamis.
Another excursion from Nizwa, on a road strictly for four-wheel drives, leads you into Wadi Bani Awf and right across the top of the Hajar mountain range before dropping down to the coastal plain, which separates the mountains from the sea to the west of Muscat. It is worth diverting to Balad Seet, a hillside village so hidden you could imagine most of history has passed it by.
Back on the good roads north of the mountains, a right turn takes you through Nakhal with its beautifully situated fort and on back to Muscat. Or a left turn will take you to Rustaq and Al-Hazm, both with fine forts. It has been estimated there are more than 500 forts scattered around Oman, many of them recently restored and open to the public. There are so many of them that visitors may begin to suffer from fort overconsumption; it would take real fort- itude to see them all. West along the coast, Sawadi and Sohar both have small-scale beach resorts popular with European visitors. Which still leaves the deserts of the south, where there is plenty more to explore in this easygoing corner of the Middle East.
Lonely Planet co-founder Tony Wheeler has contributed to numerous guidebooks.
