Latest edition : 04 February 2019
The sultanate is a neighbor of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
This small country has kept its independence from its neighbors and Oman, for example, is not part of OPEC. You could almost say that Oman is a bit like the Switzerland of the Arabian Peninsula. But with an absolute monarch, Sultan Qaabos ibn Said, extremely revered by his people.
On his birthday in November, the whole country was decorated and illuminated in the national colors which are red, green and white.
White represents the religious leader, the Imam of the country, peace and wealth. Green symbolizes Jebel Akhdar, the green mountain and its fertility. And red the capital Muscat and the fight against the invader.
We also see the khanjar dagger and two crossed swords.
Portraits of the Sultan are displayed everywhere, but really everywhere.
There are official portraits in institutional places, but we see them in storefronts, on the facades of buildings even under construction, in the souks, on the windows of cars… The children wear clothes in the colors of Oman .
If you want to understand Oman, you have to look at the history of the Sultan. Which can be a bit complicated because in Oman, no one will say even one critical word.
Pour simplifier. En 1970, il arrive au pouvoir, au fait il renverse son père avec l’aide des Britanniques. Mais c’était pour le bien du pays. En 48 ans, il a sorti son pays du Moyen-âge. Il a fait construire des routes pour désenclaver les montagnes et le désert, a amené l’électricité et l'eau dans les villages reculés, rénové les cités. Mais il a surtout mené une intense politique d’unification nationale afin de surmonter les fractures ethniques, linguistiques, religieuses ou sociales, qui divisaient le pays. Il fait construire des écoles un peu partout mettant l'accent sur l’éducation.
La rente pétrolière sert aussi au développement de la capitale Mascate qui s’étire sur 100 km de long et 65 kilomètres de large.
Mascate, c’est sa ville. Rien à voir avec les constructions démesurées des pays voisins comme Dubaï. A Oman, aucun immeuble ne dépasse les 6 étages : il ne faut pas cacher la vue sur les montagnes. Quelques rares immeubles peuvent avoir 12 étages s’il n’y a pas de montagnes. Tous doivent respecter l’architecture traditionnelle. La ville est d’une propreté incroyable, fleurie et verte (alors que le pays est un désert).
Grand amateur de musique classique, le sultan y fait construire un magnifique opéra dans lequel se produisent les plus prestigieux ensembles d'Europe.
Parmi les visites incontournables, il y a la grande mosquée.
Dans la salle de prière principale, on admire le tapis persan qui mesure 70 m sur 60 m.
C’est le 2e plus grand tapis tissé à la main au monde. Il pèse 21 tonnes et il aura fallu quatre ans à 600 ouvrières pour le réaliser.
Très impressionnant aussi le lustre central qui pèse 8 tonnes. 1122 ampoules lui donnent son éclat particulier.
Les artisans d’art du monde entier ont travaillé dans cette mosquée et surtout des sculpteurs.
Toujours sur les traces de Qaabos ibn Saïd, direction l’ancien Palais du sultan, avec ses jolies colonnes bleues et or qui ressemblent un peu à des champignons.
C’est joli mais sans plus, car il ne se visite pas et le sultan n’y vit pas. Son vrai palais est totalement caché par un immense mur qui s’étend sur des kilomètres dans une autre partie de Mascate.
Mais la visite vaut quand-même le coup, ne serait-ce que par le spectacle des Omanais qui viennent s’y prendre en photo. Et le cadre est magnifique.
Après ce tour de quelques monuments emblématiques, direction le port où est amarré le yacht royal.
En face du port s'ouvre le dédale des ruelles du souk de Mutrah. Les marchands proposent l’habituelle offre de textiles, de souvenirs mais aussi des objets omanais et des antiquités. Beaucoup de brûle-parfums pour l’encens qui est récolté dans la région du Dhofar. L’encens ressemble à de petites pierres jaunes ou beiges.
An entire district of the souk is dedicated to jewelry stalls with magnificent gold bridal adornments.
If bargaining is part of folklore, it is better not to be too aggressive, it would be frowned upon. Count a reduction of 25 to 30%. If you feel like walking the Mutrah Corniche is the only area where you can consider walking. Otherwise, you need a car. You then pass in front of the Portuguese watchtower to push up to Al-Riyam Park and its giant incense burner.
From here you have a very nice view of the harbor.
Leaving the city, we drive in a landscape of totally arid and jagged mountains. A real desert where one searches in vain for the slightest green tuft.
The mountains peak at more than 3000 meters and we have to do part of the route in a 4x4. The views are breathtaking. Small villages cling to the walls as well as terraces where roses are grown for the distillation of rose water, olive trees, pomegranate trees.
The lack of rain for several years has affected these plantations, but especially the wild olive trees. The name of this massif leaves you a little thoughtful: djebel Akhdar means green mountain. Apart from the cultivated terraces, we therefore do not see much greenery.
We spent a night in the mountains, in a beautiful hotel built above what looks like the Grand Canyon.
With its swimming pool above the cliff, Alila Jabal Akhdar is perhaps the most beautiful five-star in the country.
After these arid landscapes, (08-01) we returned with pleasure to the plain to take a little walk in a Wadi. These are green valleys encased in mountains, with palm groves, flowers, water basins.
We stopped at Wadi Shab. For the comfort of women there is even a prayer tent for women!
Residents cross the stream to reach the shore where the walk begins, which sometimes follows an irrigation canal.
The landscape is sumptuous. Omanis love to picnic in these places where children can swim.
Children get refreshed wherever there is water, such as in small irrigation canals.
Most of the oases also exist thanks to an ingenious system of irrigation canals, some of which are listed as World Heritage by UNESCO.
They are dug into the mountainside, and the water passes through small aqueducts or tunnels.
The water first supplies drinking water wells, then mosque ablution areas and finally plantations. (08-20) There, a specific irrigation time is assigned to each farm. 30 minutes by the way.
Without these canals, the cultivation of date palms, which is one of the country's riches, would not be possible.
A single palm tree pumps around 500 liters of water per day! And there are millions of them. Water in Oman therefore comes from the mountains but also from several desalination plants. Pipelines or trucks carry water even to remote villages.
We were able to discover the irrigation system during a short walk in a palm grove of a fortified village more or less abandoned, (Birkat al-mausz) This also allowed us to visit old houses in ocher-colored earth and which are being restored.
It is also a great pleasure to see all this vegetation, because apart from these oases, it is a mineral desert.
A palm tree gives around 120 kg of fruit. Dates are small and tender, without being too sweet
To taste these dates, our guide took us to Nizwa. The former capital of the sultanate is the center for the cultivation of dates. Part of its souk is reserved for its delicious fruits. What a pleasure to taste the different varieties!
The best day to visit Nizwa is also Friday morning when the cattle market is held. The breeders come to sell their goats and sheep on a tour of the track to allow buyers to check the condition of the animal.
We gladly dive into the crowd of this vast market to observe the Omanis, all in traditional clothes of course. The men are wearing their "Kuma".
A few rare women are on the market, like these Bedouin women wearing a leather mask ...
You can find everything in this market, fresh fish, meat, roosters, birds, vegetables ...
Bedouin sell fillets of dried fish.
It is an immersion in the life of the Omanis.
Many shops in the Nizwa souk sell ancient weapons and silver khandjars. These daggers with curved blades which are part of the traditional dress of the Bedouins.
The men proudly display the purchased weapons. !
And if you ask if you can take a picture of them, they make you take a cookie or a piece of fruit with them. Which is quite surprising when we know that Nizwa is also nicknamed "pearl of Islam" because its inhabitants were very conservative. But tourists are very well received.
Welcoming and hospitality are part of the Bedouin culture and if you adopt a respectful behavior, they are happy to seek contact and come to greet you. Like this family whose little girls were fascinated by my husband, this foreigner who had adopted the traditional turban. They wanted to give a kiss by rubbing the tip of the nose to this "baba", a benevolent grandfather.
Right next to the souk, stands the fort with its impressive round tower, from where you have a beautiful view of the mosque, the vast date plantations and the mountain range all around.
If the desert mountains are spectacular, it is a completely different desert that is the highlight of our trip: the sands of Sharqia.
Here, the Bedouins of modern times no longer travel on the back of camels but at the wheel of powerful 4x4s.
They also give it to their heart's content to make us experience the adventure in the dunes… even if it means silting up.
In the distance, we saw a few permanent camps for tourists, but as with every trip, Definition Asia had a surprise in store for us: a camp set up just for us in the middle of nowhere.
The Bedouins had set up traditional tents with comfortable beds, a dry toilet with mirror, water pitcher and solar shower, candles and a large tent for the meal prepared by their wives.
We were like children climbing barefoot on the dunes, leaving our mark.
After sunset, a sandy wind forced us to take refuge in the large tent.
It was a bit unreal, the two Bedouins who kept us company didn't speak English, but we shared good times singing, sketching dance steps and learning a little more about the customs and traditions.
For example, it's rude to stretch out your legs, which we obviously all did while sitting on the floor on cushions. But do you know why? As we walk barefoot, the soles of the feet are dirty and it is very rude to impose this view on others!
During the night, the sand infiltrated very slowly under our tents. In the morning, we saw that this desert was inhabited: (10-26) many animal tracks were imprinted in the sand.
This ecosystem is home to around 200 species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
There are still 5000 Bedouins who live in the desert of sand where the islands raise among other things racing camels, goats. They work as seasonal fishermen and sell dried fish fillets in the markets.
With its 1,700 kilometers of coastline, Oman also has beaches.
Sea turtles come every year to lay their eggs. Visits are organized to observe them but we were unable to take pictures.
But on another beach we were surprised to see a strange living shell which spat water.
The town of Sour is worth a visit with its two fortified castles, watchtowers and especially its shipyard.
It is only in Oman that one still builds dhow, or dhows, Arab sailing ships. It was a thriving business until the arrival of the steamers of the British India Shipping Company.
It is thanks to the Sultan that the art of traditional construction has not been lost. And it is an extraordinary know-how because the carpenters worked without a plan.
These beautiful sailboats are built entirely of teak wood. Most of the work is still done by hand, although power planes and drills save time.
For the sultan, this know-how is part of the country's national and maritime heritage.
The attraction of Oman is certainly its grandiose landscapes. One looks in vain there for great cultural vestiges except for some old forts, like that of Bahla, the oldest of Oman.
The ancients tell that this immense fortress would be populated by Djinns. We couldn't check, as it was closed. With these little airs of Carcassonne, it still deserves a stop.
It is also an opportunity to see a city in the process of renovation, abandoned houses, and we see that there is still a lot to do.
The 12-kilometer-long dried earth wall is said to have been designed by a woman 600 years ago.
Oman has managed to keep its identity and its way of life while adapting to modern life. At the crossroads of maritime routes between Asia, East Africa and Europe, Oman inevitably has a culture of exchange. And the traveler is welcome.
Trip organized by:
Définition Asie
Tel. 03 89 36 10 64,
Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 12.
www.definition-asie.com
