Monday June 3 – Muscat

Note to readers: To read earlier posts go the Blog Archive on the right hand side of the page.

Today we went on safari in a convoy of 10 land cruisers, which the Omanis call Japanese camels.  There were four passengers and one driver to each camel.  We drove for an hour through barren dark brown cavernous country that suggested that the rumour of no water was true.  However, our guide was out to dispel this myth as he was intent on showing us the water features of Oman.  First we went to the fish markets, set on the sea where the fishermen catch tuna.  There were no people around because it is Ramadan and most people spend their time resting in doors.  It was incredibly hot, 43 degrees Celsius and these people could not even drink a drop of water from sunrise to sunset. 

We then drove through more Mars like landscape to the beach where we were invited to swim in the Arabian Sea.  We had been told to wear our bathers under our muslim-like attire but for we Australians used to golden sandy beaches , it was not inviting, despite the heat. The beach had black sand covered with rocks the size of turkey eggs.  These rocks had been baking in the hot sun waiting to burn the soles of any feet that dared to tread on them.  One American who ventured in did exactly that.

We then travelled through a dusty haze caused by the sand, until we reached a waterfall in a Wadi.  Wadis are large channels between the hills where the water flows from the mountains to the sea during the winter rains. There were desert springs scattered here and there in the Wadi and these springs nurtured dates, bananas and mangoes.  Many kilometres into this Wadi we had lunch and iced water provided by our guide, while he and our drivers ate and drank nothing.  I have made this sound a rather gloomy day, but it was definitely interesting and fun and our guide went out of his way to show us his country of which he was so proud.

In 1970, when the present Sultan Qaboos came to power, there was only one insignificant road and most people were uneducated.  Now, the road system would leave some of our roads for dead.  Even the tiniest and most remote villages have a hospital and most have a school.  If any child cannot get to school because they are in an isolated area, a helicopter will transport him to school.

The Omanis are very proud of the fact that they are a peaceful people, when their neighbours, Iran, Yemen and Saudi Arabia are all in conflict with some other nation.  Our drivers all seemed to be very happy people.

On our tour, we saw several forts dating back to the time of the Portuguese.  Two people we were talking to went to one of these forts and started to wander through the many lit corridors inside.  When the lights suddenly went out they said they could not even see each other and as there were stairs and holes everywhere they were too scared to continue. 

After a while they groped their way back and must have triggered a light as they could then see again.  Very scary.

We are thoroughly enjoying the entertainment on the ship and have a great person in charge.  Her name is Jody Miles.  Tonight we had a second performance by Jon Darsk, the musician.  He had a completely different concert for us. He performed a rock medley including music from AC DC. He played a Bach Staccato in C, Mac the Knife which he then proceeded to play as Mozart would have played it, incorporating it into some Mozart works, then as Strauss would have played it in his waltzes, then as a rumba, and even boogie woogie.  He performed a boogie woogie 8 to the bar and then 16 to the bar with the left hand. Very impressive.

He entertained us with some Liberace, a tribute to Paris including Autumn leaves and The Last time I saw Paris, finishing with Jerry G Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire, playing with his feet.  He also switched to some Gypsy music on the violin.  After this we went for some dance music by Ryan 7, followed by a Lip Sync by the entertainment staff.  A great night after an interesting day’s excursion.  Now we set sail for Dubai.

T