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Published: April 12th 2008
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Driving tips for Oman:
1) Beware the rotaries. Arabs love rotaries. I don't think I saw a single stop light in Oman outside of Muscat. The only rule in a rotary is if you are in it, you have right-of-way. But you can change lanes in a rotary at a moment's whim and you can exit from any lane, which gets really interesting in a 3 and 4 lane rotary.
2) Beware the goats and camels. Goats seem to think that "pavement" means stop and look for the best grass for a while. Camels are deaf to honking. Goats occasionally will respond.
3) All stop signs point at 90 degrees to the intended stop lane. Therefore they must be ignored.
4) Don't rent a small car. The bigger your car, the more you can ignore the speed limit. Just be sure your bright lights are the only ones that work, so you can flash them on and off at any smaller car to move out of the way.
5) The sign "When water shows at red, stop" does not refer to how hot the your car engine is. But to the brown posts along the side of the road with small
white stripes at the bottom. Although you cannot tell that the road is lower, you are in a Wadi, and some time every few years, rain may fall, and you will get flooded out. (This one took about 300 kilometers to figure out.)
Oman is a really interesting country. It's obvious that they have new found wealth...there are multitudes of new large two and three story houses being built all over the country. 30 years ago there were 30 km of paved roads. I had to work hard to find a sand or gravel road. It's also not really equipped for independent travel...there are very few hotels and they are really expensive, and info is hard to find. But that being said, it is a great place for adventure.
The goat market at Nizwa was the most fascinating part of the four days in Oman. Just ouside the old souk there is a raised concrete circle about 20 feet in diameter. Some of the buyers position themselves there. Others buyers opt to form another circle about 8 feet further out. The sellers with their goats or sheep or kids or lambs parade around between the two groups and
the action begins. This is not just for men...women are selling and buying, as are small children. It might as well be the NY Stock Exchange for the hand and finger waving and the yelling and the confusion that abounds. The men are generally in a long light colored robe with white caps, and the women are in every color imaginable (lots of black,too) with varying degrees of face covering. Some are ovbious brokers matching particular wants to particular animals they have seen. Some are just sitting checking teeth and teets of prospective buys. I wandered in this confusion taking photos, and soon was completely tangled up in leashes...I'd inadvertently found the entry point of the animals. One small boy was a bit upset, but the men and women thought it was pretty funny watching me try to get untangled from 6 different large goats. Those pants smelled for days.
Oman has lots of adobe villages which are being allowed to melt away back into desert. One really fascinating one was Tenuf which had it's water canal cut in the 50's during a dispute with the government. Unfortunately, the photos didn't come out because the sun was so bright.
But you can still find the mosques and the minarets and a few of the individual houses are still half there. Because of UNESCO designation as heritage sites, a few of the old castle-forts are being restored, the best examples were at El Ain and Jabin. But these too, for the most part, are melting away.
I had decided that from the furthest south I went (Sur), I would travel up the coast, specifially to stop at Qualhut where Marco Polo has stopped. On the one map I had found (at $29), there was a 4 lane coastal road. So I started to Qualhut, a bit confused because the road sign pointed Muscat (eventual destination) in the opposite direction. The road was exceptionally good until "Diversion" appeared. But this gravel road took me directly to the archeological site. The problem then started as I was not sure how to continue. A car came by and I followed and next thing I knew was going down a 45 degree incline into a deep Wadi. I continued following the car, and it stopped in the little village. I continued through the village and was met by two young boys who excitedly
yelled "Hello" and then ran after me and started knocking on the car window. I stopped and they were gesturing shaking their heads and window-wiping thier arms and saying "No" in Arabic. Well, there was no place to turn around, so I went a bit further to be met by an older man who said "No" in English and window wiped his hands. Fortunately, I could turn around there, but once back at the village it took four attemts at different directions to finally find the highway again. A few miles later, a second "Diversion" and again the same experience. But this time, the highway had no center stripe, and cars were coming directly at me. I pulled over and for the first time noticed on the map that my four lane road did seem to be a little bit different color. Checking the legend: "Proposed Road". I was half way where I need to be so I continued. And the road continued with it's "diversions". Actually I saw some great coastal desert country this way. It was a little frustrating, though because what I thought was going to be a 2 hour trip was a 6 hour trip. When I finally did get back to real road, there was a sign that said "Road not open to the public. Travel at your own risk."
Muscat itself is tiny. The capital complex is just inside the harbor, and the rest of the city is across the mountains. My destination was the Muttrah souk which is pretty well known...and for a reason. It's really one of the best souks I've experienced outside of Marrakesh. Hours later, having had a great time haggling and talking (most Omanis speak good Engligh), I left with a couple of purchases which will look great on my brick wall.
I was disappointed not to get to the "green" south of Oman. But I sure would go back, this time with a larger car.
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