Karma

---

Hello my fellow travellers!

This morning Hemant drove me down to the centre of Muscat where I started by buying my bus ticket back to Dubai for tonight so that I wouldn't miss out on it, I had to wait a bit for something which I didn't quite understand what it was but finally I got the ticket squared away and I could get on the city bus going to the historical part of Muscat. This is a new bus line that Hemant didn't know about so I sent him a text about it so he can inform his future guests about it.

I jumped of near Al Alam, the royal residential palace in Muscat. It's about 200 years old and is a beautiful, albeit modest, palace that also serves an official function as it receives distinguished guests. Unfortunately the palace grounds are off limits to guests so you can only take pictures of the front gates. Around the palace are several governmental institutions, such as the Ministry of Finance, and several museums.

There were several guards around but the were relaxed and friendly and we exchanged a lot of smiles and nods as I walked around and taking in the scenery. While looking at the beautiful gate to the palace I met a lovely Portuguese couple who told me that the watchtowers that I could see lining the hills as well as the massive forts in the harbour was all built by the Portuguese colonial power. I didn't know this and found it fascinating so we talked for quite a bit, especially me and the guy.

With this new knowledge I decided to make my way around the palace down to the harbour to see these forts and I'm really happy that I did as they are truly picturesque. There were a few other people walking around there but no massive crowds to dim the experience and I even found some nice people to take a series of pictures for me standing on the wave breakers.

There are two main forts, Al Mirani and Al Jalali, both of them are truly magnificent. The first one I took a look at was Al Mirani, built in the 16th century, I couldn't find much information about it but it's a really beautiful fort and it was involved in the defence of Muscat against Ottoman forces in 1552 but it was captured and much of it's fortifications destroyed. In front of the fort stands the beautiful mosque Al Khoor adorned with blue and gold. The scene is very nice with the fort as the backdrop of the mosque.

After the Portuguese recaptured Muscat in 1588 the built the fort as well as an additional protection against the Ottomans. It fell to Omani forces in 1650 as the Omani people united under Nasir Bin Murshid to expel the Portuguese. After they had secured their independence the newly established Yaruba dynasty ruled Oman until 1742, after the death of the fifth Yaruba Imam, Sultan Saif bin II, Oman descended into civil war between his twelve year old son Saif bin Sultan II (that naming is confusing) and Bal'arab bin Himyar. During the conflict Saif bin Sultan II asked the Persian for aid twice and both times they conquered Al Jalali, the second time by deceiving Saif bin Sultan II who died soon afterwards, after having been Imam four times in total.

The internal struggles continued until 1749 when there was finally an undisputed ruler again, Ahmad bin Said al-Busaidi, the former governor and commander of the garrison at Sohar who was the one who managed to drive the Persian forces out in 1747.

I walked past the forts and headed for some docks further down to take a look at a historical vessel but it turned out that it wasn't open to the public so I turned back to head out through the gate Al-Bab Al-Kabeer and head back towards the city. As I was walking there I passed by a family standing up on the somewhat broken sidewalk adjacent to the wall and wave breakers that I had just been traversing myself. Knowing that the footing was a bit treacherous there I was a bit mindful of them, something that paid off as the mother of the family all of a sudden took a wrong step, hurtling her backwards towards the street.

Luckily I was in a good position so I managed to catch her, the family came rushing over and they were all very grateful and thanked me for the help and we chatted briefly before I continued on my way because I had quite a bit to walk to make it to my next destination and not a great deal of time left before my bus back to Dubai.

As I was sweltering away under the blistering sun, walking along the rather boring road, a car suddenly pulled up next to me, it was the very family I had just met by the waterfront and they offered me a lift which was very sweet of them, good karma always comes around. We kept chatting in the car and enjoyed each others company until we came to the corniche which I had heard would be very beautiful. There was also a beautiful mosque, Masjid Al Rasool standing by the corniche but like so many other mosques in the region it's only open to Muslims and standing in front of it was armed officers so this time I decided against trying my luck.

While I was walking along the corniche I again met the Portuguese couple I met at Al Alam and we walked together for a while and talked about eating some dinner together, but unable to find anything at a decent cost in the area and seeing time becoming a bit short I excused myself and took the bus back to station where the bus bound for Dubai would be leaving from.

As I sat on the bus I saw some interesting sights quite close to the station and decided to double back and check them out as I still had some time left before the bus would leave as I got lucky with the city bus coming fast and getting to the station in good time. The sight turned out to be the Ruwi Clock Tower which is a very beautiful clock tower with nice and open surroundings.

I walked around the area for a while before I returned to the Ruwi Bus Station and ate at the nearby burger king, ending my stay in in Muscat with an ice cream before I got on the bus.

On the bus I started talking with Veljko, a nice guy from Serbia who was working as an architect in Oman and United Arab Emirates and we talked for the entire bus ride since we shared an interest in history and he was really knowledgeable about the region.

The border controls took quite a long time to process and we were quite a bit behind schedule so I was starting to get a bit worried about making the airport in time but Veljiko, who knew the route, told me that we would pass by the airport and told me to ask the driver and guy in charge to stop there as we passed. they were a bit reluctant at first but when I told them that I only had my hand luggage and thus only needed to step of the bus they agreed to stop briefly so that I wouldn't risk missing my flight.

With that I thanked Veljko for saving my butt and for a pleasant ride together and we agreed to keep in touch. I stepped of the bus on the highway adjacent to the airport and made my check in with good time, I proceeded to find some birthday gifts for my friends in Stockholm and then set my self up at a good wifi spot and watched some youtube while I ate a late dinner before boarding my flight for an overnight back to Stockholm.

Tomorrow I will land in Stockholm and take a look around at the old parts of the city and some parts of the palace I didn't visit with Marcus before I left for Dubai. Finally I will end my trip at my friends 30th birthday party before going back home.

I've really enjoyed this short trip to United Arab Emirates and Oman and I would have loved to stay longer but regular life calls me back for now. I found this area to be very hospitable and friendly even though I had a couple of bumps in the road so to speak, but the helpfulness of those I met her, their eagerness to share and their genuine friendliness will be a cherished memory for the years to come.

Until tomorrow I wish you all peace and happy travels!

---

Comments

[RENanDREW]

Karma
I had no idea the Portuguese had conquered areas of the middle east too... their reach around the globe over a few centuries was quite impressive (regardless of what I think of their conquering and ruling ways). I totally agree with you about karma, and I especially appreciate the instant kind that you don't have to wait years for :)

[A Small Swede in the Big World]

Karma
I was impressed as well, the span of the European colonial powers was really impressive.

[Ake Och Emma]

Bringing back memories
I went to Oman a few years ago. Your blog brings back some nice memories from there. /Ake

[A Small Swede in the Big World]

Bringing back memories
Happy to hear so. :)

[alex waring]

Muscat
Sounds like a very pleasant and agreeable city, with lots of history to learn about. Good to hear your buses seemed to connect you so well for the flight back to Stockholm.

[A Small Swede in the Big World]

Muscat
It really is, I warmly recommend visiting it. :)