Snapshots of Oman

Boy in tree at Nakhl

Snapshots of Oman

Muscat, beautiful places, turtles, souqs
Here are some pictures that you can just browse through as if you had picked up a photo album. There is no particular theme. These are just views that caught my eye which I would like to share with you.

Click on the small pictures to see larger versions in new windows.

	Looking north over Hamriyah, a district of Ruwi, from the top of the steep hill at the beginning of the road to Yiti.
	Al Alam royal palace overlooking Muscat harbour. The old British Embassy stands next door, just in view on the left. I went to tea with His Majesty the Sultan and about 2,500 others on the lawn in front of the palace during the National Day celebrations of 1998. Bandsmen of the various armed forces deployed on the roof of the palace and the battlements of the adjacent Mirani and Jalali forts, serenaded us.
	Matrah harbour from the fish souq at the end of the corniche. 1994
	Approximately the same view of the harbour in 1999. The harbour had been dredged and piers built.
	A wealthy merchant's house on the corniche at Matrah. These old houses were built with high ceilings and open inner courtyards to encourage flow of air from the sea. Summer heat is stifling.
	Close-up of a Matrah house Oman was a trading hub in the Indian Ocean during the eighteenth century and aims to continue this tradition with its new transhipment and container port near Salalah.
	The old merchant houses lining Matrah corniche.
	The Posts, Telegraph and Telecommunications tower at the north end of Central Business District Street.
	Ruwi clock tower at the southern end of Central Business District Street.
	Ruwi from the roof of the Sheraton Hotel. The Ministry of Commerce and Industry is in the building on the left. The Muscat Securities Market is behind it and the Chamber of Commerce is on the right hand side.
	The Central Bank of Oman in Ruwi's Central Business District, where many banks, finance brokers and major businesses maintain their headquarters.
	Al Jadeed stores from my office window in the Street of Light in Ruwi.
	The dome and minaret of Sultan Qaboos mosque, Ruwi.
	The "Turkish" mosque, so-called because of its design, in Al Khuwair 33 behind the Radisson Hotel.
	The mosque in Shati al Qurm near the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
	The Zawawi mosque in Al Khuwair, popularly named after its sponsor.
	The Royal Guard mosque sited near the royal palace of Bait al Barakah, Al Seeb.
	The Al Bustan Hotel from the sea and a view of the beach. This 5 star hotel was built to accommodate the first meeting hosted by Oman of the Gulf Cooperation Council in 1985. The hotel is managed by the Intercontinental chain on behalf of the government.
	The bay at the eastern end of the Intercon beach. A quiet haven lying below the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
	Sunset over the Intercon beach.
	The garden of the 5 star Muscat Intercontinental Hotel which lies just to the east of Shati al Qurum, the embassy district.
	The tea lounge at the Muscat Intercontinental Hotel.
	Grand Hyatt, Muscat. Another 5 star hotel further west along the Intercon beach.
	A water tanker. Muscat is expanding rapidly and water tankers are needed to supply homes which are not yet linked to the water distribution network.
	Palm trees and decorations erected along the highway for the 25th anniversary celebrations of the accession of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said. 1995.
	A mosque at Ghubrah. The loudspeaker through which the muezzin makes the call to prayer, is mounted on the roof.
	A storm cloud over Al Khuwair. November 1999.
	Old fishing boat at Athaibah beach. Grand new villas are springing up behind the beach.
	Drying fish for animal feed in the wadi behind Athaibah beach and village. The smell can be pungent
	Fishing boats lined up on Athaibah beach. Most Omani fishing remains family-based and small-scale.
	Wadi Dayqah gorge, 60 km southeast of Muscat, outstanding not only for its beauty but also because it is one of the few perennially flowing wadis in Oman. Picture taken by William Bradford, a hydrogeologist who used to work for the Ministry of Water Resources.
	Wadi Dayqah at Mazara village, a popular picnic spot. Wadi Dayqah is unusual in that the gorge cuts across the watershed of the northern Oman mountains. The wadi flows to the sea across the Daghmar plain, southeast of Quriyat.
	Wadi Samail at Fanjah, some 40 km southwest of Muscat, another perennial wadi which flows northwards along the Samail Thrust.
	Water tankers in Wadi Samail under the highway bridge at Fanjah. Taking water from a well in the wadi alluvium.
	Wadi Shab, near Tiwi, on coastal road between Quriyat and Sur. A stroll up the wadi reveals many springs and finally, a grotto where you can swim. Idyllic. But be prepared to walk, wade and finally swim for a couple of metres under water to get there.
	Shab village just north of Tiwi, at the mouth of the wadi. Coastal road between Quriyat and Sur.
	Entrance to Jabrin fort, beyond Nizwa on the road to Ibri. Jabrin was built around 1670 by the Imam Bil'arub during the Ya'ruba dynasty. For a while, it was the Imam's capital and an important seat of learning.
	One of the many painted ceilings in Jabrin fort. Ceiling painting reached its finest here.
	Mother turtle laying eggs in pit she has dug in the sand.
	Baby turtles hatching from eggs buried in the sand.
	Newly hatched baby turtles scuttling to the sea. These pictures taken at the turtle reserve, Ras al Junayz.

You can get permits to visit the turtle reserve at Ras al Junayz (Jinz), from the second floor of the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Environment. The building lies between the Ministry of Justice, Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and the Ministry of Housing on Shara' al Wazarat (Ministry Street) in Al Khuwair.

The office is open between 8.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. on official government working days (Saturday - Wednesday).

Phone 696456 or 696444 ext. 272 beforehand to make bookings, to avoid disappointment during peak seasons and when to arrange to collect permits. You need to give the following information:

names of those wishing to visit the reserve
nationality
proposed dates of visit
vehicle registration numbers of all vehicles in the party
contact telephone number in case of emergency.

You need to pay R.O.1 on entering the reserve.

	Old Nizwa souq. For authenticity, always seek out the old souq, or market place, usually in the centre of any larger town. New souqs are being built, more for tourist purposes and they haven't acquired the atmosphere of their forebears.
	A Bedu woman bargains with a trader at Nizwa's souq al Jumah or Friday souq, where anybody can set out and sell their wares outside the old city wall.
	Fabrics for sale at Nizwa's souq al Jumah.
	Finishing pots at Bahla, an old town a few km from Nizwa which boasts a magnificent fort now being renovated and listed under the Unesco world heritage programme.
	A spice and herb merchant in Rustaq souq. The Omanis have a strong tradition of herbal medicine.
	Frankincense, blended with other spices to make a substance called bukhoor, is burnt to fumigate dwellings. A frankincense burner is routinely passed beneath the dresses of women guests as they take their leave from their hosts. Arabian perfumes have long been prized. This stall is in Matrah souq.
	You can buy all sorts of bric a brac in Matrah souq as well as gold and silver jewellery, Omani khanjars, compasses and telescopes. Len Hutton is choosing hash horns here.
	Carrots, spinach, aubergine, lettuce and courgette (zucchini) for sale in Matrah vegetable souq.
	Oman exports dates world-wide. Something like 40 varieties of date are grown as you can guess from these different coloured dates on sale in Matrah vegetable souq. The dates are harvested at the height of summer.
	I thought these were eggs for sale in Matrah vegetable market, but Mohammed Samir tells me that they are shilunsh, a salty, yogurt-based snack of Baluchi origin.
	The fish souq on Matrah corniche.
	Tuna is cheap and plentiful. It's unusual to see women in the fish and vegetable souqs. Omani men often do the marketing.
	The prawn seller. Omani prawns are scrumptious and come into season in August. This fellow keeps his takings in his hat.
	And just to finish, a view of Wadi Abyadh near Nakhl, also another wadi which flows almost perennially, fed by springs rising from fractures in the ophiolites that line the wadi walls and in the underlying alluvium. Blue pools are common here. See Geology of Oman. If you motor then walk north along this wadi from Abyadh village, you should cross the Moho, which is the division geologists make between crust and mantle rocks. My friend Alan says it's just a structural contact here. Unfortunately, I never made it to the Moho.

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Please note, all photographs on this website are copyright of Sue Hutton, unless otherwise stated.