Oman - The classy side of the Peninsula (just typed Penisula by mistake and realised that could be a good word! Perhaps it describes one appendage in the bath when it sits there floating like a body peninsula?) So, being half-French, and not wanting to let any holiday periods go to waste, my wife and I decied to bugger off to Oman (the nearest and easiest neughbour of Dubai to get to) for about 5 days over the Muslamic festival of Eid. Eid (no.2, no.1 follows Ramadan) marks the Muslim celebration of Abraham's faith in God/Allah, demonstrated apparently by his willingness to sacrifice his son when asked to (at the last minute cheeky Allah put a goat in his place, and said basically, 'ok, well i see that you have faith in me'). All a bit twisted, like all the best organised religion's traditions, but there you go. It follows therefore that Muslims are required to slaughter a goat at this time of the year (which follows their lunar calendar, not the Western Gregorian one). Anyway, we set off driving to Oman (target: Muscat, and the a 3-day trip into the hinterland to see some of the best bits of Oman's north east area), and arrived in Muscat - checked into the English-run B&B (complete with REAL bacon, and properly made 'Cup o' tea'!
We were driven around by our great guide Abu (30 years in the Oman army, great 4x4 driver, smart, clued-up, open-minded), and saw many of the great sights of Oman (Wadi Shab, the Wahibi Sands, Turtle nesting, forts, etc.). It's a great country to visit from what I've seen, and apparently Al Salalah in the south is like Malaysia's Highlands so should be worth a visit this summer (a good escape from the searing UAE heat apparently).
Whislt driving, we managed to chat to Abu about pretty much anything to do with Oman, Islam, etc. and it was very interesting and comforting to find that all the same human issues that take place under the umbrella of 'Christian' countries defintely happen in the Islamic world too. Divorce, sex, illegality, prositutes, cheating - it's common to us all. The twisted view from Europe that one gets about Islam seems to be a long way from the truth, I mean Islam is just another fruitcake religion, like all the others, but yes it's the basis for society and laws are based upon its teeachings. However, this doesn't instantly make it bad, and all the things we hear about (7 wives, hand cutting-offs, lashings, treatment of women, the veil, etc.) are not as pictured. A few myths explained from my experience so far (possibly applies to Oman only, but Oman is not exactly a first world progressive country):
- Couples can divorce easily (and if you see your spouse cheating with your own eyes (and a witness), a marriage is automatically over - not the worst rule in the world)
- Women do not generally walk 20 paces behind their husband. They seem to spend most of their time either bollocking their husband, or giggling around clothes shopping with their girly friends (sound like anywhere familiar?!).
-The veil/burkha is worn in varying degrees. The most common way is to just cover the head but keep the face open - the reason for this is that once married, it is seen that she is to be seen in a lustful way only by her man; to show your wife off to all and sundry is seen as an invitation to let all the men perv over her. Personally, I'm not sure what I think about it all, but i know that to see them with just their face exposed is quite beautiful, and i know that my wife looked very nice dressed this way! [Also it does stop women dressing up in velour tracksuits and letting the rest of us deal with that ;) !
Another time, I'll write about the natural beauty of Oman (possibly after the next trip), but so far it has been good to us.
Yallah! (Oh yeah, we have started to learn bits and bobs of Arabic, which does help your impression upon others here, and it's nice to be able to speak some of the language and not just be an ignorant westerner)
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