Drenched in mystery and antiquity, the 400-year-old town of Al Hamra glittered below us like the crown jewels of an oriental potentate. From our lofty vantage point, 1,400 m above sea level, all of Oman seemed to float in an enchanted dimension.
We had driven up a road that corkscrewed skyward for eight km before arriving at an eco-luxe retreat called The View where soft evening breezes and the stupendous vistas cast a spell on the group. The View is located just a two-and-a-half hour drive away from Muscat, but we had swept past varied terrain — the jagged Hajar mountains that seemed to crouch like wrestlers preparing for a fight; stretches of scrub and sand, oases of palms and sparkling villages of a handful of low-slung Omani houses. So still was the air that the bleating of goats wafted upward like a soothing soundtrack till someone started to hum a song (that was ‘picturised’ in Al Hamra) from the Hindi film Gunday .
Oman for us was like an Arabian Riviera-cum-Arabian Nights’ theme park — but totally natural and authentic. This is not a country of gigantic cities with glittering skylines, but one that reveals its charms at a measured, magic-carpet pace. This touch of reserve is reflected in its proud, handsome people too — tall and striking in their crisp white dishdasha robes with an embroidered cap or a turban on their heads; they are the quintessential Arabs, we felt, who might have stepped out of that Hollywood classic, Lawrence of Arabia .
The next day, we headed for Sur (in north-eastern Oman), part of the Arabian Riviera, famous at one time also as a dhow building centre. From Sur, these handcrafted wood boats would sail away to distant lands like India to trade.
Our car sped down smooth highways and country roads, past a world of heaving orange and brown sand dunes that rose as high as 100 to 200 metres; and haughty camels with little local boys perched on their backs loped away into the horizon with aplomb.
Sur turned out to be a town of blindingly white villas and flat-roofed Omani homes, some with doors left hospitably open. This coastal town had the air of a Greek resort that had strayed into Arabia, for only the graceful domes and minarets of the local mosques betrayed its Middle Eastern origins. Unlike in the Mediterranean, life in Oman is lived largely indoors, except when Omanis head out to experience adventure in their own land. And so Sur, like other towns of its ilk, had a secretive air. It shimmered like a mirage as we drove down the Corniche that curved along the azure waters of the Gulf of Oman to a ship-building yard where little had changed over the centuries.
Here the ghost of Sindbad the Sailor seemed to hover — did this intrepid explorer take off in these sturdy vessels in search of adventure in faraway lands? Earlier, the dhow s were used for pearl diving, fishing and trade but today they are the Middle Eastern equivalent of luxury yachts, coveted by sultans and the uber rich. While we were there, a massive 32-ft-long dhow (entirely handcrafted) was being fashioned by mahogany-skinned craftsmen (all from Kerala). Some of the workmen had been working at this shipyard, one of the oldest in town, for as long as 15 years. While the dhow s of yore were sturdy and simple, their modern descendants have lavish living rooms and bedrooms with en-suite facilities which take a year or more to build, they told us.
We left the artisans to hammer and chisel away at a magnificent dhow being built and customised for the Sheikh of Qatar, with its proud prow facing an inlet of jade-green waters, dwarfing everything around it. We then drove along the Corniche, a seafront promenade that ran along a honey-coloured beach and as it was siesta time, Sur seemed to live in a state of suspended animation. Its snaking alleys, dotted with fine homes with carved doors, had a shuttered look.
We then climbed up to an ancient watch tower which took our breath away. From up there, Sur seemed to hover over the jade-green, azure waters of the Gulf of Oman like a fairy-tale vision in white. A few domes and minarets of mosques rose gracefully upwards. Suddenly, the call of the muezzin wafted up to us and calls from other mosques merged as though an unseen conductor was orchestrating a spiritual symphony of sound. The sound of softly murmured prayers were then carried on the wind till they ceased and quiet reigned again.
In the foreground, a modern suspension bridge with cars zipping over it was the only reminder that we were in the 21st century and not in some distant era.
We lingered in Sur, spent time exploring its treasure-filled souk, its maritime museum and walked barefoot along its untrammelled beach. As dusk fell, a few dhow s sailed regally on the waters and again we felt like we had been trapped in a time warp. For a few riyals, the fishermen are more than willing to take visitors on an evening cruise where strong whiffs of the past and the salty breeze of the ocean combine in a heady cocktail.
We took the coastal road back to Muscat via endless sandy champagne-coloured beaches and would have loved to linger and revel in Oman’s raw, brawny side but Muscat’s shy urban charms beckoned; a city where the ancient and the modern intersect, much like Oman itself…
Fact File
Oman Air and a number of Indian airlines operate direct flights from different cities across the country to Muscat.
Indians need a visa to enter Oman and these are best obtained through a local tour operator like Tour Oman as part of a holiday package.
This is authentic Arabia, yet easy to explore because English and Hindi are widely spoken.
Oman is reportedly one of the safest countries in the world.
Accommodation tends to be limited to the uber luxurious, luxury and four star segments.
If you plan to go camping in the desert, it can work out less expensive.
For more information, visit: www.omantourism.gov.om
