“I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.”
-Song of Solomon 4:6
I suppose I could re-use the “best laid plans of mice and men” quote for our visit to Oman, as nothing went according to plan. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly charmed by Muscat. Salalah, not so much, but only because we never left the ship there.
En route to Salalah, a passenger developed a medical emergency and we had to divert to Aden, Yemen, to evacuate the individual for medical care. It is good that the ship did that, but it did set the schedule back some at we arrived at Salalah several hours later than planned. It was always intended to be a stop of only a few hours, but became reduced even more, down to three hours.
Because we were docked more than 20 kilometers from Salalah itself, the decision was made not to let any passengers off. Indeed, the only reason we stopped at all was that the ship was picking up three containers (as in those huge truck-sized containers) of provisions. So, the ship threw a party on the dock with some of the officers serving, while pretty much the whole crew—including the captain and many of the senior officers—unloaded the containers and brought their contents aboard. It was a fascinating thing to watch, and gave something of an appreciation of what it takes to provide for a cruise ship of this size and a reminder of how hard the crew works (not that we don’t see the latter every day anyway).
Once the goods were brought on board, off we went, this time bound for Muscat. There, our plan was to spend the morning walking around the town, then go snorkeling in the afternoon. Well, the first part of that worked out fine. The port was a complicated thing, and we were not allowed to walk around it, so had to take a shuttle bus to leave the port vicinity. The morning shuttle took us to the souk (the local marketplace). There we wandered through its covered maze of shops selling everything from fabrics to jewelry to toys to pots and pans. We quickly found our way out of the tourist-oriented alleys and into the ones where the local women shopped. Barely giving us a glance, the ladies, all wearing abayas (the long robes) and a few in full burkas with faces covered, were intent on their goals, whether it be clothing trim, soap, or kitchen ware. It was a lively area.
One of the items most prominently for sale was incense, including frankincense. Oman has been the center of the frankincense trade since 5000 BC. Frankincense was used for funeral rites and for such purposes as payment of tribute to the Persian king. Together with myrrh, it was more valuable than gold during the time of Christ. It is believed to have been the first commodity to become the subject of international trade. It is a kind of sap, and is used not only for fragrance, but as a digestive aid, a memory helper and probably a cure for other difficulties that the salesmen of the souks were too gentlemanly to mention.
From the souk, we wandered around the waterfront area just a bit. The day was getting hot (the temperature already exceeded 100 degrees F and it was not yet noon. So a lot of walking was just not an attractive thing. We did see a couple of the famous traffic circles of Muscat, which include statuary of such things as giant water urns and coffee pots. The city is oriented toward the waterfront, and has a great deal of charm. Looming above the city is a giant white frankincense burner, a monument to the product once so important to the region’s economy.
The afternoon is when things fell apart. We were supposed to have gone on a snorkeling trip we’d arranged through a group called Arabian Sea Safaris, which operates out of the Intercontinental Hotel. We went to the assigned meeting point—just outside the harbor gate, in front of the police station—at the appointed time, and waited 20 minutes past the appointed hour. No one showed up. Since it was impossibly hot at that point, we simply returned to the ship and jumped into the pool instead. When we finally were able to reach the group much later, they with much apology told us that an assistant had mixed up the reservation. A disappointment, but if that’s the worst that happens on this trip, we’re doing great!
Our evening sailaway was as charming as our morning in Muscat. At night, the newer buildings along the waterfront light up with colored lights, and the old forts are the focus of spotlights. It's colorful and very attractive.
So now Oman is behind us, and we arrived this afternoon (Wednesday) in Dubai. We will be here until Friday evening, so my next update will be after our departure then.
-Song of Solomon 4:6
I suppose I could re-use the “best laid plans of mice and men” quote for our visit to Oman, as nothing went according to plan. Nevertheless, I was thoroughly charmed by Muscat. Salalah, not so much, but only because we never left the ship there.
En route to Salalah, a passenger developed a medical emergency and we had to divert to Aden, Yemen, to evacuate the individual for medical care. It is good that the ship did that, but it did set the schedule back some at we arrived at Salalah several hours later than planned. It was always intended to be a stop of only a few hours, but became reduced even more, down to three hours.
Because we were docked more than 20 kilometers from Salalah itself, the decision was made not to let any passengers off. Indeed, the only reason we stopped at all was that the ship was picking up three containers (as in those huge truck-sized containers) of provisions. So, the ship threw a party on the dock with some of the officers serving, while pretty much the whole crew—including the captain and many of the senior officers—unloaded the containers and brought their contents aboard. It was a fascinating thing to watch, and gave something of an appreciation of what it takes to provide for a cruise ship of this size and a reminder of how hard the crew works (not that we don’t see the latter every day anyway).
Once the goods were brought on board, off we went, this time bound for Muscat. There, our plan was to spend the morning walking around the town, then go snorkeling in the afternoon. Well, the first part of that worked out fine. The port was a complicated thing, and we were not allowed to walk around it, so had to take a shuttle bus to leave the port vicinity. The morning shuttle took us to the souk (the local marketplace). There we wandered through its covered maze of shops selling everything from fabrics to jewelry to toys to pots and pans. We quickly found our way out of the tourist-oriented alleys and into the ones where the local women shopped. Barely giving us a glance, the ladies, all wearing abayas (the long robes) and a few in full burkas with faces covered, were intent on their goals, whether it be clothing trim, soap, or kitchen ware. It was a lively area.
One of the items most prominently for sale was incense, including frankincense. Oman has been the center of the frankincense trade since 5000 BC. Frankincense was used for funeral rites and for such purposes as payment of tribute to the Persian king. Together with myrrh, it was more valuable than gold during the time of Christ. It is believed to have been the first commodity to become the subject of international trade. It is a kind of sap, and is used not only for fragrance, but as a digestive aid, a memory helper and probably a cure for other difficulties that the salesmen of the souks were too gentlemanly to mention.
From the souk, we wandered around the waterfront area just a bit. The day was getting hot (the temperature already exceeded 100 degrees F and it was not yet noon. So a lot of walking was just not an attractive thing. We did see a couple of the famous traffic circles of Muscat, which include statuary of such things as giant water urns and coffee pots. The city is oriented toward the waterfront, and has a great deal of charm. Looming above the city is a giant white frankincense burner, a monument to the product once so important to the region’s economy.
The afternoon is when things fell apart. We were supposed to have gone on a snorkeling trip we’d arranged through a group called Arabian Sea Safaris, which operates out of the Intercontinental Hotel. We went to the assigned meeting point—just outside the harbor gate, in front of the police station—at the appointed time, and waited 20 minutes past the appointed hour. No one showed up. Since it was impossibly hot at that point, we simply returned to the ship and jumped into the pool instead. When we finally were able to reach the group much later, they with much apology told us that an assistant had mixed up the reservation. A disappointment, but if that’s the worst that happens on this trip, we’re doing great!
Our evening sailaway was as charming as our morning in Muscat. At night, the newer buildings along the waterfront light up with colored lights, and the old forts are the focus of spotlights. It's colorful and very attractive.
So now Oman is behind us, and we arrived this afternoon (Wednesday) in Dubai. We will be here until Friday evening, so my next update will be after our departure then.
1 comment:
Hey Aunt Crystal,
I'm getting caught up with your blog. I've been missing your adventures, and it sounds like Oman was an adventure! I think its interesting to hear about how important frankincense was during the time of Christ b/c it was also brought to him when he was born by the magi. Can't wait to read more. Baby's doing good, had the first ultrasound and we could hear the heartbeat and see little arm and leg buds moving. It was exciting! Love ya, Katie
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