Entre Les Murs

Desert and Mountains

We are now in the mountains, staying near Nizwa. It's similar yet different from many places: Southern California for the heat and rocky desert geography, Egypt for the human activity, and Canmore for the small-town-in-the-valley feel; but it's a lot tidier than Egypt, hotter than Canmore, and the people just aren't very SoCal at all.

We have been exploring the nearby towns and forts by means of a rented 4x4. The beast is a gas guzzler, but then a litre of gas costs less than half what it does in Toronto. We've seen the local fort in town, as well as a castle called Jabrin fort at the nearby town of Bahla. These are grand structures most of four hundred years old, with period household items inside to give a flavour of life at that time.

Bahla has another fort, closed for renovation - one thing that we can't help noticing is that there is a lot of money splashing around here for civic works. The highways are broad, smooth and sport streetlights their length; there are large new-looking mosques (with the king's name on them) and the tourist sites such as the forts have been extensively reconstructed and restored.

Despite some busloads of Germans, the tourist infrastructure is still a little weak. This is good and bad, since we don't have to contend with the hordes; but we have had some difficulty finding the maps, guidebooks, signage and such that enable us to find our way to the interesting sites. We stumbled across beehive tombs yesterday, but there was nothing there but a sign warning us of the penalty for removing articles or disturbing an archaeological site.

My few words of Arabic have served me somewhat better here than in Morocco. If nothing else, the effort is recognized; the Omanis seem quite delighted to meet a Westerner speaking Arabic. But I have even managed to use it to have what might almost be termed a conversation (a little too much charades to really qualify).

posted 3.4.06