Muscat Accidental

A friend of Carol’s was in UAE on a visitor’s visa; these are only valid for two months; you need to leave and re-enter the country in order to renew it. So, she invited Carol to fly to Muscat, Oman for the day (less than an hour’s flight), and off they went. This is Carol’s account of that day…

Sultan Qaboos

We landed in the city of Muscat on a Monday morning in November, thinking that it would be a regular mid-week, mid-winter day. We’d wander around, see the sights, buy a few trinkets and partake in a couple of relaxing meals, then head home. We didn’t realize that it was Monday the 18 November – National Day in Oman.

National Day celebrates the succession of Sultan Qaboos to the throne in 1970, when he deposed his father and ushered Oman into the modern age. Just like UAE, locals dress up their vehicles with pictures of the Sultan and head to the beach in their hundreds….

We arrived in the city around 10:00 and took a walk through a souk full of ethnic clothing and spices. As we only had a day we decided to take a Big Bus tour (on a red double-decker bus) – the city is quite spread out. We got off at the third stop for lunch then got back on to see the sights. We boarded the bus thinking we would go two stops to see the Opera House, but along the beach road we saw lots of cars ahead and realized that they were celebrating the 43rd anniversary of Oman's creation.

Cars decorated in flags and silkscreen graphics of their leaders soon surrounded us. After about half an hour the driver asked if anyone would mind missing stop four as we could not get through; we were stuck with cars parked everywhere. We had a great view from the top deck of the bus and were enjoying the absolute chaos around us but agreed it was better to get away and continue the tour. The only problem was turning a double decker bus within two lanes that were chock-a-block with cars! It took a while but eventually we were on our way.

Turning the Bus

I wasn't sure we were going the right way and I was right. We entered the port area and stopped next to a cruise ship, a few people got off leaving five of us still in our seats. A bus manager boarded, spoke with the driver, and then asked: "Aren't you all on the cruise ship?" After we said 'no' she panicked and said, "You're not allowed in the port area unless you're boarding the ship. If the police see you, the bus company will lose its license.” I said: 'Maybe we should hide under the seats.' She readily agreed and told us to be careful and hide! As we moved off we were all laughing from our hiding places – I asked if anyone knew what it was like in Omani prisons? ...We made it out safely.

We decided we deserved a drink (or two...) so went to a hotel for dinner; we enjoyed a good meal and some wine. As we got the bill, an Arabic man appeared next to me. He introduced himself and said he would like to pay our bill. We refused, but he explained that I looked just like his mother and he really wanted to pay. I couldn't see how - I (strawberry-blonde, white and freckled) could possibly look like this man's mother but told him I was pleased I’d reminded him of this very important person in his life but could not accept the offer.

We paid and made a hasty retreat with a final wave and goodbye to my phantom son. Traffic was still a challenge but we made it home safely after a long adventurous day.

Family Play at Sunset - Muscat