The sultanate of Oman, a revolution in trompe-l'oeil

It does no harm just this once, I will speak about a new french book, named "Le sultanat d'Oman, une révolution en trompe-l'oeil". I wish I could have read this book at the beginning of my expatriation, it would have help me to better understand the country where I've lived for almost a year now.

In this book, the author (a french researcher, Marc Valeri) describes the history of the country (including the war of the Dhofar, 1965-1975), with a great freedom of speech, and then explains how the Sultan Qaboos since 1970 has succeeded in unifying the country by putting in place a welfare state (thanks to the petrol incomes) and by creating an Omani identity. It explains also very well the different categories of population that composed Oman, their relations, and the possible tension between them... At the end, the author gives us his view of the young Omanis mentality, and the futur issues the sultanate will have to face after Sultan Qaboos era.

This is a very exhaustive book, full of details about the Omani society. I give you below a few things that struck my mind :

• The life expectancy was 40 years old in 1940, and is now 74,5
• Their is a guaranteed minimum wage for the Omani : 140 OMR
• in dec. 2006, 52,6% of the Omani working population was in the public sector
• 38,9% of the Omani are less than 15 years old, 53,7% less than 20 years old, and only 3% over 60 years old.
• Officially, 35% of the marriage are between cousins. But if you take into account larger blood relations, it can be 55%.
• 6,3% of Omani live with several wifes (16% in the Dhofar).
• 80% of the Omani think that censoring the local or foreign television programs is good.
• For those who wonder who will succeed the sultan, it has been reported that the Sultan has declared having identified 2 possible successors, and has put their names in sealed envelopes hidden in two different regions of Oman. Note also that the Sultan has been married in 1976, but he has divorced in 1980.
• some rare cases of excision have been reported in rural area of the country.
  

Wadi Shab

Wadi Shab is located just next to Wadi Tiwi. You have to park at the entrance of the Wadi and continue by foot. The path and goes inside the gorge and is very lovely, even if Gonu has destroyed a lot of palm trees...

on the path you will find several small natural pools where you can swim. But the big fun is at the end of the wadi (after 1hour walking) : you can access a little cave by swimming, and then you can climb the rocks and make enormous jumps in the water !

NOTE : Too many people are going to Wadi shab and wadi Tiwi during Eid Mubarak holidays. You should definitely avoid this period to visit these places.

Dubai

As Dubai is only few hours away from Muscat, it's not hard to go there for a long week-end if you get bored with Oman. You will need between 4 and 6 hours to reach Dubai from Muscat by car : it depends on how fast you're driving, the traffic jams and the time you'll spent at the border post (If you have a Omani hire car, you will need also to get a 12 OMR insurance policy extension at your rental agency).

Dubai is so different from Oman : you have a lot of towers, it is a crowded city with traffic jams and you have a lot of activities to do in the city ! You can check the Sheikh Zayed road with its hundred of towers (including the Burj Dubai, the tallest tower in the world), you can go to the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah beaches, you can also visit some old typical houses in Bur Dubai (even if they look as new as the towers because of their recent renovation)...

There a lot of Souqs as well, and a interesting Dubai museum. Also you can make some skiing in the Mall of Emirates (which is a change from the heat of the city !) or spend the day in the water amusement park "wild wadi".

In brief, I've spent 3 days in Dubai during the Eid holidays and it has been a real enjoyment and a big change from Muscat. However, more than 3 days I don't know what I could have done more (maybe more shopping ?).

Happy Eid Mubarak !

Ramadan Kareem is over since last saturday, so happy Eid Mubarak to everybody !
Ramadan has been a quite a boring period for all the expats in Oman, because bars and clubs were closed, and it was not even possible to drink wine in the restaurants, so it is quite a relief that it is over !

There is now 4 days of public holiday and the ambiance in Oman is very festive, you can see a lot of people in the streets greeting each other. it is also not unusual to be invited by Omani to take kawa and eat alloua, or even have dinner with them.