In May 2025 10 group members sat down to hear more about Oman. This country is a late developer with oil only being discovered in 1965 and the first hotel was not opened until 1970 when the old Sultan was deposed and his son took over to drive his country into the 20th Century. Oman is a friendly place with a pace of life slower than that of Dubai, and it does not have its neighbour’s brashness nor its high rise buildings. Those who visited Oman all sing its praises.
Firstly we learnt that Oman in the 17 Century was an Empire stretching across the Persian Gulf to Baluchistan and all the way down to Zanzibar. Britain maintained good relations with Oman and respected that our two empires would prosper by trading together and preventing other parties from disrupting the area.
Sultan Qaboos Mosque
Oman is 27% larger than UK but only has a population of just over 5million.
Fort protecting Muscat
Nowadays Oman has 5 star hotels, often on the shoreline, to cater for tourism. One hotel complex was formerly a royal palace.
Whilst the Muscat metropolitan region is the largest city region in the whole of the gulf, it does not take very long to get out along the 2000 mile coastline or into desert regions and mountains.
There are plenty of old forts to see dotted around the coast and cities.
It is a very beautiful country and if you venture to the southern coast to Salalah, you come across green fields and lush tropical areas. This is due to this area being affected by the Monsoon before it travels across the Indian Ocean towards Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
We learnt a little about the traditional dress of Omani men. For formal dress they carry a Khanjar, a J shaped knife, sheathed in silver and secured by an embroidered belt. The men also wear a thobe, a sleeved ankle length gown usually white but often in a wide range of pastel colours. Often their outfit is complete with a ceremonial cane (assa).
We were treated to videos showing the sights of Oman, including the Sultan Qaboos Central Mosque, the Opera House, the Royal Palace Complex and the Muttrah Souq, all in Muscat. Then it was time to move out of the city to see the mountains, which sometimes have snow on them, waterfalls, gulleys , canyons, sand dunes and plenty of camels .