Go with Henry: Discovering Muttrah

Sunday, 27 December 2009

Discovering Muttrah

English Teacher in Oman

Muttrah highlights

Muscat 2008-2009

Background

I first arrived in Muscat on a plane from Sudan, teaching English in Khartoum. I came from a developing country filled with political strife, injustices, and poverty. Arriving in Muscat was a bit of culture shock. I encountered quite the opposite than what I've just experienced in Africa. Progress, development, grandeur, cleanliness were some things that struck me as I was picked up by a driver in Mercedes, fit for leaders of states, and taken to my hotel in Muscat.

The Muscat Holiday Inn was a four-star hotel, and at least from my point of view, endowed with luxury. That was my first date with Muscat, a huge city surface wise, but a small population, fit for the rich, yet with many nooks and crannies where the old and traditional has not been replaced with progress. Sultan Qaboos took power 40 years earlier when Oman was an ungoverned desert of Bedouins. It had one hospital, 3 schools, 10 km tarred roads, no police and men still went to the neighboring village to kidnap a wife for himself.

Within 40 years, it has shot upwards like a rocket passed most developed countries. Yet people's attitudes and education did not keep up with the pace of development. One now finds Bedouin mentalities driving fast luxury cars. It now is a vast modern city with grand malls, hotels, and restaurants....even a theatre. But also a city where the old and traditional, true relics of the past have survived.

I worked 3 hours away in Ibri, so we made regular trips to recuperate from living in rural Oman without its modern amenities and entertainment. We had friends in Muscat, which invited us to stay over a couple of times, but we also stayed a couple of times in a two-star hotel in Matrah where the Mutrah cornice is located. Later in 2011-2012 when I worked in Rustaq, we made regular trips to Muscat to do shopping and do sightseeing.

View of Muttrah from the Muttrah bay corniche fort - Riyam park to the left

About Oman

Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is an Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Holding a strategically important position at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the country shares land borders with the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest, and shares marine borders with Iran and Pakistan. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast. The Madha and Musandam exclaves are surrounded by the UAE on their land borders, with the Strait of Hormuz (which it shares with Iran) and the Gulf of Oman forming Musandam's coastal boundaries.

From the late 17th century, the Omani Sultanate was a powerful empire, vying with Portugal and Britain for influence in the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. At its peak in the 19th century, Omani influence or control extended across the Strait of Hormuz to modern-day Iran and Pakistan, and as far south as Zanzibar (today part of Tanzania, also former capital). As its power declined in the 20th century, the sultanate came under the influence of the United Kingdom.

Oman is an absolute monarchy. The Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said has been the hereditary leader of the country since 1970. Sultan Qaboos is the longest-serving current ruler in the Middle East, and sixth-longest current reigning monarch in the world.

Oman has modest oil reserves, ranking 25th globally. Nevertheless, in 2010 the UNDP ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. A significant portion of its economy is tourism and trade of fish, dates, and certain agricultural produce. This sets it apart from its neighbors’ solely oil-dependent economies. Oman is categorized as a high-income economy (Wikipedia).

Omani man in deep thought at Qurum Al Shati plaza.
Qurum means mangroves and Shati means beach

About Muscat

Muscat is the capital and largest city of Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. The total population of Muscat Governorate reached 1.4 million as of September 2018. The metropolitan area spans approximately 3,500 km2 and includes six provinces called wilayats. Known since the early 1st century CE as an important trading port between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled by various indigenous tribes as well as foreign powers such as the Persians, the Portuguese Empire, the Iberian Union and the Ottoman Empire at various points in its history.

A regional military power in the 18th century, Muscat's influence extended as far as East Africa and Zanzibar. Historically, Muscat was the principal trading port of the Persian Gulf region. Muscat was also among the most important trading ports of the Indian Ocean.

Since the ascension of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in 1970, Muscat has experienced rapid infrastructural development that has led to the growth of a vibrant economy and a multi-ethnic society. Muscat is termed as a Global City.

The rocky Western Al Hajar Mountains dominate the landscape of Muscat. The city lies on the Arabian Sea along the Gulf of Oman and is in the proximity of the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Low-lying white buildings typify most of Muscat's urban landscape, while the port-district of Muttrah, with its corniche and harbor, form the north-eastern periphery of the city. Muscat's economy is dominated by trade, petroleum, liquified natural gas and porting.

The city referred to as "Muscat" is, in fact, three smaller towns which have grown together over time. They are:

Muscat - often referred to as the "walled city", Muscat proper is the site of the royal palaces.
Matrah (Matruh) - originally a fishing village, and home to the maze-like Matrah Souq.
Ruwi - generally considered the commercial and diplomatic center of the city.

This tripartite division will sometimes cause the visitor an inconvenience, as distances between sites can be very long.

Main entrance area to Muttrah

Muttrah

Muttrah, administratively a district, is located in the Muscat province of Oman. Before the discovery of oil, Muttrah was the center of commerce in Oman (Muscat). It is still a centre of commerce as one of the largest seaports of the region is located there.

Other landmarks include Souq Muttrah, a traditional bazaar, and Sour Al-Lawatiah, a small community of houses surrounded by an old wall. (Wikipedia).

Main entrance area to Muttrah

Mutrah Corniche gate

Muttrah Forts

View from an old fort on top of a hill along Muttrah corniche

The old fort

Muscat fort - built in 16th century by the Portuguese

Muttrah Corniche Views

Omani couples enjoying Muttrah corniche scenery

Muttrah Corniche

Mutrah Corniche

Dhows at anchor in Muttrah bay - taken from the corniche

Dhow at anchor in Muttrah bay - taken from the corniche

The giant yacht of Sultan Qaboos, the second largest in the world, after that of the king of Saudi Arabia

Omani dhow with the yacht of Sultan Qaboos in the background

At Muttrah Corniche - Muttrah bay scenery in the background

My wife at Muttrah Corniche - Muttrah bay scenery in the background

Omani dhow in Muttrah bay

Breakfast with colleagues from Ibri at Muttrah corniche

Coffee shop along Muttrah corniche

Traditional buildings along the corniche of Old Muttrah, Muscat

Traditional buildings along the corniche of Old Muttrah, Muscat at night

Traditional buildings along the corniche of Old Muttrah, Muscat at night

Traditional buildings along the corniche of Old Muttrah, Muscat

Mutrah Corniche shops at night

The Muttrah Souq

Al Dhalam (Darkness in Arabic) Souq is the local name for the Muttrah Souq. The Muttrah Souq is perhaps one of the oldest marketplaces in the Arab world. It is located adjacent to the harbor of Muscat harbor and has seen immense trade in the age of sail, being strategically located on the way to India and China. It has been named after darkness because of the crowded stalls and lanes where the sunrays do not infiltrate during the day and the shoppers need lamps to know their destinations.

The market was a source of supply for Omanis where they can buy their needs in the 1960s when life requirements were simpler than today. Most of the goods were imported, in addition to local products like textiles, fruit, vegetables, and dates. In the past, the market was built from mud and palm leaves, which suit the high temperatures and the hard climate conditions and hence were the best available materials to build the market at that time.

Today, the Muscat Municipality has renovated and decorated the market to maintain the popular style but has also introduced modern amenities and redecorated the market heavily to attract tourists and make the shopping experience comfortable for tourists as well as other ordinary shoppers. The main thoroughfare of the souk carries mainly household goods, shoes, and ready-made garments.

Further inside, you can enjoy the mixed smells of frankincense, perfume oils, fresh jasmine, and spices. Enthusiastic shoppers and travelers can also discover a selection of tiny shops (on the side streets and alleyways leading up to the souq) full of Omani silver, stalls of gleaming white dishdashas and embroidered kumahs, brightly colored cloth and multicolored headscarves. Shoppers can even get their hands on old Arabian muskets at these souqs (Wikipedia).