Goodbye to Mumbai

The bags are packed and, with not a little sadness, we are ready to leave. Here are some last images of Mumbai: the Bandstand in Bandra where we lived and its ocean boardwalk; the Haji Ali Mosque near Misha's work, with its never-ending line of pilgrims, the popular Chowpatty Beach, and Dhobi Ghat--the biggest washing place in the world that employs 10,000 people and is the very image of color, industriousness, and never-ending activity that this city will leave with us.

Travels in Oman: The Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat

Every hard-working sultan with a bit of oil money left on his hands deserves to spend it on some vanity projects that will glorify his name the world over. This past year marked the inauguration of the Sultan Qaboos Royal Opera House in Muscat, close to the most expensive opera house ever built which boasts one of the best acoustic halls in the world and brings in Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli and La Scala. (We wanted to attend a performance of Swan Lake by the touring Bolshoi Ballet, but the pricey tickets were sold out solid months in advance).

The previous project that immortalized the Sultan is the 2001 Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat, which can accommodate up to 20,000 worshippers, has the world's second-largest hand-woven carpet and chandelier, made in Germany, and is without a doubt the most beautiful mosque I've seen (pictures below).

The Omani branch of Islam, Ibadhi Islam, is peaceful and no terrorist leanings have been noted. The Grand Mosque does strongly encourage the tourist to take tea and dates in the company of some proselytizing ladies speaking in quiet tones. We obediently waited for the said ladies and were meanwhile helpfully directed to Russian-language brochures. One was Women in Islam; another, a tract inveighing against the Jewish decadence in not wearing the veil, was originally written by an Egyptian. Then, seeing that the said ladies were busy with other customers, we quietly slipped out again into the sunshine.

Travels in Oman: Mountain Country

Oman is a country defined by its mountains. None are very tall (the tallest, Jebel Akhdar, which we approached was about 3000 meters or 9800 feet) but all are striking due to the variegated colors of their minerals, ranging from gold to greenish-brown to ochre red. In the midst of these mountains lie verdant oases called wadis, like the one seen in the top photograph, which in the summer are filled with flowering fruit trees, like pomegranates and apricots. Everywhere, fruits and vegetables also grow in abundance on the steep mountain terraces that lead down to neat whitewashed villages. Water is supplied by man-made falajes, an ancient Omani irrigation system in which underground water is supplied to the villages by subterranean channels. In the winter, however, no vegetation was growing and no villagers were around during our mountain trek, which made us wonder if the population had grown so prosperous that they could afford second homes in the city.

Another remarkable feature of the landscape here was created when the first organisms inhabited the Earth: the tectonic plates here were arranged in such a way that the primeval ocean moved on top of the soil. As a result, large swaths of the rock here are imprinted with fossil impressions of million-year-old marine organisms, such as snails and trilobites, which makes walking around Oman country truly a wonder.

Travels in Oman: What Modernity... Part III: The Goat Market in Nizwa

The goat market that takes place every Friday in the Nizwa souk is a cacophony of screams, bleating, and heated conversations. Inside a crowd of people is a ring through which the furriest and most beautiful of the species are trotted out like supermodels, with their owners yelling out their characteristics to the whole gathering. Before concluding a sale, the goat's teeth are carefully checked and its overall health and well-being assessed. Many of the people who come are members of the Bedouin tribes from the nearby area, the women dressed in burkas with colorful coverings on top, faces concealed under dramatic peaked masks. Some other sales are going on as well, such as fresh, succulent gobs of honey sold by the hive.

While great entertainment for the tourists, the goat market is serious business for the potential buyers. A goat costs several hundred dollars (usually around $400 for an adult, less for a kid), and is kept for milk, meat, and fur. We saw a large barn-like outhouse meant for four of these creatures in our driver's backyard. The space they were allotted would have been the envy of a Mumbai slum dweller. Perhaps this is also why the Omani goats are some of the proud and self-possessed I've seen, treated as something between a beloved pet (many left the market in their new owners' arms) and a prized investment.

Travels in Oman: What Modernity... Part II-Nizwa, Balla and Jabrin

Nizwa, Balla and Jabrin are a cluster of towns just a few hours from Muscat that have retained more of their traditional charm. Each is defined by the mighty castle/fort that has withstood many sieges and now towers over the mountainous surroundings, in their restored glory. But wait: one fort, in Balla, is still closed despite undergoing repairs for twenty years. They say it is because the whole town is cursed by djinns, and the evil spirits are forever working their black magic. Our young guide, seen in these pictures, claimed to have seen a djinn himself.

From the outside, the Persian influenced-castles look like a Lego toy set but from the inside they are surprisingly comfortable, light, and airy, not encumbered with much furniture (since it was customary to sleep and eat on the floor), with just some touches of beautifully decorated ceilings, dishware, and chests here and there. The kitchen, comprised of a firewood stove, some brass cookware and animal skins for storing yogurt, was outside. Speaking of food, while the Omanis love their meat, the date was queen in their castles. Literally tons of it were held in storages inside the castles to feed the hungry besieged. Under the great weight of themselves, dates produced juice which was then heated and lovingly poured onto the heads of attackers through specially designed slits.

Everywhere we went, we saw spacious public housing provided by the government in the last twenty years that would be the envy of any New Yorker, like the one another driver is standing in front of in the picture below. Yet, right next to these modern habitations were the old buildings, now standing abandoned, that showed how the Omani population lived just a few decades before. These are adobe, or mud-brick houses, reinforced with straw and whitewashed, a look seemingly straight out of the Thousand and One Nights. The historic buildings are now standing abandoned and unkempt, entire quarters of them quite and possessed by a haunted look. No one goes there save for some squatters from India and Bangladesh. Incidentally, these immigrants make up as much as a quarter of the Omani population and have influenced the culture quite a bit.