Tony Walsh – author on Oman & Arabia
Snapshots of my life & visits to Oman. Oman’s built history stretches back 5,000 years, its one of the Arab world’s most enduring cultures. Today its a modern economy with a hospitable population.
We had a 100 year old drink in Ramadhan
I was delighted to share Iftar with a friend – Iftar is the Break-fast meal after the fasting during daylight hours during Ramadhan.
It is a breakfast in a double meaning Continue reading “Ramadhan in Oman”
Flying from the green of an English Summer into Muscat on Oman Air
The rain of a typical British Summer has kept trees in early summer leaf (except the Horse Chestnut which, where we live, has been badly affected by the new fungus which creates an Autumn brown off in early July).
On the ground the constant downpours have forced the birds of the garden under the creepers, Continue reading “Oman Air to Muscat”
in Bond Street London
For me the outstanding impact was the representation of Hadrian throughout his rule – each artist created a sculpture of a man whom the “vir in via” must have been able to recognize has they walked past him. It was wonderful that among the marble, the curators included a written plea for support, from a foreign civilian living in northern England, to the region’s governor.
Perhaps the same man had touched a large amphora, found near Hadrian’s Wall, which was displayed along with an image of a shard mountain of 26million amphora. Later, walking along Bond Street, I was surprised to see a familiar shop name. ‘Bateel’ a shop selling Dates and Date products has a branch in Muscat. Amazingly they had set up close to where a company I was general manager with 25 years ago had a shop. My surprise was not really in seeing Bateel but, with a rental of probably GBP300,000+ per year, the extraordinary volume of dates they must sell to cover costs – probably Arab Embassies are ideal clients.
the Arabian Leopard leaves it’s mark
Grabbing a couple of bottles of water, we set off at a good walking pace under the cloud cover of the early Khareef (Monsoon) season in Salalah Oman .
I enjoy trekking in Oman with Hadi al Hikmani, enthusiasm is always a good companion and Hadi packages his in friendliness and knowledge. On this walk, his knowledge identified fresh ‘scat’ (excrement) on our pathway – in fact Leopard scat . Fresh, in fact, very fresh – probably less than half an hour old. In the day that followed, we walked along Leopard tracks and with all our stops and starts, examining the tracks and collecting scat we didn’t catch up with our invisible walking companion.
We returned along the same path and astoundingly found more scat; the Leopard had returned to the path after we passed .
Over a year before, on another walk with Hadi, I said to him that I would write about Oman’s Leopards; as he believes that awareness is a key to its survival. So, shamed that no article had been produced in over a year, I returned to Muscat and somehow produced a piece. Wonderfully ‘ Oman Today ’ has used it in their August edition – I’m delighted of course.
Oman is a key territory of Panthera pardus nimr, the Arabian Leopard, and, with possibly less than 200 individuals in the world, awareness may well help its survival.
Evacuated from the British Museum; finding Muscat at Tate Britain – via the Victoria Line
The “lure of the east” exhibition dragged me down to the Tate Britain. The building is much like the Tardis– larger inside than outside and it does make me wonder at the expansive and educational vision of the Victorian wealthy compared to those today.
The exhibition, perhaps inspired by Edward Said’s ‘Orientalism’, certainly makes the visitor an observer, not a participant. It perhaps argues against his overriding viewpoint. Sir Robert Shirley, who became an Ambassador for Shah Abbas, and the various British merchants who lived in the great trading cities of the Near East dressed in the current style of the country they lived in, speak volumes about their viewpoint. Details such as an artist, John Lewis, creating what could be a self-portrait of him at prayer in a Mosque and Shirley’s wife, Teresia, holding a pistol add to an alternative view.
Sir Robert Shirley, who was 19 when he started his work for the Persian Shah Abbas, stands well shaved, enrobed in Persian style garments. His cape could have been the inspiration for the floral design within the dramatic Safavid carpet in the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat.
Elsewhere, in the gallery, I came across more reminders of Muscat; a watercolour by the Victorian artist Arthur Melville cited as being inspired by a cockfight in Muscat. The cocks have been lost to history and the vast Iwan framing the scene also been lost within the sands of Muscat, if it were more than an architectural frame for the birds fight in front.
While at the Tate, apart from enjoying the extraordinary collection of British art, people were running through the Duveen Galleries (empty of art incidentally) – perhaps referencing the Chinese Olympics.
Along the Victoria Line, I wanted to meet with Jessica Harrison-Hall who curates Chinese Ceramics at the British Museum. Regularly in Oman I come across a surprising quantity of Chinese Ceramic , and needed some advice. Up the stairs of the Great Court, flooded with visitors, and across to room 90. Press on the curator’s doorbell and was greeted with “we need to evacuate the building” . The slightly irritating tone in the background had been an evacuation signal! Fortunately, after extensive checking, the all clear was sounded and Jessica almost trumped the evacuation notice with “these are easy”; and of course, that’s why I knew she would be the ideal person to answer my queries.
Not all ceramic shards have a shiny glaze on both sides and today mine did not – I missed my opening into the Hadrian Exhibition – another day will be needed I think
The fruit of Baobab Trees (seen below at the base of the mountains in Dhofar, Oman) has just been given EU approval to be used in smoothies and cereal bars.
Oman has probably around Continue reading “Baobab Trees in Oman”
Tucked away in the back streets of Ruwi are small alleys and roads –
today a fire broke out in that area and remarkably the large fire tenders arrived next to the building that was belching out toxic fumes.
Throughout much of Oman the annual weather can be described as hot or scorching ; however on the southern coasts the summer monsoon, called locally the “Khareef”, brings changes.
As I drove down to Salalah from Muscat in early July the first hint of a change comes with what on the face of it might be a snowstorm Continue reading “Sand blasted arrival into Salalah”
The government will shortly start the building of 700 new homes for the residents in the Qurayyat area of Oman whose homes were devastated by the cyclone Guno and where portacabins were erected shortly after the cyclone last year .
The cost of many 10s of millions Continue reading “Guno rebuilding progress and new CEO at Oman Air”
For several weeks, the skies above Muscat have been a pale brown as we have been sitting under a dust haze. At times the entire country has been affected – on a drive of 1000 kilometres to Salalah a few weeks ago the tone of the sky hardly changed throughout the journey.
NASA (where I obtained the image from) has up-loaded the cause of Oman’s latest dust arrival Continue reading “Oman’s date harvest”
The QE2 had visited Oman several times before her soon to be retirement in Dubai.
Here she sits outside the port Continue reading “QE2 in Muscat”
The Dhahirah region in the north-west of Oman was our destination as we wandered this way and that in an enjoyable hunt for places and people. Eventually, we stopped at Yanqul Fort.
One of our discoveries inside, an attractive Continue reading “Yanqul Fort Oman”
The advancing monsoon was descending on Salalah as I spent time there with Hadi Al Hikmani whose passion and work is researching Arabian Leopard in Dhofar. His family keep an extraordinary number of goats below the mountains and they are a potential prey of the Leopard.
During a six-hour trek through the mountain’s of Dhofar, Hadi expertly Continue reading “Arabian Leopard in Dhofar”
Driving back from Salalah to Muscat along the main road is usually a tedious journey; this time it was quite eventful. The static on the radio announced the storm well before it appeared.
Ferocious winds and heavy rain swept over the landscape near Nizwa and snapped Continue reading “Salalah to Muscat”
Driving south to Salalah from Muscat I enjoyed seeing some of the Birds of Dhofar.
Several pairs of Red Billed Tropic Birds and a flock of Continue reading “Birds of Dhofar Oman”
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