Explore the bountiful heritage that created Oman’s distinct culture. Its world harks back to 5000 BCE, when this region influenced the development of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Luxuriant oases, Bedouin camps, sumptuous palaces, pre-Islamic, Islamic and Portuguese forts, tribal fortified houses and villages with colourful souqs, all grace this seldom-visited land. We journey to walled desert towns, ancient and medieval cities, the extraordinary tombs at Bat – a UNESCO World Heritage Site and possibly the best-preserved Bronze Age urban settlement in the Middle East – and Nizwa, famed for its silver jewellery souq. On the edge of Arabia, Oman’s medieval ports are orientated towards India, South-East Asia and East Africa, including the atmospheric medieval city of Sur where we view skilled craftsmen who still produce dhows and fishing boats using traditional techniques. Holy shrines and mosques are set against a diverse environment of rugged mountains, vast sandy deserts, palm groves, and stunning white beaches on the Gulf of Oman.
Desert landscapes are relieved by brilliantly green wadis, plantations of dates and bananas, and frankincense trees, still harvested at Salalah and Khor Rori, a frankincense trading entrepôt on Oman’s southern coast. This is one of the few areas in the world where frankincense trees grow, and we will learn about the famed incense routes that gave rise to some of the greatest civilisations of the ancient world. We’ll spend an evening watching nesting turtles at the Ras al Jinz Turtle Reserve, where the Gulf of Oman meets the Indian Ocean at the easternmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula. We also visit wonderful museums and mosques, including the new ‘Oman Across the Ages’ museum in Nizwa, the remarkable Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat showcasing the best of Omani arts and crafts and the state-of-the-art National Museum. Here we will discover how the ancient art of this region played an important role in the development of Islamic art. While based at Al Khasab on the Strait of Hormuz we cruise through the spectacular fjords of the Musandam Peninsula. The Sultanate of Oman is one of the Middle East’s best-kept secrets: an idyllic land where majestic mountains and deserts frame cities populated by colourfully dressed and immensely courteous people, eagerly welcoming visitors to their seafaring nation, homeland of the legendary Sinbad. A centre of culture, where people and their traditions have thrived for millennia, Oman offers a profound insight into the history of humankind.
