سلطنة عمان
I went with my Oman friend to Souq Mutrah,سوق مطرح,An old souq, in the city area of MuTrah, in the Muscat area.
When wandering through this celebrated centre for shopping for locals as well as tourists, one would experience incense and frankinsence as well as "bohoor" wafting through the air. Behind all the new renovations of this souq are very old looking narrow and winding, dusty back alleys containing a plethora of shops for local needs! This souq is on the tourist track, but I didn't see too many like one would see in other places.
Not many mass produced trinkets for tourism were found, and many locals were shopping, most of them dressed with exotic clothes, and Islamic headdress. Different dialects and accents could be heard as well as seeing faces from different regions and tribes! Wonderful!
I am not a shopper, nor could I afford the prices of the things being sold there, ( I just bought a few containers of Omani halwa) so most of my energy was spent looking at the diverse faces of other shoppers and their clothing! Just outside the souq along the Corniche is a renovated wall made of granite with carvings and places where people can meet each other and enjoy. There is a long row of ancient buildings which start from an old Shi'a mosque. Really worth visiting! I am hoping to return there again for more halwa and coffee!
I found, in my opinion, the Omani people to be the kindest of the الخليج Arabian Peninsula region. I went to school with Omani students and shared a house with them so I can confirm how kind and hospitable they really are!
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