A Day Out

Catherine Lonie

I was invited to spend the day in the country with an ex-student. An early start and ninety minutes driving on good roads led me to the ancient town of Nizwa. Directions were concise, forty kilometres from Nizwa you come to the World Heritage city of Bahla, which is famous in Oman as the home of witchcraft and sorcery. Another forty and you arrive at the meeting point, Kebara.

The fast dual carriage-way skirts the mountains that loom like a menagerie of surreal animals, rocks shaped like monsters or dinosaurs alternately threaten and amuse.

Soon, I meet Abeer, her father, two brothers and many cousins; a 4x4 full of smiles all Omanis seem to have wonderful smiles.

As we scrambled up a hill to view some famous Bronze Age tombs sitting on a ridge like a row of humpty dumpties, a group of French tourists took advantage of the sight of a middle aged woman in walking boots surrounded by group of young Omanis - cameras clicked and whirred.

The next stop was an abandoned village, with the lyrical name of Musalala. Hidden deep in a fertile valley in the mountains, it had been destroyed by tribal warfare long ago. Here, we found an old cemetery with graves and tombs scattered among trees such as the Shua whose oil is used to treat symptoms as diverse as headaches and labour pains. People in this area still use traditional medicine to treat both humans and livestock. The production and sale of such medicines also provides an income for elderly widows who have no other means.

When we returned for lunch, the family matriarch, Abeers paternal grandmother, Moza, introduced herself. A tiny, frail looking woman with bright eyes and enormous confidence, she joined me in the womens majilis or drawing room and we sat on fine old carpets, and talked; gesturing and miming when language failed. ... (continues)