A wedding procession along the route. The bridegroom and his friends on the way to the bride to be.....

During these three days of Eid Al-Adha we did a tour to the north of the country, passing through a lot of small fishing villages along the coast dominated by a strong smell of dried fish and people on vacation. The villages where teeming with people! We really enjoyed this part of Oman and we realized what a great family gathering this important holiday is. Muscatis leave the capital en masse to visit their birthplace and their parents during Eid Al-Adha. We finally ended up in Sohar, formerly capital of the country and the birth place of two of the globally most famous Omanis, Sinbad the Sailor and Ahmed Ibn Majid. The real Oman is, of course, located outside of Muscat. During our trip we also passed through Sawaidi, the birth place of a famous Omani to be. Talib Omar, one of my best friends. I meet him every Thursday for some of the most enjoyable conversations. Last Thursday we had this talk:

“Yesterday I saw this little ant on my floor and my first thought was to kill it, but than I realized how amazing it was, this little life walking on my floor, with all its legs and body moving forward and I thought, woow, another of his great creations!” Talib said with great joy in his face and continued passionately: “Our prophet said that life is precious and that humankind shouldn´t kill anything. All life has the same value! The prophet Mohammed was fantastic!”

“Oman is mainly Ibadi?” I asked him, my very good friend Tali Omar, during this, one of our many Thursday meetings, when we discuss everything from religion to football.

Talib goes up at 4.30 every morning to go to the mosque an pray....

“I don´t see myself belonging to any specific arm of Islam. I am sunni, shite, ibadi, all. I am a Muslim in all ways. It is simple really, it is just to follow the ten commandments of the Bible. I try to do as good as I can.”

Talib is one of the nicest human beings I have ever met. He has been the big difference in many ways, regarding the success or failure to put the Expedition on it feet and his wisdom is plentiful. And he never talks bad about anyone, doesn´t pass judgement without knowing, he is well read and educated in life, he speaks with a soft voice, always in a non-aggressive way and he is never pushy, but always helpful, very generous and no matter how busy, bogged down with work, he always takes time to listen and help. Lately he has spent hours in his phone trying to help me find my way through the sign-free parts of Muscat. He is a devout Muslim which prays 5 times a day, he listens often to prayers on the radio or TV and he reads a lot on the same subject.

The five pillars of Islam is: Faith or belief in the Oneness of God and the finality of the prophethood of Muhammad; Establishment of the daily prayers; Concern for and almsgiving to the needy; Self-purification through fasting; and The pilgrimage to Mecca for those who are able.

“I prefer to read books by Western scholars when it comes to Islam” , he says, “They go deeper, question and are more neutral, which means you get a broader spectrum of Islam.”

“Why do you think Islam is so misunderstood in the West?”

“Well, it has become to politicized. Really from the beginning with the Ummiyads and up until today it is far to often based on political and not spiritual power. And when two Muslim sides are at war, like Iran or Iraq or like in Somalia, they blame each other for not being true believers. I guess, like Christianity, look at the catholics and protestants in Northern Ireland…..” I chip in with the former republic of Yugoslavia, “….they´re still not getting along even though they should be called educated people. Because one problem for Islam is that in many Muslim countries education is poor and if you get a bad Imam preaching in an uneducated area, we have a situation. Therefore, if it is a poor country with big divisions between rich and poor, than people will join the opposition whether they are fanatics or not! Education and a fair government is vital!”

“One thing I realized during my time in Yemen studying Arabic, was that in reality, like the Talibans in Afghanistan”  , I said, “These geezers don´t even speak or understand Arabic, how than can they than properly understand the Quran? They don´t even know what they are reading.”

“True. I haven´t thought about that.”

“What about the issue of women? I get a lot of questions from my readers about Islam and their views on women and then they, the readers, refer to some horrible article written about lashing or stoning woman. And add that some Muslims say that it is written in the Quran that the beating of women is a right.”

“The situation for women is not good. Indeed it is terrible. But that has to do with the old culture in this area, which was strong far before the arrival of Islam, and this ancient culture has unfortunately been applied to Islam. But that is not good, because it is a fact, that The Prophet loved women and he had some very strong women around himself and if people try to read his first sermon where he specifically said that society has to protect women and give them the same rights. I have a daughter myself, she plays football and I will give her every chance in life to choose what she wants to do in her life. And regarding beating woman, in Oman it is written in the law that it is forbidden, but it is still not easy to implement, because if a woman goes to court, she will pay a social prize of being evicted from the community. So we still have some time before it works perfectly.”

All throughout our conversation his mobile has rung, messages has poured in, it is Eid Al-adha, plus that Talib really never takes a day off work. Suddenly somebody very important calls and our time is up and we return in his Porsche to Al Ghubra where I live. He stops half way at a mosque for midday prayers. For me Talib is a role model of how a human being should be.

The shopping for Eid Al-Adha is hysterical right now!

Some of the most imposing mosques have elaborate design, like the Sultans Mosque in Muscat.....

The village of Bukur

War planes continue to fly north, tens of thousands of people get displaced, far too many killed on both sides, worry amongst sanaanis (local people of the capital) is growing fast, the heavy rains have taken a break for awhile after wrecking havoc with Sanaa and other parts of the country, crops are destroyed, farmers are loosing millions of rial, a national treasure of a building in Old Sanaa collapsed and killed an old woman and Ramadan is moving into its second week. Tempers are still under control, but there is no doubt that kat chewers are suffering the most. A guard here at school is sweating heavily.

Young inabitants of Thulla.....

For the last three days I have walked four kilometres from the Coffee Traders (I need a espresso every day, if available) on Hadda Street and home to the flat in the Old Town just before iftar, the daily break for the fast. It is one of the best times of the day, because the streets are deserted and the feeling of walking through the movie Terminator part 5 is prevailing. The same applies in the morning. The normally extremely busy, noisy, colorful and packed streets are silent and peaceful like as a desert. However, yesterday I left Sanaa for the second time since I came here, first one to Oman, but this was my first trip within the country, up to the Haraz Mountains. A day trip which makes Yemen even more fantastic!

The old town of Thulla

My first surprise was how clean and tidy everything was outside Sanaa, basically as quick as we had climbed up to this terrific desert plateau offering spectacular views over the Haraz Mountains, leaving Sanaa behind in a cloud of pollution. Road checks where plenty, but it was such a refreshing experience! Not only because the air is so much cleaner, the views more encouraging, but people seems much more at ease, freer, the women are not as veiled and colourless, and life moves along here at another pace. Our first stop was the old town of Tulla, which was a smaller, but tidier variety of the Old City of Sanaa and offered some spectacular views of the mountains, set as it is by itself, clustered to a giant rock which shoots up from the plateau. There were plenty of signs that the Ottoman Turks past through here hundreds of years ago. It was a peaceful visit and the self proclaimed local guides were easy to handle.

View over the castle of Zakatein and the gorge below....

However the views from the legendary Kawkaban, was with the best I have ever seen. Kawkaban is of particular historical importance for the Zaidi Moslems having been a stronghold for Yemenis kings due to its advantageous position. It is situated atop a plateau at 2750m above sea level. Kawkaban is the only Yemeni place mentioned in the legendary folk tale of A Thousand and A Night.

After Kawkaban, the spectacular views continued whilst visiting the fort in Zakatein and the village of Bukur, set on the ridge of a mountain and which is probably one of the most spectacular settings I have seen. A must visit for anyone wanting to experience the impressive locations of our world. I have to say, Yemen is such an experience in every way and it is by far, trust me who have visited 113 countries, one of the most interesting places on earth, where one has one foot in an age going back to birth of the Prophet Mohammed up until the modern era of today.

View over the legendary town of Kawkaban

Local tribal people impressed me with their energy, self confidence and kindness. However, when we returned, wet and tired to Sanaa, it was good to get back to the Old City again and our friends Hussein and Mohammed, who were very worried as always for me. If they don´t see me in time, they call me on my mobile, to check that everything is ok. I will tell the story about these two fellows next report!

The village of Bukur

Don´t forget to visit earlier reports before the Yemeni trip here!