Oman-journey.com
Oman-journey.com
Oman occupies 309,500km2 area, which is almost as large as Poland and twice the size of Georgia. At a time, Oman was an underdeveloped country, but now it is almost unbelievable how Oman has grown over the last 20-30 years. Along with education, tourism and public work sectors have developed drastically. One of the major reasons for the improvement of the Oman tourism section is the country’s natural beauty and the natives’ hospitality. It is very common to hear from the travelers that, ‘there no wonderful country like Oman’. Although a lot of factors are infused behind that diction, they love the entire environment of the country. Oman is in rapid progressing rate and Omanis are proud of it. So, they keep the country travel-friendly and safe for foreigners.
Omani society is highly focused on tribal culture; however, old norms are gradually fading away. Just like the other Middle Eastern nations, Oman is embracing the new cultural changes but at a limited rate. So, that means the majority of people here wear conservative clothes. Being a Muslim dominated country, drinking alcohol is still prohibited for all except foreigners.
The cultural attires of Omanis are entirely different; most of them wear vivid and extremely colorful clothing adorned with jewels and ornaments. Women wearing hijab and men wearing turbans are common sights of Oman.
Oman's social gathering is mostly involved with foods. During friends and family gatherings, they dine with typical Omani meals of fish, dates, and meats. Oman's government holiday system is based on the Islamic holiday standard. So, during two festivals, Eidul Fit-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha, the entire nation celebrates. Moreover, the sports of Oman are cultural; they still arrange camel racing in open deserts along with other cultural games.
Oman arts are mostly involved with weaving, woodcarving, and manufacturing of swords and daggers. Other subtle artful items can be found in the markets of different Omani cities. They also have renewed and reconstructed ancient mansions, buildings, and forts.
Oman is not entirely packed with high dunes and open deserts; however, most of this country features vacant land of sands. Travelers will also perceive here the hospitable environment near Oman’s northern coast where islands mountains and seas blend with the horizon. The vacant desert lands of Oman are not less intriguing either, people can take part in numerous activities to make the desert adventure thrilling.
Unlike most Middle Eastern countries, Oman’s temperature is one of the driest and hottest. Also, there are a few exceptions. The climate differs among coastal zones, islands, and mountain regions. During the summer season, the temperature usually remains as high as 40 degrees Celsius but at night it gets dropped. In rare cases, the temperature might go up to 48-50 degrees Celsius.
The best time to visit Oman would be winter because this is when the temperature stays at a moderate rate. The average temperature of Oman during the winter season is not more than 25-30 degrees Celcius.
On the other hand, rainfall is a quite rare incident in Oman, but it might cause flooding in lower lands. The average rate of rainfall in Oman is not more than 100mm.
When it comes to education, Oman is one of the most advanced countries in Middle East. Oman govt. provides free education till secondary level. The surprising fact is that the country only had 3 formal schools in 1970 with only 900 students.
Changes begin during the 1980s, and then 2006-2007. Almost 560,000 students were studying in 1053 schools. In private schools, the number is a bit low but still around 65,000. The govt. also has taken some goals and programs to eradicate adult illiteracy.
The higher education system in Oman is pretty new because the first public university was established in 1986. To increase the higher education rate, the govt. has sent some students abroad and they have won the awards from Kuwait, Egypt, UAE, and more. Now the literacy rate of Oman is even higher than 95% and it is the statistics from 2 years ago.
Oman has taken the initiative to make the country one of the safest and most travel-friendly countries in the Middle East. Tourist attractions in Oman include world heritage listed sites, diverse landscapes, modern cities, deserts, and water sources. In Oman, more than 500 forts, castles, and towers are available for tourists to explore. In fact, some of them were restored for tourism purposes and a few of them were converted into museums.
When it comes to archeological and world heritage sites, Oman is one of the best because it has the perfectly structured monuments intact from the 3rd millennium BC. Also, the oldest irrigation system was discovered in Oman over 2,000 years ago. This is still amazing to see upfront in the middle of desert lands.
The natural attractions of the country involve mountains, deserts, beaches, valleys, water springs, caves, and more. Traditional Omani villages are adorned with natural beauty that adds a speckle of color among dunes, green lands, and yellow sands.
The most popular activities of Oman are camel riding, scuba diving, of-roading, boating, cycling, climbing, trekking, camping, dolphin and turtle watching. Other attractions of Oman revolves around the mosques, sandy deserts, and wonderful cities.
Omani cuisines are praised all over the world as its cuisines are the fusion of Persian, Indian, African, and Mediterranean cuisines. The most popular Omani cuisines include chicken, lamb, saffron, and ginger. Also, the country has the advantage of having a long Arabian Peninsula coastline. As a result, a diverse range of seafood is available in this country. Majboos is the cuisine that most tourists crave for while visiting Oman. Its main ingredients are prepared with saffron and cardamom. In this dish, the tender and spicy pieces of meat are cooked with garlic and onion while the rice is cooked separately. Then the rice and the meat are mixed to turn it into a yellowish creamy satisfactory meal. Other popular foods of Oman are Shuwa, Mashuai, Mushaltat, Shawarma, Mishkak, Hakwa, Laban, Kahwa, and a lot more. Dates are also very common in Omani cuisine. To experience the ultimate taste of the mentioned foods, foodies must dine in some of Oman’s famous restaurants.