As we gazed down from one of Oman's oldest fortresses, the ancient oasis town of Nizwa glistened under the Arabian sun. Below us, a sprawling souk was selling everything from frankincense to racing camels. Beyond the marketplace, past the surrounding date palms, a row of crumbling hill towers attested to this desert kingdom's turbulent past.
Only half a century ago, the explorer Wilfred Thesiger was warned by his Bedouin guides against venturing to Nizwa, lest he perish at the hands of the tribal zealots who controlled the city. By contrast, the biggest danger we'd encounter in making the ninety-minute journey from Nizwa back to Muscat, the Omani capital, was nearly hitting a stray camel with our rental car.
Dubai may have the Persian Gulf's only après-ski scene, but Oman offers a taste of old-world Arabia: the land of Sinbad and Ali Baba, of sweet tea and saffron. Although this U.K.–sized strip, on the southeastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said, could hardly be called a Jeffersonian democracy, we felt welcome wherever we went. Americans can easily purchase entry visas at the airport, English is spoken widely, and street signs are in English and Arabic. Many Omani women dress in head scarves and full-length ensembles, but Westerners are not expected to cover themselves unless they are entering a mosque.
For all the country's traditionalism, Muscat, in particular, retains a cosmopolitan aura, having once been the center of a trading empire that extended eastward to India and south to Zanzibar. As we sipped mint tea under one of the lavish tents in the lobby of the 280-room Grand Hyatt Muscat (double rooms from $360, suites from $520; 800-492-8804; muscat.grand.hyatt.com), it was easy to imagine a galleon dipping over the horizon, despite the hotel's safari-themed pub, which, along with its palatial swimming pool, makes this spot popular with Americans. The 638-room Shangri-La's Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa (double rooms from $305, suites from $695; 866-565-5050; shangri-la.com), on the other hand, caters more to the international glitterati. It's tucked away in Al Jissah Bay and framed by hills of golden stone; its over-the-top Chi, the Spa at Shangri-La, occupies twelve villas and offers treatments inspired by Chinese and Himalayan healing traditions. Friends from London stayed at the chicly minimalist 156-room Chedi Muscat (double rooms from $420, suites from $1,095; 011-968-2452-4400; lhw.com) and raved about its serenity and palm-tree-lined garden.
As hard as it was to drag ourselves away from the Hyatt hotel beach, we set aside a few days to explore. There are numerous local outfitters — we liked Sunny Day Tours (011-968-2449-0055; sunnydayoman.com) — but it's just as safe, and far cheaper, to get around Muscat by taxi or rental car. The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque (Bausher District; 011-968-2483-0980; closed Friday) can be visited most mornings. Its cavernous prayer room contains one of the largest and most exquisite Persian carpets outside Tehran. Al Alam Palace (Qasr Al Alam St.; only grounds open to the public), the lavish seaside residence of the sultan, is just a short ride away, as is the Muttrah Souk (Muttrah St., behind the Corniche of Muttrah), an exuberant bazaar brimming with local silver and thick with the smell of burning frankincense. To bring home a one-of-a-kind fragrance, stop by an Amouage boutique (Sabco Centre, Al Qurum; Muscat City Center, Seeb-Al Khoud; amouage.com); the perfumer is reputed to make the most precious scents in the world.
The highlight of our trip by far was a day spent in the Wahiba Sands, a vast sea of undulating reddish-hued dunes three hours east of Muscat. Here we roamed around a Bedouin village and picnicked beside the crystal-clear waters of an idyllic wadi (riverbed). With no other soul in sight, we felt the perfect tranquillity of the desert silence.
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