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Finally Finding Frankincense Early the next morning, around 7 a.m., I drove out of Sur for what I knew would be a long drive. Amazingly, a few raindrops hit my windshield as I left town, a rare occurrence in this part of the world that receives less than five inches of rain per year, so I figured that I must've brought my Portland winter weather with me. I even had to turn on my windshield wipers for a couple of minutes before the clouds parted.
I had to be at the Abu Dhabi airport, 450 miles away, that evening for my midnight flight back to the U.S. but first I wanted to visit Muscat, the beautiful capital of Oman. If you're going to visit only one place in Oman, friends in Abu Dhabi had told me, make sure it's Muscat. I drove all morning through the desert mountains and by early afternoon I had reached the coast at Mutrah, a city on the waterfront a few miles from Muscat. Mutrah was absolutely stunning, so I parked the Yaris and spent a couple hours exploring the town, including the very impressive and extensive Mutrah souq (pronounced "sewk," an open-air market).
While meandering through the scores of market stalls at the labyrinthine souq, I spotted exactly what I had come looking for: a bag of frankincense. This was something I had learned about a few months earlier while watching the PBS television series, "Globe Trekker" back in Portland. We've all heard the Biblical tale about the Three Wise Men who brought frankincense, gold and myrrh to the baby Jesus, but does anyone really know what frankincense is? Megan McCormick, the main host of Globe Trekker and an appealing woman who I would love to meet someday (hint, hint – drop me a line sometime, Megan) described it on her travel show about Oman.
Frankincense, in case you're wondering, is the dried resin from a certain type of tree that grows only in Oman and neighboring Saudi Arabia and people burn it as incense or chew it like gum. Referring back to the Biblical tale, frankincense has long represented life in the Middle East, myrrh (another type of tree resin) represents death and gold represents what happens in between – hopefully for most people, anyway.
In fact, Megan's show on Oman is what prompted my visit to this mountainous country, not just to see the sights but also to get some frankincense, and I was determined to buy that one kilo bag. First, though, and in the Omani way, I haggled with the merchant for several minutes. Never buy anything in an Oman market at face value, Megan said in her show, and instead cut the marked price by at least two-thirds and bargain up from there. We went back and forth for about five minutes – he kept trying to push sandalwood on me for some reason, but I told him that I wanted only the frankincense – and I finally walked away with the bag after paying about eight dollars. Mission accomplished! I hope Megan's proud of me.
Above left: My little Toyota Yaris got 45 MPG, so the total gas bill for my 1,000-mile drive around Oman was about... oh, maybe six dollars. Above right: In the U.S. they have roadside billboards. Here they have roadside camels.
Above left: Passing one of the many ancient watchtowers in Oman. Above right: Early in the afternoon I stopped in Mutrah to check it out.
Above left: I spent a couple hours getting lost here in the eclectic and lively Mutrah souq. This place is huge and there's seemingly no end to it. Above right: I haggled with this fellow over that bag of frankincense (front row). Frankincense is resin from a certain tree that grows only in Oman, and you can either burn it or chew it like gum.
Above left: Mutrah, near the Omani capital of Muscat, is one of the most beautiful cities in Oman. Those are dhows in the foreground, the historic type of ship that's been sailing these waters for over a thousand years. Above right: A watchtower on the hill overlooking Mutrah.
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