Explore Sharqiya
An alternative route into Sharqiya and out is via the inland Highway 23, which heads down from Muscat to Ibra and on to Al Kamil, before turning northeast towards Sur or continuing south towards Jalan Bani Bu Ali and the southern coast. The major attraction en route is the magnificent Wahiba Sands, while the lively commercial centre of Ibra and the time-warped Jalan Bu Bani Ali are also worth a visit.
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Ibra
Ibra
The principal town of inland Sharqiya, IBRA grew rich thanks to its location on the major trade route between Muscat, Sur and Zanzibar – evidence of the wealth accumulated by the town’s former notables can be seen in the magnificent old mudbrick mansions of Al Munisifeh. The town is also the home of the redoubtable Al Harthy tribe, whose repeated rebellions against the sultans of Muscat were such a feature of early twentieth-century Omani history.
Modern Ibra may have lost some of its strategic importance (especially since the opening of the new coastal highway, which has further isolated the town) but it still has a lively mercantile buzz, centred on the colourful souk, as well as some of Sharqiya’s finest traditional mudbrick architecture in the nearby villages of Al Munisifeh and Al Kanatar. It also makes a good base for explorations of the nearby Wahiba Sands, as well as a possible starting point for the magnificent off-road drive to the coast via the tombs of Jaylah.
- The Wahiba Sands
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Jalan Bani Bu Ali
Jalan Bani Bu Ali
A further 10km south of Jalan Bani Bu Hassan, the town of JALAN BANI BU ALI is the most interesting in this part of Sharqiya: staunchly traditional, and with a certain reputation for religious conservatism and political independence. During the early nineteenth century, following repeated Saudi incursions into Oman, the local Bani Bu Ali tribe converted to the Wahhabi form of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia. It was the only tribe in the country ever to do so, and subsequently repudiated the rule of the sultan – who responded by dispatching a large armed force to crush the fledgling rebellion. Even now, the town retains a decidedly old-fashioned atmosphere, and visitors remain a source of (usually friendly) curiosity.
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Sign language, Oman style
Sign language, Oman style
One charmingly old-fashioned aspect of every souk in Oman is the lack of advertising. Visit any market in the country and you’ll see lines of similar little shops all boasting exactly the same, resolutely factual, signs in Arabic, with their English translations below. “Coffee Shop” is probably the most common, closely followed by “Gents Tailoring” (with “Ladies Tailoring” not far behind), while other signs are similarly matter of fact – “Sale & Repairing of Dish & Television” for a TV shop, for instance, or “Sale of Fresh Mutton & Frozen”. The accuracy of English translations is consistently high, and mistakes rare, although when things do go wrong they can do so spectacularly, such as the shop in Ibra souk advertising “Asle of Freah Ghigken” (they mean “Sale of Fresh Chicken”). Occasionally bursts of unintentional linguistic whimsy also catch the eye, notably the local outlet advertising “Sale of Tobacco, Smoke & Derivatives” – a pleasantly fanciful way of saying they sell cigarettes.
