Driving in Oman

Before even arriving in Oman I was told two things about driving in this country. I was told that I would need a car to do anything and that Oman is not a very safe place to drive. After being in the country for around a month now, I can affirm that both of those things are very true.

Given that I want to go off-roading as much as possible, and with a little arm-twisting from a friend here in Rustaq, I bought myself a 1996 Landrover Discovery. It doesn't have the fuel economy that I would like, but it's great for off-roading (4WD, diff-lock and loads of power). The really cool thing about this particular car is who it used to belong to. Apparently only the republican guard or Diwan (pronounced D1) is allowed to have their car this khaki-green colour. The guy I bought the car from was in the Diwan. So at some point I may be told by the police that I need to paint the car a different colour. Until then though, it's interesting watching the reaction of the locals when they see a white guy behind the wheel. Most of the time a wave and a smile is quickly reciprocated. It also helps when you want to be let into traffic, and I often leave the windows down and the car unlocked when I go shopping. Noone will mess with a car that belongs to the royal guard.

There really is very little car-related crime here in Rustaq. Noone would think of breaking into a car to steal something, much less stealing the whole car. In some rough parts of Muscat apparently you shouldn't leave anything valuable in sight in your car, but otherwise its pretty safe. There are however, two interesting offenses here which you might find interesting. The first one is that you can be fined for having a dirty car. Apparently it will cost 10 Omani Rials (about US$26) if the police feel that your car needs a wash. This one is not really policed very strongly here in Rustaq though. Since a storm last week my car has been quite dirty and so far no fine.

More importantly, it is illegal to verbally abuse or rudely gesticulate at someone in Oman. This includes shouting rude words, fist-shaking or giving someone “the bird”. Punishment means time in jail, and it is taken quite seriously. So, no matter how bad the driving is, the reaction should always be a polite wave and a smile (perhaps with a tense jaw).

Having a car that only gets 5-7 km to a litre of petrol (absurd I know) is that petrol here is ridiculously cheap. I normally put in around 60 litres at a time, which costs around 8.5 Rials (around US$22).

Driving here is not as bad as I had expected, though the fact that most Omanis have only been driving for one generation and the roads are mostly (though not always) straight as wide, means that they drive a little too fast and sometimes make unpredictable moves. Much more worrying is driving here at night. Many roads (for example the coastal road between Muscat and Dubai) are divided dual-carriageways with streetlights all the way. However, other roads (such as the road between Rustaq and the coast) are single-lane and traffic going in opposite directions are side-by-side (like most NZ roads). These roads are often unmarked by reflecting road markers, either in the centre strip or by the road side. To make it even more interesting, traffic coming in the opposite direction often don't dip their headlights, so all you can see is their headlights and absolutely nothing of the road in front of you.

So my advice to anyone driving here in Oman is: 1. don't worry about the cars behind you, just worry about the ones ahead of you; 2. don't feel you have to tailgate like most people here do. Give them some distance, and; 3. when you are driving at night, go slow, aim to the right of oncoming cars and if you flash your headlights, it encourages people to dip theirs.

Ramadan in Rustaq

All over the world at present, Muslims are observing the holy month of Ramadan. For teachers in New Zealand and other western countries this means tired and often absent students, and occasionally objections to playing music in the classroom. The holy month here in Oman completely changes everything.

Ramadan is a time when Muslims contemplate their behaviour, their relationship with God and with the rest of their community. They abstain from food, water, cigarettes and sex (and ideally negative thoughts and behaviour) during daylight hours. This is to appreciate the position of those who have nothing in life and puts the richest person on the same footing as the poorest (at least from dawn to dusk). Charity is also encouraged during the holy month.

The most important thing to remember is that during Ramadan here it is illegal to eat or drink in public during the daylight hours. Non-muslims are not required to fast, but they can only consume behind closed doors. This means that all restaurants are closed during the day, and that, even in 40 degree heat, you cannot take a swig of water in public. Imagine being arrested for drinking water!!

At around 6:30pm the call echoes around the neighbourhood for the Maghreb prayer and the fast is broken (Iftar). Usually the call only comes from the local mosque, but I’m sure that I’ve heard regular people making the call themselves with a loud-speaker here in Rustaq.

Another aspect of life during Ramadan is that shops and businesses have very irregular hours. The college where I work has shortened the day from eight hours to six, finishing at 2 o’clock instead of 4. However, every place has different hours. At the biggest supermarket in town, most of it is closed only from 6:30 to 8:30pm (just for Iftar) but the appliance section closes at 1:30, then reopens at 8pm. So everything is already difficult to get done, but tired and hungry workers make things even tougher. Getting anything achieved at the police station (where you get issued a national ID card and driver’s licence) is a battle of the wills.

Although for non-Muslims it is difficult and inconvenient, there are some nice moments too. A few weeks ago a taxi-driver took myself and some others on a detour to visit a tourist site, waited while we took photos and looked around, then dropped us back home and refused to take any payment for it. Ramadan Kareem (“A generous Ramadan”).