Weekend Post: Drew in Oman - The End of the Road

Concluding Drew's expedition to Oman in the 1980s ... 

End of the Road 

You've had enough of me swinging the old djinn's lamp; so here are a few random memories and photos to wrap things up.

The early-evening trip to the souk: always interesting.  On one occasion we went to a coastal market, in a corner of which was an astonishing precious-metals section.  Who were the customers for all that gold?  Sailors, we were told.  But how did the traders finance their inventory??  Ahah! - C@W ...


A typical Oman surprise: on a beach, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by ruins - the Sultan's Marine Biology institute (!)






Al Bustan: this kind of crazy place is two-a-penny in the Gulf nowadays but not so 30 years ago.  Built for when it was Oman's turn to host the rotating meetings of the Gulf Cooperation Council.  Oman being a country where booze is OK in licensed premises, and many of the GCC boys being quite unable to hold their liquor ... it would get periodically trashed. 

Back to the serious stuff.  I wrote before about how, during the Jebel campaign, the RAF shot up the rebel centre of Tanuf, which was left derelict as a lesson.  This was their leader Suleiman's fort, also abandoned and derelict.  It houses the most ghastly oubliette - the fate of his prisoners doesn't bear thinking about.



The rebs were permitted to take to the hills. This was as far towards the 'tribal reservation' of the Jebel that we could reach, even with a military pass.  The end of the road ...

ND

Photos © Nick Drew 2016