Souqued in

Wanting a drink, I asked an old local fella where I could find a supermarket. He directed me thinking I had asked him where to find the "souq or market."

Plonked down at the opposite end of the bay, blocking access to the tangle of historic Shiite residential houses in Al-Lawataya, this is themed shopping mainly for the cruise boat tourists who take a taxi the 1.5 km from their ship to an "original Arab souq" pleasantly updated with a timber roof and aircon.

The shops sell perfume (the original Oud Spice if I am not mistaken,) and wooden Omani boxes, daggers and clothing, though I only saw Westerners in the shops. Indian spices and textiles, Iranian handicrafts, Egyptian plastic and Chinese toys can also be found in abundance though I saw none being sold. A large area is devoted to selling gold and golden artifacts of dubious quality: dubious because many Indians and Pakistani's like to invest in gold so they buy by weight; any excessive workmanship would be completely wasted.

Fortunately, I am travelling light and have no space for trinkets. Otherwise I was quite taken by the camel with an illuminated hump. Some of the wooden artifacts, (like the recently fabricated antique "mandoos" or wedding chests from the Hajar mountains,) were quaint, or as an interior designer might say, eclectic; have to pass on them though as Australian customs won't let them into the country.Read more