“It was a land of wonder at every moment.”
Loïc Le Ribault’s photo report on his journey to Oman
For me Oman was not a land of exile: this time I had been driven out of nowhere, and friends were waiting for me with open arms.
It was a land of wonder at every moment.
First, for the work accomplished in thirty-five years by Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said. An absolute monarch, but an enlightened sovereign of a kind history has rarely seen, he led his country out of the Middle Ages into modernity while preserving its character and its cultural heritage (see Qui a peur de Loïc Le Ribault ?).
But the purpose of this album is simply to show you a few aspects of this country, lit by the kindness of its people, amid the ever-alternating harshness and gentleness of landscapes where flowers alternate with bare rock, the torrid dryness of the desert with the coolness of the oases. All this in a climate of great tolerance and absolute safety.
What not to miss, in this profusion of treasures? The choice is hard…
First, I would say, the goat market held in Nizwa every Friday morning. In a riot of color and a deafening hubbub, you see the Bedouin women bargaining over the price of the animals and the notables proudly wearing the khanjar, the traditional dagger.
Then, on no account miss a bullfight. But beware: nothing in this spectacle resembles the degrading barbarity of Spanish bullfights, where an armed man confronts a weakened animal without glory.
You should know that the Sultan forbids the mistreatment of animals, and that nature in Oman is meticulously protected: many nature reserves, an absolute ban on hunting (butterflies included), protection of endangered species and the reintroduction of vanished native species. Shell collectors may, however, indulge their passion freely on the immense beaches, provided they pick up only dead shells.
That is why, here, two bulls of equal strength, the same age and the same weight confront each other head to head and fairly. Each has a leg tied to a rope held by men who pull on it if need be to separate the fighters in case of excessive violence. Every precaution is taken to avoid the slightest bloodshed and, in case of accident, handlers step in at once to care for the injured animal.
Finally, go one morning to the fish market at Muttrah. You will discover the life of a small town entirely governed by the arrival of the boats, the unloading of brightly colored fish and all kinds of small trades that revolve around the sea.
At the Muttrah market I made many friends… and, after a long period of taming, became a photographer approved by the fishermen!
Gallery
