MYSTICAL MUSCAT

Let me start at the top, the rulers.  The Middle East is largely a collection of monarchies, where one family runs the country.  So who is at the top:  king, sultan, sheikh, caliph, shah or emir?  There are distinctions, and they've changed with time:

• Either Arabic or Islamic or Royal.
• Religion or politics.
• Highest religious and political authority:  Caliph.
• 
  The word means successor, or, in other words, successor to the Prophet Muhammad.
• A bit of history:  Caliph ruled from who knows when to 1258 in Baghdad and 1517 in Egypt until Ottoman Sultans overcame.
• Then in 1924 Ataturk prevailed.
• 
  Emir:  a provincial delegate.
• A Sultan is the highest civil authority, such as in Oman and Brunei, or the equivalent in many countries, King.  In other words, a Sultan is the King of an Islamic state.
• A Sheikh is the religious or political head of Muslims.
• To the right, Sheikh Zayed of UAE and Sultan Qaboos of Oman.

If that didn't confuse you, let me try to simplify,  We've mostly spent the past week in the United Arab Emirates, which has seven states or emirates.  They are all run by Sheiks, but the Abu Dhabi sheikh is always president, and Dubai sheikh is the prime minister.  To the left are current leaders Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (right) of Abu Dhabi and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman.

Each sheikh is the successor to a previous one from the same family line, where succession follows a pattern similar to that of England.

We've spent two days in Oman, adjacent to the UAE.  Oman has a Sultan, where power has been passed down through the male line.  It is the oldest continuously independent state in the Arab World.  The United Nations ranked Oman as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years.  Oman sets aside more on maintaining a military than any other country, 10% of their GDP, versus only 2.2% for Saudi Arabia and 3.3% for the USA,...which spends more on war than the next the next nine countries, combined.

Today, we took the Mystical Muscat tour.  Unexpectedly for me, I was expecting a slightly run-down society with minimal infrastructure.  What a surprise, as much of what I saw was sparkingly new. It is the capital and most populated city in Oman, with 1.4 million (same as Hawaii), roughly half expatriates.  Led by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.

While Polynesians first settled in Hawaii around 400 AD, communal activity in Muscat dates back to 6000 BC, although the official city only formed around 1200 AD.  It's history since then involved the Portuguese, Ottoman Turks and British, although the USA dropped in to talk in the mid-1850's.

You don't want to come here in July and August, for the average high temperature exceeds 120 F.  However, the average low remains below70 F from November through March.  Rains 4 inches/year.

On those notes, our Mystical tour of Muscat is shown below, beginning with the Sultan Quaboos Grand Mosque, the largest in Oman.  Completed only in 2001, it was subsequently overwhelmed by that grand mosque in Abu Dhabi.  Thus, the stop was, in comparison, pale.  But, here are a few photos.

Our guide showed what they have to do before entering the prayer room.  You need to carefully wash your hands and face, including nose and ears three times each, plus feet, then swallowing, gurgling and spitting out water, three times.

Next a stop at their bazaar, which is across the bay from our ship:

As usual, I bought nothing.  Next, we visited their national museum.  

It was a worthy tour, and better than yesterday's, and much more so than the day before.  Maybe that's progress.  

We also continued eating.  White Asparagus ala Vienna, blue cheese soufflé and scallops.

This morning before our Muscat tour, we had a caviar/champagne breakfast, at sunrise.

So goodbye to Muscat, and on to Mumbai.

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KHASAB AND FUJAIRAH

 From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

          DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

2020

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

2021

Jan     14       4142    15512       1151        189     712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194

April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37

May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 

June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 

Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124

Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59

Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23

Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28

2022

Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140

Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175

Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 

Apr     1          439      4056         290          52       12

May    5          225      2404         151            ?        64

June    2         216      1413         130          10        31

July    6          316      1627         335           35       12 

Aug    4          311       2138         258          70         ?

Sep    1          272       1732         174            ?         ?

Oct     6          281       1305         119            9         ?

Nov    3          167         980           16            ?         ?

        10          148         985           42            6         ?

        19            66         567           36           21        ?

        24          311       1205         102             5        ?

        25            88         985           71             3        ?

Summary:

• Okay, maybe I overreacted yesterday. Perhaps the expected COVID winter resurgence might not be as bad as expected.
• #1 in new deaths yesterday was Germany with 274, #2 Japan with 130 and #3 the US with 88.
• Japan was #1 in new cases with 60,108, edging out South Korea with 59,089, with German #3 at 30,016.  The USA was #6 with 13,467.
• China was #14 with 4,619 new cases, which means, truly, around 46,190 new cases, for they don't count asymptomatic cases, and this figure there is around 90%.  That figure places China at #3 yesterday in  new cases.  I predict they will surge past Japan and South Korea next month.

To continue our journey, on to more eating, dinner yesterday with Paige and Greg again at Prime 7.

The tour of Khasab, Oman, was dismal.  We did not see much, but the intrigue is that this port city sits close to Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, where most of the oil passes. As the U.S. and allies have sanctioned Iran, this country needs to smuggle items to survive.  Khasab is 20 miles from Iran, and happens to be one of the prime ports that do this.   We will be back to tour Muscat in two days.  Note that Oman is split with the United Arab Emirates in between.

See that lonely tree at the top?  It's a Ghat Tree, the national tree of Fujairah.  You would think the date palm would be more important.  However, this tree can live through harsh times, and if alive, should lead you to water.

That's about all worth writing about.  Returned to the ship and had dinner at Compass Rose of escargot, truffles dumplings and Cremé Brûlée with cheeses and a glass of Port.

Then off to dancing with the G-Clef Duo.

This morning, the usual breakfast with a Bloody Mary,

If you remarked...I must be gaining weight.  Yup.

Off on our next tour through Fujairah.  Blue-bar Pigeon and friends greeted us, and said goodbye at the end.

Between those photos, we saw forts and mosques.

To me, fort stops are boring.  That mosque is the second largest in the UAE, and is called the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, similar to the one in Abu Dhabi, but slightly smaller.  Only holds 28,000 prayers at one time.  Also, this one skips the Grand.  Got back at 3PM and, as we dine tonight at Chartreuse, only had one long frankfurter, with a beer and German reisling.

Tomorrow, we visit Muscat, Oman.

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ABU DHABI

From Worldometer (new  COVID-19 deaths yesterday):

          DAY  USA  WORLD    Brazil    India    South Africa

2020

June     9     1093     4732         1185        246       82

July    22      1205     7128         1293      1120     572

Aug    12      1504     6556        1242        835     130

Sept     9      1208      6222       1136       1168       82

Oct     21      1225      6849         571        703       85

Nov    25       2304    12025        620        518      118

Dec    30       3880    14748       1224       299      465

2021

Jan     14       4142    15512       1151        189     712

Feb      3       4005    14265       1209       107      398

Mar      2       1989     9490        1726       110      194

April     6        906    11787         4211       631       37

May     4        853     13667        3025      3786     59 

June    1        287    10637         2346      3205      95

 July    7         251      8440        1595        817      411

Aug     4         656    10120        1118        532      423 

Sept   22      2228      9326          839       279     124

Oct      6       2102      8255          543       315       59

Nov    3        1436      7830         186        458       23

Dec     1       1633      8475          266        477       28

2022

Jan     7        2025      6729         148         285     140

Feb     2        2990   12012          946        991      175

Mar     2        1778     7756          335         173       28 

Apr     1          439      4056         290          52       12

May    5          225      2404         151            ?        64

June    2         216      1413         130          10        31

July    6          316      1627         335           35       12 

Aug    4          311       2138         258          70         ?

Sep    1          272       1732         174            ?         ?

Oct     6          281       1305         119            9         ?

Nov    3          167         980           16            ?         ?

        10          148         985           42            6         ?

        19            66         567           36           21        ?

        24          311       1205         102             5        ?

Summary:

• Well, predictions of an upturn in cases during the fall/winter months when people stay indoors are materializing.  Looks like the pandemic will be with us through next spring.
• The USA new deaths figure yesterday jumped to what it was in August.  
• We were #1, with German #2 at 163 and Japan #3 at 160.
• The World also saw a major increase in new deaths with 1205 yesterday.          T
• The World had 440,414 new cases yesterday.
• #1      Japan  133,361
• #2      S. Korea  70,324
• #3      France  49,188
• #4      Germany  38,336
• #17    China  2,719
• I need to focus on China, for my prediction that it will become #1 in new cases next year needs to be adjusted.
• China does not count asymptomatic cases as new cases, and their asymptomatic rate is close to 90%.  
• Thus, you need to multiply their reported new cases count by factor of 10, bringing the new case count yesterday to 27,219.
• The Star Advertiser today reported that there were 28,127 new China cases yesterday, which coincides.
• One-third of of these new cases were in Guangdong, close to Hong Kong.
• You can expect imperious measures to soon be taken in the whole Guangdong and Shenzhen region, and....maybe even Hong Kong.  Already, a swath of residents in the 11 million-people city of Shijiazhuang has been told to stay home for mass testing.
• Global stock markets will fall on this news.
• It would not surprise me now if China becomes #1 in new cases sometime THIS YEAR, if not soon.
• They already began easing restrictions on foreign visitors.  I would not be shocked if all that and more will shortly be reversed.
• THE PROBLEM IS THAT SO FEW RESIDENTS HAVE THUS FAR BEEN INFECTED WITH COVID-19.  THEIR VACCINES ARE NOT TARGETED FOR THE OMICRON VARIANTS SO THERE WILL BE WIDESPREAD INFECTIONS.  YET, THE MORTALITY RATE SHOULD BE REASONABLY LOW.  PROBABLY 0.03 OR LESS.
• The World mortality rate since the beginning of the pandemic averaged out at 0.07, which has dropped to 0.03 today.
• The mortality rate of the seasonal flu is around 0.01.

By now you must know that Dubai and Abu Dhabi are states of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  For a quick history read my blog of yesterday.  

I've been to Qatar and UAE in the past.  There is something about being an oil-rich country governed by a dictator.  While there are human rights problems, the society works, and cities of these countries are dynamic, awesome and safe.  The architecture is extraordinary.  Typically, there are 10-15% citizens and 85-90% expatriates who serve them.

So with that introduction, let me begin with what I couldn't show yesterday, our tour to Sir Bani Yãs.  Lots of animals and birds.  Cheetahs, antelopes, oryxs, the Giant Eland (which weighs in at one ton), peacocks, and a lot more.

We had dinner with Paige and Greg at Pacific Rim.

So today we toured Abu Dhabi, focusing on the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  Opened in 2007, the cost was $545 million.  I usually get bored with mosque/church tours.  This one was grand indeed and very colorful.  There is a very strict dress code.

Abu Dhabi also has its share of tall and beautiful skyscrapers.  In the back, the Fairmont Hotel.  Regent will put us up in the Singapore Fairmont when we finally arrive there.  We were also taken to the United Arab Emirates Heritage Village, which has animals like a camel.

Back to the Explorer, we made it just in time for lunch.

I guess splurging is an enjoyable part of life, but having already had an earlier breakfast, we had too much lunch, again.  Carrot/mushroom truffle soup, lettuce sandwich salad and spaghetti bolognese.

Tonight, Prime 7 with Page and a Greg.  Our ship soon departs for Oman.  Tomorrow a tour of Khasab.  What, you don't know anything about Khasab?  It is the local capital of the Musandam Governate, dubbed the Norway of Arabia.  Located across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran.  Note the proximity to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha (Qatar).  

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