Sultanate of Oman: Old-World Arabia photo tour & workshop

Wisps of blue-gray frankincense smoke drifted in the air like Aladdin’s genie as I plunged through the labyrinthine passageways of Muscat’s Mutrah Souq.
            The alluringly musky scent of frankincense permeates Omani cities and culture. I was never far from the distinctive aroma wafting through hotel lobbies and traditional souqs.
            I felt like a Magi on a Christmas gift hunt, lured by the intoxicating, seductively sweet, heady miasma that curled up from frankincense smoldering in pots outside stores dripping with gold jewelry, silver thuribles, and old khanjar daggers. Tiny open-air shops teemed with exotic spices, mounds of myrrh, and great piles of dates. Women in black abayas thumbed colorful-as-Crayola silk fabrics, while men in white ankle-length dishdasha robes and beautifully embroidered kuma caps inspected heaps of pebble-sized frankincense nuggets resembling small semi-translucent stones of amber, caramel, purple, and cream.
            This was Muscat at its most magical, conjuring images from the Arabian Nights, the Koran, and the Bible." -- CHRISTOPHER P. BAKER, BBC TRAVEL

The yin to the United Arab Emirate’s yang, the mysterious and slow-paced sultanate of Oman is “old” Arabia, harking back to the days before the distorting lens of gaudy wealth turned much of the Arabian Peninsula into glitz and glamor. Utterly photogenic, Oman has everything fabulous that the Arabian Peninsula has to offer: Traditional and affable Arab and Bedouin cultures… colorful carpet-filled souks teeming with frankincense and spices… glittering gold markets… old Arabic and Portuguese forts… and abundant natural beauty, from rugged mountains and verdant wadis to vast expanses of sand perfect for camel safaris. Plus, Oman is safe!

We’ll visit when Oman’s wonderful winter climate is at its most perfect. Plus, we’ll stay at some of the region’s top hotels, including a luxury desert camp amid the dunes!

Chris leads this tour for Jim Cline Photo Tours.

ITINERARY (2027)

Day 1: Saturday
Participants arrive and settle into our hotel in Muscat. Meet with Christopher in the evening for orientation, plus a set-the-scene slide show, then a welcome dinner.
Overnight: CROWNE PLAZA MUSCAT

Day 2: Sunday 
after breakfast by visiting the Sultan Qaboose Mosque, with its stunning contemporary architecture, breathtaking prayer hall, and the world’s second-largest hand-woven rug. After resting the midday hours at our hotel, we’ll venture to Mutrah explore the famous and ūber-photogenic Mutrah souk—full of stalls selling frankincense, intricately embroidered hats, and antique khajars (curved daggers) before driving to the Sultan's Palace, offering dramatic photography beneath Islamic arches. We’ll then roam the backstreets of historic Mutrah (including a courtyard where mounds of frankincense are sorted), Muscat’s oldest area, and photograph sunset from atop Mutrah Fort before spending the “blue hour” shooting along the iconic Corniche waterfront, with its floodlit mosque. 
Overnight: CROWNE PLAZA MUSCAT

Day 3: Monday 
This morning rise early to visit the Mutrah fish market, where the day’s catch is delivered at sunrise. We return to our hotel for a well-earned breakfast before departing Muscat to follow the Qurayat-Sur coast highway, along the scenic base of the Hajar Mountains. We’ll break our journey by visiting the Qurayat salt pans—geometric pools where we hope to find workers harvesting salt as in ancient times. Arriving the harbor town of Sur, we’ll settle into our hotel, where we meet local photographer Hussein AlAamri. Later, we’re honored to photograph some women of Sur in traditional dress—a rare cultural encounter pre-arranged by Hussein. We close with a sunset shoot from a hilltop fort offering a dramatic panorama over the bay and historic city.
Overnight: SUR PLAZA HOTEL, SUR

Day 4: Tuesday 
This morning, we will photograph boat-builders at work in the dhow shipyard—the only one of its kind still remaining in Oman—as the early sunlight comes in low across the skeletal hulls of the dhows. We continue south to Ja'alan, where we are privileged to spend time photographing a breeder working with Arabian saluki dogs and pure-bred Arabian horses amid the dunes at the fringe of the Shaqiya Sands; we’ll shoot into golden hour and sunset. Driving into the Sharqiya Sands proper, we’ll thrill to two nights camping amid the massive seif dunes in a luxury barrasti (tented camp).
Overnight: DESERT NIGHTS CAMP (OR EQUIVALENT)

Day 5: Wednesday
Rise early to photograph the desert sunrise with camels atop the dunes! Then, after relaxing at the camp throughout the morning, we'll ride to a Bedu camp, where we’ll engage with a Bedouin family—a chance to photograph the normally reticent Bedu women, dressed in exotic abeyas (robes) and beaked half-face burqas (many adorned with glittering jewels). We'll also stop at a desert village such as Shahek for late afternoon street photography. We close the day with a sunset shoot atop the westerly dunes, again with a Bedu and his camels.
Overnight: DESERT NIGHTS CAMP (OR EQUIVALENT)

Day 6: Thursday
Up early today to catch the camel market outside the town of Sinaw. Afterwards, we’ll explore the exotic Sinaw souq, with its fish market and its craftsmen skilled at making classic khajar curved daggers. After lunch, continue to Nizwah, where we’ll check into our hotel in mid-afternoon then photograph the spectacular new Sultan Qaboos Mosque at sunset and the blue hour. 
Overnight: INTERCITY NIZWA

Day 7: Friday
Up with the dawn this morning to visit the Friday-only livestock market, where goats, cattle and other beasts of burden are sold off amid boisterous bargaining by bearded old men in colorful turbans and jalabas. We'll then explore the larger souq and Nizwah Fort. After lunch and a mid-day rest at our hotel, we head to Nizwah's Oman Across the Ages Museum, a stunning contemporary architectural masterpiece whose mission is "to promote an appreciation and understanding of Oman’s unique character, history and its Renaissance." Here we hope to be joined by Toqa, a local female photographer who will share her own artistic vision as we explore the museum together, followed by street photography in the narrow lanes of "Old Nizwah"---a warren of antiquity rapidly in the process of gentrification
Overnight: INTERCITY NIZWA

Day 8: Saturday
In the morning, we’ll head to Bahla to photograph  the Aladawi potteries, where terra-cotta vases and other earthenware are made in traditional manner. Then, on to Bait Al-Safah, a “living history museum” in Al-Hamrah, one of Oman’s oldest mudbrick oasis villages—superbly photogenic for its semi-decrepitude. Here we’ve arranged for a private photo-op with Omanis in traditional costume. Then, ascending via a spectacularly sinuous highway, we’ll arrive at our luxury hotel atop the Saiq Plateau of Jebel Al-Akbar. Its spectacular cliff-top location offers sensational sunset views.
Overnight: INDIGO AL-JALAL AL AKHDAR

Day 9: Sunday
This morning we’ll hike to Wadi Bani Habib, a palm-lined canyon with groves of apricots and pomegranates and abandoned hillside mud-walled hamlets. We'll also visit a traditional rosewater factory (Damask roses bloom on these mountainsides March through May). This afternoon is free to relax by the pool or partake of optional activities offered by the hotel, including an optional sunset drive to a viewing platform 2,600 meters above sea level.
Overnight: INDIGO AL-JALAL AL AKHDAR

Day 10: Monday
After breakfast at our hotel, we’ll return to Muscat, stopping en-route . The balance of the day is at leisure.
Overnight: CROWNE PLAZA MUSCAT

Day 11: Tuesday
Our last day begins with a sunrise shoot of the fishing boats and mosque at Sihab. We then spend more time roaming the souks and backstreets of Mutrah. The afternoon will be at leisure to relax, perhaps by the hotel pool with its superb views over Qurm Beach or for further photography in Mutrah souq and the Corniche.
Overnight: CROWNE PLAZA MUSCAT

Day 12: Wednesday
Depart Oman for home.

ITINERARY (2028)

PER 2027, EXCEPT FOR FOLLOWING CHANGES:

Day 4: Tuesday
Overnight: STARRY DOMES CAMP

Day 5: Wednesday
Rise early to photograph the desert sunrise with camels atop the dunes. We’ll then ride to a Bedu camp, where we’ll spend the morning engaging with a Bedouin family—a chance to photograph normally reticent Bedu women, dressed in exotic abeyas (robes) and beaked half-face burqas, in their home environment. In the afternoon, we’ll head to one of the nearby oasis villages, such as Shahek, for late afternoon street photography OR visit with a Bedu hawker to photograph him with his falcons. We close the day with a pre-arranged sunset shoot with a Bedu and his camels atop the western dunes. 
Overnight: STARRY DOMES CAMP

Day 10: Monday
After breakfast at our hotel, we’ll return to Muscat. The afternoon will be at leisure to relax, perhaps by the hotel pool with its superb views over Qurm Beach or for further photography in Mutrah.
Overnight: CROWNE PLAZA MUSCAT

Day 11: Tuesday
Depart Oman for home.