On the Scene: The Sultan’s Dream

OMAN has no art treasures like Italy, no natural beauty like Ceylon, no overpowering industry like Japan, no smothering wealth like Kuwait. Yet, to the visitor, it provides a unique experience—the chance to observe a country that is brand new and yet thoroughly traditional, as close to an ideal nation as I ever hope to see.

Oman is almost like a rabbit pulled out of a magician’s hat. In the cities one sees hardly a house built before 1972; the few old homes that remain have been cleverly renovated. And yet, apart from a few luxurious hotels, all its buildings are strictly in the Islamic style. There is no poverty, and education is pursued very seriously. The streets of Muscat, the capital, are so clean that one could safely eat off their surface, and one can walk around at any time of night with no fear of being mugged.

EK

About the Author

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

Featured Tags

OMAN has no art treasures like Italy, no natural beauty like Ceylon, no overpowering industry like Japan, no smothering wealth like Kuwait. Yet, to the visitor, it provides a unique experience—the chance to observe a country that is brand new and yet thoroughly traditional, as close to an ideal nation as I ever hope to see.

Oman is almost like a rabbit pulled out of a magician’s hat. In the cities one sees hardly a house built before 1972; the few old homes that remain have been cleverly renovated. And yet, apart from a few luxurious hotels, all its buildings are strictly in the Islamic style. There is no poverty, and education is pursued very seriously. The streets of Muscat, the capital, are so clean that one could safely eat off their surface, and one can walk around at any time of night with no fear of being mugged.