Exploring the Super-Rich Arab Country Nobody Goes To
Rebels seized the presidential palace. Allegations of human rights abuses are awful. More than $200 billion. The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is even more uncertain. It seems in Western news that we mainly only ever hear two things coming out of the Middle East.
We either hear about these monumental structures being built, lavish sports investments, and seemingly unlimited wealth flowing in the region, or, sadly enough, as we've explored on our travels, stories of war. But as you zoom in, there is only one country in this region that seems to be doing neither of those things. Rejecting what every other country is doing and enjoying its quiet and discreet existence away from the mainstream eye.
Being both one of the safest countries, remaining peaceful for many decades, but also immensely oil rich, they are choosing to use their wealth very differently. As friends who travel extensively around the world, we rarely hear anybody speak about this country. We also barely see any videos coming out of here.
So is there just not a story to be told? Or as almost every source on the Internet seems to claim, is this actually the Middle East's most underrated country? We are heading to this discreet country of Oman for the next three days to find out. '' Exploring The Hidden Gem Of Arabia "" To start this trip, Staffan and I left the island of Socotra, where we filmed our previous episode, to fly back to the mainland of the Middle east, where we met up with Ammar. Good to see you.
- Good to be together again. - Yeah. And like we usually do with our stories like this, we were going with no fixed itinerary, only with the hopes of getting to know the Omani people and to understand what makes this country so different. (Whispering under his breath) What are you doing? It's like a prayer you say every time you get into some vehicle traveling.
I've, like, grown up either me or my siblings saying it out loud, and the whole car would repeat it after them. It's almost like a reflex. And what does the prayer say? Dear God, who has made this vehicle available for us, may you bless our travels. May you bless our mission of our travels.
It's like asking for a lot of blessings. You feel like a sense of protection, saying it and being on the road, you feel there's like a sense of readiness. As neither Staffan or I grew up particularly religious, we enjoy learning about small prayers like this one. Taking a moment to set a positive intention and asking protection for the journey ahead, whether religious or not, always feels like a good way to start a trip. The first thing that caught our attention as unique about this country was the style of its urban design. The architecture here is really pretty, and there are no skyscrapers here.
So we've been to Qatar, we've been to the UAE and it's skyscrapers everywhere, but here, nothing seems higher than a handful of stories. Even the new buildings are built with a flavor that makes it feel like you are an Oman. Oman's economy benefits massively from their local oil industry. In other countries like Saudi Arabia or the UAE, they use a lot of their oil profits to build towering futuristic skyscrapers. But Oman distributes its wealth much more differently by providing free land to its citizens.
Aiming to promote homeownership and economic stability, they also have decided to not build any skyscrapers. This results in an architectural landscape that sprawls horizontally rather than vertically with distinct design characterized by simple yet elegant low rise white or earth toned buildings which reflect the intense heat and helps the building blend harmoniously with the desert and mountainous landscapes. The unique urban planning highlights Oman's emphasis on respecting their history and tradition, preserving their cultural legacy amidst an ever changing modern world. It feels nice to be somewhere where grown up across the sea from. My mom actually spent her childhood here. Something that I remember from my childhood is the headwear of men being very, very beautiful here.
It's like very classy and very tasteful. Our first stop of the trip was to visit the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the largest mosque in Oman and one of the country's most iconic landmarks. Wow! Oh my God! Are you kidding me? We're not even seeing it fully and this mosque already looks like one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. We were hoping to get to explore inside and pray with Ammar for the first time in 10 years, but we were quickly stopped in our tracks. They want to pray with me now What? How can they pray if they don't know Islam? '' Denied '' We weren't able to enter during the mosque's prayer hour as it was closed to tourists. Well, unfortunately they are very strict about non Muslims going in during visiting hours, which is a bummer.
I've been let into mosques everywhere in the world, so it's a bit strange that even when we wanted to come pray, we weren't let in. But that's all right. So Ammar went to explore the inside by himself. Pretty bummed that I can't take the boys for this prayer, but hopefully they get to catch another prayer somewhere else with me. Wow, that is so beautiful. '' In the name of the god '' One of the most beautiful mosques I've ever been to.
Wow, it's so vibrant! After being denied entry to the mosque, we felt like our trip wasn't necessarily off to the best start. But just as we were about to leave, Staffan decided to approach a friendly looking local who immediately insisted on showing us around. Come join us! Thank you so much, uncle! We live in a tourist area Really? Yeah, it has hot springs. I'll take you around to see the city. There are some nice places nearby. What's you name, sir? - Mohammed. - I'm Ammar.
Ammar, are you from Egypt? Yes, I'm Egyptian. His name is Staffan, but we call him Mustafa So, tell us where to go, and we'll follow your lead Thank you Mohammed. How're you? I'm fine. Mustafa. The best name, Mustafa! He is saying, it's the best of names. Oh! Thank you, Thank you! Ammar and I will join Mohammed - You're a very kind soul, Mohammed. - Welcome! In the name of the god.
We say '' In the name of the god '' '' In the name of the god '' before driving. The trip to Oman has officially begun. Yeah, exactly. Well, as Quintin, our videographer, and I were following them, none of us in either of the cars had any clue where Mohammed, the stranger we had just met, was taking us. But as our goal was to let the locals take control and show us their country, we happily went along for the ride.
Okay, I've been told nothing. We're just following them, we have no itinerary of, like, where we're going. I can't lose them. Oh, there's already a car between us. I'm retired now You should work with us, Mohammed. Okay, now I have free years.
Yeah, now you're our tour guide. Wait, we are in a residential area. Are we going to his house? This is, like, a very unusual start of a video. We get turned down from the place we wanted to go, and now I'm following a stranger's car to a location that I don't know. We're driving further and further away from civilization.
I love these kind of trips. You don't know what's happening. Quick question.
Where the F*** are we? ( Realizing that he took us to a hot spring) Welcome to Mohammed's adventures. Let's dip our feet. This is really warm. Heavy. This is great. It is really warm.
We've been following you guys in the car, having no freaking clue where we're going. This I would have not guess this, if I had a hundred guesses. Just a bunch of bros with an Omani dad. Yeah, we've been adopted. He's saying you've taken us in. We just landed from the airport, and you welcomed us right away It was meant to be! - I feel refreshed. - Thank you.
Mohammed's arrival in Oman, just perfect. Just clean your feet. Feel good! You know, hot spring. We would have never found this place.
I wasn't expecting to be adopted right upon arrival, but it does show. And this has been my experience in most Muslim countries that I've traveled to. There is a very strong sense of hospitality, and people will go out of their way to show you around and to introduce you to their culture.
Let's see where we're going next. See, that does not look touristy whatsoever. What's happening? Yeah, well, we are in Mohammad's world. So this is like a fish market.
Yeah. We're gonna grab a fish, and then we're gonna drop it off at the grill. What the does that mean? Like, what do you mean, drop it? Ah! And then you give it to them. It feels like the most local place we could have possibly chosen for our first meal.
Guys, what's the best fish here? We've got Sole fish, it's really good. The red one is nice too. After deciding on the spot to dedicate half his day to being our tour guide, Mohammed had to return to his family. So we said our goodbyes. We were once again left on our own.
There were an angel in Oman. Hopefully, we meet again someday. May Allah bless you, uncle! Mohammed, he cleaned our feet. He took us on a guided tour.
Now some food. Oh, my god! Oh, wow! Wow. Mohammed is not with us, but we are still in his world. I could eat that for the rest of my life.
I kept saying in the car, I hope he's taking us to food. I hope he's taking us to food. We finished our first day by watching the beautiful Omani sunset over the ocean. While we had been blessed with meeting Mohammed and having him show us some local spots, overall, we were having a harder time than we expected interacting with strangers.
Almost all the people we met seemed very put off by our cameras. We ran into the same issue on our last trip in Socotra. No cameras. Where, as some of you pointed out in the comments, no women appeared in our last story, something which hadn't really happened before. It wasn't because we didn't see any.
It was because the ones that we met asked us not to film them. And so, out of respect, we complied. However, we met many other female travelers that felt perfectly safe traveling in the country, and one of them even traveling there completely by herself. Nonetheless, our goal of filming here seemed even harder than we expected, as this time around, both the men and the women, seemed uninterested in appearing in our story. So we decided for our second day to leave the city. However, this time we forgot to account for the fact that it was Friday, which is the holiest day of the week for Muslims.
So it was a bit of a ghost town. We have arrived at our first town outside of Muscat. - We're the only ones driving around. - There's no one here. I thought the problem was going to be is that we were going to meet too many people and now we're not meeting anyone.
The circumstances are working a little bit against us. But this is the city center of Nahal. There's no one in there. The stores are empty.
Where are we? Where the F*** are we? Is the barber open? It's basically it. Do they have coffee here? '' You guys are living the dream'' - Everyone. Peace be upon you.
And upon you too! He's inviting us for lunch. Do you need anything else from me? No thank you so much. There's something that in Egypt that we call the invite of fishermen, which is you're a fisherman in a boat and then you see another fisher in a boat. You're like, come on, come on over. Like, it's not really... You're not leave your boat.
And so, this was a fisherman's invitation. He's like, ah, you Four, come with me for lunch. I got a... I have that dentist appointment. Having not had much luck so far, we decided to get back in the car and drive even further out into nature. That's beautiful! This is the first place where you feel some sense of awe here.
This is incredible. It looks like the Grand Canyon, and they call it the Grand Canyon of the Middle east, where we are right now. And it's pretty amazing that there are roads going through the canyons, and we are just surrounded by these spectacular mountain formations all around us.
And apparently, if we keep going here, we'll hit a dirt road, and then there's a small village at the end of it that should have some interesting scenery, too. Well, we are going into this canyon now properly. It's like 20 kilometers of this... We needed a Land Cruiser for this, not a Peugeot. A little French car in Omani valleys. Okay.
He's saying it's a really steep incline, and the car could, like, just roll off the hill. You need one of these big boys. You need a car like this one. Is there anyone here who can take us up? Pull over here, I'll talk to them Alright, okay.
So we went back to talk to a local, asking about the town that we're trying to get to. And then he just goes... And then he just goes, you're gonna kill yourself.
Okay, he's coming towards us. He told us the car wouldn't make it. Yeah, this car won't go up the mountain. You need a 4-wheel drive. Could you take the four of us? No problem, it's all good.
Appreciate it! We have realized we need a car like that, not a car like this. He's gonna take us. Let's go. This is the trip we need, man. We needed this moment to happen. We need adventure.
We need this man. So he's saving us. He was like, yeah, you're gonna die in this car.
- So I'll take you. - This is the beautiful moment. People helping. Amazing! - Thank you. - You are welcome. - Nice to meet you. - I'm Staffan. I'm Beder.
Nice to meet you Beder. Well, I think he just might have saved our lives, this man. - It's up here. - Yes. We went the wrong way, well, it was a turn here. Wow! He not only saved us, he also put us back on the right road.
Beder is a local farmer who sometimes helps locals without proper vehicles travel deeper into the mountains. And somehow, right before turning onto the really dangerous road, while asking for directions, out of some divine luck, we were saved by this man. You see this little thing that he has on there? - Yeah. - That's the prayer, the traveling prayer.
( Glory be to him who has subjected this for us, and we could not have done it on our own) That's what's written as decoration in the car. - So people often have it in their cars. - Yeah. First time in Oman? Yeah, first time. Masha'Allah.
When my mom was little, she lived in Oman because my grandparents were here. So growing up, I always heard about Oman, it's beauty, and its people. And now, I finally got to visit, Alhamdulillah. Insha'Allah, this won't be your first and last time. Okay; this is steep, I'm happy we're not here with our car.
Holy. Wow! We would have been in trouble here with our little car. I think driving ourselves would have been sketch.
Like, I trust you, Habib, but this is, likecrazy. You want somebody who lives here to drive you. I've driven on what is classified as the world's most dangerous road. And it looks similar to this. It's making the list for my top five. Much respect, Uncle! All good, all good! Adventure! As soon as we hit this road, it seemed like every car passing waved at us.
There's like a sense of openness, that return. It's like the world is so big. Every time you leave your like very limited perspective, you just come here and you see this man and his wife just setting up in the most beautiful valley, just having dinner. They don't know anything about the US elections. They don't know anything about what's happening in Europe. Just they're living their own lives.
And our world is so big and we have so much space to create whatever reality that we want. How long has your family been living in this area? We were born into this world and our family was already here. They never told us they came from anywhere else or anything like that. I love how we're doing an interview with him and we're like dodging cars on the edge of the cliff. Guys, it's pretty high. I just got like scared again after looking down so high.
It's pretty wild that this is his backyard. He's like, I'll show you my backyard. He's showing us like one of the most famous features here, Snake Canyon. I didn't see this coming. What does being Omani mean for you? Their morals, generosity, and respect.
Not everyone is generous, respectfull, or well-mannered but Alhamdulillah, here in Oman, these values are very common. After a full day of travel, we finally arrived to our destination, Bald Sayt. Wow, that's a beautiful village! Paradise hidden in the mountains of Oman. This place is stunning. So green and lush in the middle of this valley.
It's beautiful, right? Yes! The castle. Yeah, the castle is up there. He's saying, that's the port up there. This is our house. - Your house is here? - Yes. - Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.
- You live in this town? - Yeah, I am local here. Amazing! It's a beautiful place. Thank you. - Do you live here now or you just visit? - Yeah, I live here just now because I have a job. I come here only in weekends.
Ah, okay, so you're coming back for family. So I have a hostel near my job. - You have a hostel? - Yeah. Oh, that's so cool.
So now you're here cuz it's Friday. Yes, my family here. - Your family is here? - Yes, my family here.
That's amazing! Life always feels different. Every country that we travel a lot and in small towns you get to feel what real community feels like. We were in Muscat and it was hard to meet people. And then we come here and you just came and said hi. Immediately you're like, okay, now we're meeting the real people in Oman, living normal lives. What's the name of your channel? It's called Yes Theory, since it's in English.
Putting on the kids to Yes Theory early on. Okay, let me see. And that means ''Theory of Yes. ''
Yeah, our channel is about our adventures around the world. We try to inspire people to say '' Yes more in life, you know? We're about to hit 10 million subcribers! Masha'Allah! 10 million subscribers? Yeah, 10 million! He's getting subscribers, he's telling them, children, you really need to reach 10 million this year. Please hit the button. That's what he's telling them. So how many new ones do we have? 1 2 3...
So that's 9, closer to 10. So if you want to help us get even closer, help us out. Where's the Oman video? We're filming it right now! The video about Oman will come out next month. You're amazing! Amazing! Like and subscribe. Like, subscribe and comment.
Now, I know what you're probably thinking to yourself right now. How the heck did they have the phone data to be able to access their YouTube channel high up in these remote mountains of Oman? Well, that was a problem we solved back when we first arrived at the airport. There's something called eSIM Cards, where you basically add a SIM card without taking yours out to your phone.
And the partner that we use for this is Saily. You open the app, you explore plans, and then you just type which country that you're in. In this moment, we are in Oman. You add how much data that you want. I'm going to do five gigabytes. And then you follow the instructions to add the eSIM card to your phone.
You can keep your phone number and get data for much cheaper than you would any other way. And boom, Now I have 5 gigabytes of data for the whole trip that we're here. Saily offers several affordable eSIM plans in over 190 countries and even offers global plans if you're planning to visit multiple countries on your next trip. And with advanced security features, you can change your virtual location, block malicious ads, and stay safer with web protection.
This is by far the biggest travel hack. Without data, I think it's just so much harder to navigate the new country. You can't use Google Translate, you can't use Google Maps, Uber, whatnot. I think it just goes such a long way to make everything smoother, to have data and to not worry about running out, because you can just top it up in the app. The eSIM plans are compatible with most iOS and Android devices.
So download the Saily app today and use the code Yes Thery to get 15% off or head to saily.com/yestheory All right, now where were. At this time of day, we usually go to the field over there to play.
Alright, let's go! We're going? I'll let the guys know after Asr prayer and we'll go play there. Alright, let's do it. Yeah, that's the mosque if you want to pray Okay, perfect. we arrived as they had just finished the prayer. I want to, like, still follow the tradition of what they do. So I want to, and I still haven't prayed this prayer, so it'd be nice to have you guys join.
I've done this in Project 30 with Thomas and Matt and haven't had this experience with you yet. To me, one of my favorite things about Islam is the word Muslim itself just means the one who submits to the oneness of God. We believe that Abraham and Jesus, they're all Muslim because they all simply submitted to the oneness of God.
And I think we're all here believers in that. So, you know, I love that I can go in with you guys and do a prayer. And even though you're not going to be saying what I'm saying, but still we can all tap into the same energy and the same frequency and, you know, with a lot of devotion, a lot of just respect for the place. Yeah, it'd be beautiful. Smells incredible, the incense.
So peaceful. Imagine that this beautiful mosque is hiding here in this oasis. '' God is the greatest '' What is going into a mosque and doing a prayer like this reminds you of from your upbringing and culture. To be honest, I didn't connect as much with these practices because it was just like you're an autopilot. You're growing up, you're seeing what it is.
I've learned to appreciate a lot of these different practices when I left because I could just see it from a completely different perspective. I've become more spiritual and more religious as a result of leaving and gaining more perspective and going deeper in my own way into studying my own faith, developing my own understanding of it. And of course I'm like,I am not a perfect Muslim whatsoever. I do so many things that I'm not supposed to do, but I inside, I feel very fulfilled with the relationship that I'm establishing with God and myself. It's very lovely that it was led by Ammar. I don't think we've done one that you led.
Yeah. So it was very nice and it felt very intimate since it's only us in here. So what a unique place to... To have a first prayer, the three of us together.
Only because I said this in a video that I made in 2020. Free child. One of my 10 year goals from 26 to 36 was to take my dad on a pilgrimage. And I'm doing that on Sunday, so in two days. And I'll take him for his 69th birthday. So I'm going to be heading from Oman to Mecca next.
This is like a postcard and we're the only ones here. Where are you guys going? Where's the party at tonight? Fate and destiny. He's saying that was our fate that we meet and that's how it happened because we were just thanking him for like taking us here and how none of this would have happened.
And he goes, no, no, it's all fate. And this is your fate. There's also "Kadaa wa kadar" (fate). So, last night, did you dream that you would meet me? - No, of course not. - This is "Kadaa wa kadar" (fate).
You didn't even know that yesterday you couldn't have dreamt of coming here in this way. And now it's happened, and now we're all here. Inshallah! And Beder, now you are here with your four sons. You now have four foreign sons. If you need us at any time, give us a call, and we'll immediately respond.
Thank you so much. I understood what he said. - Alright. - God bless. If I weren’t the director, the whole film would’ve been ruined. He said, if he's not the director, the whole thing would be ruined. He's actually not wrong. I don't think we would have good video.
So we're playing on the field that Audi built. That's a really sick field. Yeah, that's gonna be dope. *Audi built this field for a commercial, and now the locals get to keep it :) Do these kids know what I'm doing? I've defended against Eden Hazard.
They're about to get destroyed. I remember that game, you actually slipped. We don't need to show that part. They're waiting for us already.
Remember that these dudes are playing at altitude. We are going to be gassed very fast. - Yeah. - Oh, I forgot about that. - We're about 4,000ft above. - Yeah.
I should have been there. My fault, boys. My fault. The altitude is like; I don’t know how they do it. Do one sprint and you're like, my heart is just up at a... - Good play, man. - Thank you. - Wow! - Thank you.
Since you were kids, you've been playing here? Yeah. - Thank you. - It was a pleasure. Thank you, dear. See you soon.
So nice meeting you. - Thank you for inviting us. - Nice to meet you. My little brother is called Zeyad. God bless. Nice to meet you.
Welcome. Our final goal on this trip was to visit the incredible fort in the town of Bahla. But we did not realize, once again, is that the road to get there is more of this. So we were hoping that our savior, Beder, might be spontaneous enough to go on an overnight adventure to get to it. We're trying to decide what we're gonna do, and he's seeing that our plan was so bad. And, yeah...
We're showing him, and he's like, 'Oh, you're taking more dangerous roads to get to these places you want to get to.' So he's being very gracious and saying Yes to us on his adventure with us. He could take us to a town that will get us pretty close to where we want to go, which is where this epic fort that we want to visit is. And then he'll sleep with us there, and then in the morning...
He would sleep with us there... Yeah, and in the morning he'll take us to Bahla and then bring us back to the car. So he's pretty much saying that he's becoming our father and he's taking us on a road trip in Oman. It sounds like it. He would just go like this, too.
They're a bit confused as to how you're able to be with us without any problems. I'm just trying to make the best out of the time you have. So that we finish everything before you leave on Sunday.
Do you need anything from the car? It's okay. We can sleep in the same clothes we're in. I'm like you. He's like us. He's saying, same here. He doesn't have anything.
And that's it. No one has a toothbrush. No one has a change of clothes. We're just gonna...
Okay, give it up for Papa Beder. God bless you. We entrust everything to God. I am not looking forward to these roads at night. This is crazy that he's... Imagine just...
He was just walking, He was just minding his own business. We saw that one guy who went to ask him, he's like, yeah, I'll just take you all the way to this super far remote place on this dangerous road at night. He has to drive this car on this road for another two hours to get us there. What did he say this was? This was A Land Cruiser. A way better car than the one we had. I actually, I thought the guy that we met down at the bottom was being dramatic, when he said like, oh, you flip the car or burn it.
This car burned because it was too much on the engine to keep going uphill until the engine just blew. So it just burnt and they left it there for. - Are you serious? - Yeah. Holy moly. Is this the first time you've taken a group and slept somewhere far from here? - Yes. - Yeah, yeah, he... He seems so casual.
Have you told your family, Beder, that you're not coming home tonight? He's asking, 'Did you tell your family that you won’t be coming home tonight?' - Yes. - Ah, yes he did. - Were they fine with it? - Yes, no problem. You have five sons, one at home and four here. Yes, and four here. May God bless you. Okay, time for some food.
We are in a Yemeni restaurant with our Omani dad where Egyptians are cooking us the food. This is a melting pot of the Middle east right here, somehow. Me and Thomas are by ourselves now.
So we are using Google Translate to speak with our Omani dad. It’s you, me, Thomas, and the translation app now, when Ammar isn’t here. - No problem. - No problem, exactly.
That is the motto of this trip in Socotra trip. No problem. There is no problem ever. It's amazing how days can turn around in the split of a second. Our GPS glitched.
We stopped and asked a local. He said, this is going to be very dangerous. He introduced us about it. And now, we're about to eat some amazing food! Oh wow! The Food in the Middle east for me, you can't beat it.
Wow! - Delicious. - Wowi! Okay, so Ammar, what's happening? Beder decide to have us show up in style tomorrow. So yeah, he called home with that, and they’re coming with traditional outfits. Omani outfits.
Hello sir, how is it going? Praise be to God. It's 9:20 in the evening. We're doing some business.
This is where you'll stay. This is actually where we're staying. These are only worn by me. I'm pretty tall. - These are only worn by me. - No way?
- Yes. - These are his own personal ones. Sir, I used them very lightly. May God bless you, sir. Thank you, it's an honor.
What are we doing with these? We're borrowing them. You can keep them if you'd like. No, thank you. God bless you. We'll give them back after we're done.
- May God bless you. - May God bless you. Thanks a million. Lost here on the sidelines. But I think this man gave us his personal ones for tomorrow, I guess.
What's happening? Yeah, he just like lent us his own Omani outfits. That's so nice. Question to you in the comments you can let us know. Would you lend clothes to a group of foreigners that some guy picked up on the side of the road? If you'd say yes to that, let me know in the comments. Thank you.
You're most welcome. Thank you, that's amazing! Thank you, thank you. And we're gonna sleep in the town, I don't know where we are.
Like, I have no idea. We haven't paid for this hotel. Nobody knows who we are. We're just pointing the camera at them. They don't know what we're filming for.
This guy is lending us his clothes. Like, what is happening? On that note, see you tomorrow. Oh.
What? What? What? Where are we? This is incredibly beautiful. Wow, he's already awake. - Salam. - As-salamu alaykum. We're starting the day with good, sunny weather. Praise be to God. - Good morning. - Good morning.
Last day in Oman, and we are fully integrated. We finally reached what we crossed the dangerous mountain pass for the Bahala Fort. This UNESCO World Heritage Site has defensive walls stretch for about 13 km, enclosing the fort and parts of the town. Inside there is a maze of watchtowers, prayer halls, wells, and narrow passageways that feel like taking a step back in time. So, this entire fort was built on the mountain? Most forts are built on mountains.
They actually just integrating the building with the hill itself. And they usually just would go up to take the biggest hill in the city, so they have the best vantage point. I believe this is Middle Medieval Islamic architecture at its finest. As-salamu alaykum.
- Welcome to Oman. - Yeah, you too. Hello. Thank you. Yes, yes.
Beyond its formidable defenses, Bahla was a center for Islamic learning and renowned craftsmanship, with its pottery traditions still alive today. Nice to meet you. These are fresh dates, huh? - What's your name? - Mohammed. Mohammed, my name is Thomas. - You like it? - It's good.
You like the Omani outfit? - Oh, good. - Very good. Wow, there are some spices in this; it's nice. The guy who was speaking to us, he's the owner of the souk, And he's, like, very intentional about making sure that this isn’t just a place to make money off tourists.
But rather, No, it's about preservation, let's show people our culture. There's some guys waving at us back here. Very good idea to wear the local outfit as a way of respecting the local culture, especially in places where it's very common to wear it. Like these gentlemen sitting right here.
So they love it when they see you wearing their clothes and they're like, 'Amazing!' Nice shop. Yeah. - Do you like our outfits? - Yeah, it's fine. Amazing, nice to meet you. Have a good day. Have a good day.
Okay, So he's showing us where we drove last night, because obviously we drove in the dark, we didn't see the terrain, but it's quite impressive how much he drove last night. So all the way over there is the town that he drove us up to. We have insurance. Don't worry. Don't worry.
I have insurance. "Inshallah insurance." (God-willing insurance) That could be a banger of an insurance company. Inshallah insurance. (God-willing insurance) No problem is the slogan.
- Beder, no problem? - No problem. This is what they call the Grand Canyon of the Arabian Peninsula. And this is the entrance to the Snake Canyon, which a lot of people go and do a bunch of trekking through. And you need mountaineering gear. But if you do come to Oman and you have more time than we do, this is definitely an adventure to sign up for. If you ever want to come, just find Beder.
You'll be taken care of. Mountain water. Oh my God! What the hell? Come on, son.
You got it, you got it, Viking! You can narrate, and I'll interpret. We just finished our trip from yesterday, and we're now heading to the farm. - Your farm? - Yes. So he was very gracious to invite us to his farm so that we can have a final lunch.
He pretty bummed that we're we're leaving, and he keeps saying we have to come back, and he has to... We have to let him just design the whole trip. Clap it up for Beder. Clap it up for Beder. It was a blessing from the sky.
- Inshallah (By the will of God), we met. - Inshallah (By the will of God). - Ma Sha' Allah! (What God has willed!) - Wow! I seek the protection of Allah against the outcast Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O Allah, bless us with what You have provided us, for You are the best of providers. Amen. The best end to our trip is getting to meet you. Like the last picture says.
The last supper. The last supper, yeah. Entering this trip without a plan and then struggling to find much on our first day certainly made us question our approach on this one. Can we really just arrive in Oman and hope to find the Yes Theory magic we so often find elsewhere? Well, after trusting the process and getting saved right before this immensely dangerous road, Beder and all the lovely humans we met following certainly proved to us that the Omani hospitality we'd heard so much about, and, Yes Theory spirit, was very much alive and well here. Traveling for us at this point means meeting other humans and seeing their world through their lens.
The guys here are also so happy that they got to meet you. And this is a very simple gift from France Macaroons. In the name of allah.
God bless If we don't walk away with some deeper sense of understanding for the place we visited, it wouldn't feel like a trip. And although Oman required some further digging from us for its magic to reveal itself, we certainly think that it's clear to say that this is the Middle East's most underrated country.
2025-02-24 14:17
