Stories from Muscat
King Solomon
We have been sitting in an old style traditional coffee-house. It was evening and weather was cooler and more pleasant since I have been there last time.. Dusk was lighted up by old Moroccan style lamps hanged from the arches.. all around each table was green, with various plants growing up naturally, as if we were sitting in garden.. the chairs were large with oriental pillows to make the sit more comfortable.. We ordered ginger tea with honey and each telling a story encountered in life, or things that happened just while ago, everything. And while chatting there were so many things that had no explanation, things happening suddenly with no excuse. They said about a friend they lost during the last Eid El Adha. A decent man, young, with bright future ahead, a sudden and unexplained loss. There was so much sadness and inevitability in their voices .. so to change the theme one of the friends told us this legend .. about…. King Solomon was sitting with his entourage and talking to them when suddenly door to the hall has opened and an ugly face has looked in. It glanced onto one man there in the crowed and disappeared.. The man was a friend of King. His heart filled with fair of unexpected and he rushed to the king and fell to his knees. – Oh Solomon, who was that man that glanced into the room and disappeared? He is angel of death,- answered the King. Death!! cried King’s friend.. I beg you, King help me to get out of here, send me to India, far away, save me.. Continue Reading
Bahrain
My next stop in Arabian Gulf , after trendy Doha, is Bahrain. Getting into the plane, which is just taking up to land in some 15-20 min, I can barely drink my champaign, served by Qatar airways smiling crew members. My trip coincided with Formula 1 and Bahrain was in news all around the globe. It is good to be there when such famous event is covered by the whole world, at the same time, is good to see also different Bahrain, to find something particular and not just cliche descriptions, known to all. 
Bahrain is more oriental then Doha, it is more ancient, this what one can notice immediately, upon arrival. It is the paradise on the Earth – Dilmun.. In Doha you feel everything is new, trendy, just built or being built. Bahrain is different, it is mixed, old and new, it is even more oriental then Doha. But it’s oriental style also different from the one you feel visiting Levant. Here the winds of Arabia cross with those from Iran, Pakistan, India and China. Even markets are as mixed, as the winds upon Bahrain itself. Continue Reading