author - oman observer

As the weather cools, attention turns again to Bidiyah. Its long stretches of dunes become a meeting ground for drivers, spectators and families, with weekend traffic giving parts of the desert the...

What surprised Harith al Saifi was the brown crust. Beneath it, he had found a stone he described as green and transparent. “Its outer crust is brown, unusually, which is why I was surprised,” he...

For years, the usual trip to Jabal Shams followed a familiar routine. Drive up the mountain, stop at the viewpoints, take photographs of the magnificent canyon, enjoy the cooler weather and, for most...

They rise from Ibra’s stark ground in rounded forms that seem to belong to another planet. Its clustered curves soften the outline of a building into something closer to a sculpture. Yet the...

When artificial intelligence first became widely available, I was already worried about what it might do to young writers. Working in publishing, I discouraged interns and junior writers from using it...

Beyond the mountain views and empty houses, Oman’s old settlements invite us to consider the lives people built and why they eventually moved on. The first time I stepped into Harat Al Yemen, in...

There is dust in Helen Keiser’s Oman. It settles on the mud walls, softens the edges of watchtowers and hangs above roads that seem to lead into nothing. The mountains around Muscat look hard and...

When Al Suwgra was just starting, the idea was simple. The Al Shuraiki family had ancestral homes on Al Jabal Akhdhar. Mohammed, who had worked as an experience guide at a luxury resort, understood...

The Oman Botanic Garden is doing more than preserving the country’s native plants. It is proposing a new model for how nations can tell their stories and inviting the international cultural world to...

In a viral video from Ras Al Hadd, a sea turtle is trying to make its way across the sand. A blonde woman sits on its shell. A man appears to straddle it as though it were a horse. I kept watching the...

Some of the sculptures at LUMEN look as though they have arrived carrying secrets. One is built from stones, packed into a square and held together by two weathered bands. It resembles a fragment of...

A friend recently introduced me to a pop-up stall in a Muscat mall with an irresistible promise: some of the world’s best fragrances could be copied for a fraction of their price. True enough, among...

The lights dim. Dramatic music begins to build as giant digital screens flicker to life. Around the room, teams exchange nervous glances while colourful player names and avatars appear on interactive...

There was a time when being angry with customer service at least meant someone had to listen to you. You called. Someone answered. You explained what happened, sometimes calmly, sometimes after you...

The entrance could easily be missed. There was no grand visitor centre here, no golf cart waiting and no neat pathway leading into the darkness. This was Al Hoota, but not the Al Hoota most people...

Whenever a new technology comes along, we usually talk about what it can do for us today. We do not always stop to ask what our cities might need if that technology becomes part of everyday life....

Hidden between two cliffs on Al Jabal Al Akhdhar, it is not a place one simply finds on Google Maps. From the road above, patches of green can be seen far below, divided into plots belonging to...

A friend and I recently had a long conversation about her plans to finish a master’s degree. She had the ambition, the experience and a clear idea of where she wanted her career to go. What she...

Every week, my family gathers for a group video call. It is our way of keeping up with each other, especially now that we live in different places. The conversations can go anywhere. We talk about...

Far from the greenery that draws most people to Dhofar, a coastal drive towards Mirbat has always been part of my Khareef trip. I do it for the seafood, something I think should be firmly established...