Beautiful world, felt the cool rain on my shoulder found something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder shalalala shalalalala shalalalapla shalalalalalasla its morning in the arabian desert. The place explorer ber tram thomas called the abode of death. But its a beautiful place, the kind of place i look for more and more these days. Stark, empty, clean sand that stretches out seemingly forever. Oman defies expectations. It shouldnt, according to the cruel logic of the world, exist, but it does and its incredible. The sultanate of oman is a monarchy, a choke point in the worlds oil supply. It is surrounded by some of the trickest and contentious powers in the region. And yet here it is, relatively small, tolerant, welcoming to outsiders, peaceful, and stunningly beautiful. But oman is facing uncertainty with succession issues and declining oil reserves. The quell of whats next is a big, if often, unspoken one. So pre1970, this was a very different, very different place to live, very different country. Quite simply there was nothing. We had only free schools in oman and only for boys. We had only two hospitals. For the whole country . Yes, for the whole country. And nine miles of big drug in muscot. And who was beyond was of absolutely no concern to leadership. Absolutely, yes. Sheik ben sewol mean algofri is the kind of guy who will likely be prominent in the future of the country. The current sultan replaced his father and took the country really from the 19th century into the 20th century very, very quickly. Absolutely, his majesty took over and he changed the whole scene. This is not a democracy, but everybody, everybody it seems, has genuine affection and respect for the sultan. [ speaking Foreign Language ] sultan is much admired iniguodai inigmatic monarch. In that time he has raised a nation literally from a dusty primitive back water to a modern functioning, largely secular society. His vision was to deliver the services to the city, water, health care, education. It was like a oneman show. Usually oneman shows are not a good thing. Thats right. Historically seldom does it workout. You look around and see how the country is doing now is pretty impressive. It is a tremendous job that his majesty has done. People feel like hes the man they were waiting for to enlight their life and to open doors for them. Oman, it should be understood, sits atop of the indian ocean rim. The empire once stretched from pakistan to east africa, with important trade routes that reached from Southern Africa all the way to the china straits, indonesia, into deep east asia. Modern oman is a fraction of that size now, but its dna, its culture, cuisine, and to some extent attitude toward the outside world, is a reflection of that history. Matra is a port town in the capital of muscot. For centuries a center of commerce and trade. One of the first things i notice about the city is its very low slum. It seems like a calculated esthetic decision. Youre someone who wants to build your house, you first submit your plans to municipality. If youre going above a certain height its generally frowned upon. The idea is to keep the traditional vernacular. She is a curator and ph. D. Student focused on middle eastern art history. She is, like many young people here, patriotic to the point of being nerdy, as she puts it. We have such an old history, and i think this is a really great example of that. This is something that functions in our daily life. It functions very similarly to say how it would have functioned if you were coming here, say, 200 years ago. Now we are coming to cornish. I love cornish, such a beautiful word. The food of oman is a mix of flavors and ingredients and tastes from arabia and from all over omans former empire. This is an old boarding house turned restaurant where you can try bakora which came from india chipati from east africa and shua, the classic special event dish. They do one version or another of this all over the world, but shua is special. They slather a goat with a spicy paste consisting of cumin, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, and wrap it in palm or banana leaves, dig a hole, throw in some meat, cover it up. And leave underground for a day or two over hot coals. Oman has changed the way thats unique to anyone. I havent seen anyplace that has sort of maintained their architecture and the character that this country has, and thats a really unusual oman is the only country that kept their tradition. And if you travel outside muscat, you see the flavor of the old life still there. Pasin mir is is a fine artist who works in painting and photography. He is a film maker, artist and provocateur representing the increasingly vocal point much view of young omani women in the middle eastern art scene. We have a tradition of historic without saying things directly. They took this from poetry. They have a certain language with a lot of tact subtext. It is an unusual mix here, very graceful, very proud mix of cultures and languages. I mean, the mix was existent from beginning. There is a beauty in understanding the other. Such a difficult time to make that argument. The whole world seems to be going in exactly the opposite direction. I mean, my country, the last thing anyone seems to want to do is highlight the other. I think people discussing here is culturalism. Because of the way i see history, its a traditional reality. Its our background. Its who we are. Hey alright, lets get going and you want to make sure to aim it. Im aiming it. Ohhhhhhh i ordered it for everyone. 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The frankincense that the wise men brought to christ, all the suffering that came through the mountains where we were fighting. And you were sitting behind the machine gun on a track, which had been used for 3,000 years. One felt like an intruder in history. And if the trees were cut you could smell the frankincense. The smell of explosives. The smell of blood. The smell of the food, cardamom, the smell of the tea. I loved it. This was a civil war. Civil wars, typically, are the worst wars of all. You know that well enough in your country. Anthony but most people have not heard of it. Ian no they havent. But youd have heard about if wed lost it, i can tell you. Anthony right. The war began as a local rebellion by the dhofari people against the autocratic and outdated rule of then sultan said bin taimur. Who had kept his nation isolated and stunted, out of concern for his hold on power. What started as a local uprising quickly became a serious full blown communist backed insurgency, as soviet and chinese influence poured in from yemen. Ian gardiner remembers the conflict well. He fought in it, alongside omani infantry as a British Royal marine. And later wrote about the experience in his memoir in the service of the sultan. A rare chronicle of the brutal incredibly difficult and almost entirely unknown war, fought in the rugged southern mountains. Ian the old sultan was not an inhumane man, but he was an old man, and he was deeply reactionary, so he wanted to keep his country in a medieval time warp. The thing that changed it, was the advent of a japanese transistor radio. For the first time his people could hear what other arab countries were doing with their oil, and they wanted some of that. Anthony by the 1920s Winston Churchill switched the royal navys mode of power from coal to oil. And suddenly, everything changed. They needed oil, and lots of it. Which made oman vital not for its limited oil resources, but for where it is, the strait of hormuz. The persian gulfs femoral artery, 20 of the worlds oil flows through here making it one of, if not the most strategically important waterways on the planet. By 1970 sultan taimoors Counter Insurgency was not going well. He was deposed by his son qaboos bin said al said, in a relatively bloodless coup. Immediately, the young sultan set out on a different tact for winning the war. Ian almost before the shooting had stopped, we would institute a civil aid program. Build roads, build a school, build a mosque, build shops, a clinic. But it was in this way the sultan was able to demonstrate that he was the one who had his peoples best interest at heart, not the communists. Anthony things seldom work out so well. Post insurgency or counterinsurgency, this tactic failed spectacularly in vietnam of course. What made the difference here . Ian in every war in history, you end up living with the other side and if you can open a respectable door successfully then the less likely the aftermath is going to beset with rancor with hatred and a thirst for revenge. The sultan took this very brave, highly intelligent, Political Risk which i think was the difference. And i think has been the foundation of the unambiguous and enduring peace in this country. Anthony in 1976 the omanis laid down their weapons and never picked them up again. The resulting peace has lasted for 40 years, and while oman aint your system and it aint my system and its far, far from being either perfect, or a western style democracy there is a palpable pride here in the collective identity of being omani. Notably, as well the sultan has placed emphasis on the role of women, decreeing at least as a matter of policy equal access to education, to work, to political office. Zahara [ speaking in arabic ] i was the only one here to cook for a living. The women here used to think that its embarrassing to cook and get paid. But when they saw me, cooking and successful, they changed their minds and saw it as normal. And now, there are almost 12 women like me in alhamra. Anthony zahara al awfi, daughters aseila and aisha and friend samiha al harty. Four extraordinary women. What started as a way for zahara to fund her charity work spawned a lucrative Cottage Industry of catering for events. Now rather than using her family money, her business is able to fully finance her work to educate children in the nearby mountain villages. Zahara simpson . Girl in white and gold i was asking myself if i seen you in the simpsons anthony i was in on the simpsons, yes. Samiha really . Anthony yes. This is the first time ive been recognized from the simpsons. [ laughter ] samiha thats really nice. Anthony so some of the money that she is making is going to open schools in rural villages, is that correct . Samiha not only a part of the money. It goes all of it for them, to build for them the schools and to provide them with an education. Zahara [ speaking in arabic ] i hire a qualified staff to teach them about religion, quran, science and other important things for life. Anthony why is this important to you . Zahara [ speaking in arabic ] the greatest benefit is that i taught my kids about charity and good deeds, to sacrifice for others. Anthony kabuli laham is slow cooked goat in a rich rice pilaf scented with star anise. Musanif djaj a local specialty, are pan seared dumplings stuffed with chicken, pepper, ginger, turmeric and onions. And of course, theres omani bread with honey. Samiha thats a chili. Are you okay with that . Anthony yes i like spicy. Mhmm, good, very good zahara [ speaking in arabic ] give him more of the spicy sauce. Hes sweating a lot. Anthony everyone here says that the economy is going to have to shift away from oil towards other industries. How would you like to prepare your daughters for the future . Zahara [ speaking in arabic ] well, now we live, we live in our golden days, thanks to sultan qaboos, bless him. Samiha [ speaking in arabic ] god help him to recover from his illness, and bless him with longer life. Zahara [ speaking in arabic ] thank god almighty. We live in our golden age, but we have to be prepared for the future. Anthony what do the young ladies, when they reach adulthood what are your hopes and dreams . Girl in white and gold [ speaking in arabic ] i want to be satisfied with myself and achieve my goals. I want to be a business woman. Anthony and the other young lady . Girl wearing red in arabic i want to be a teacher, and mom wants me to study at the university and become the president of the university. Anthony strong women in this family. Samiha very strong ones i dont know. Our relationship is just kinda boring. Uhm, youre not alone. I used to have a limited selection of shows ondemand. And let me tell you, it got very boring. I got directv last week and they have more than 50,000 titles to choose from. But what about my problems . Classic narcissist. What was that . Nothing. Tv without thousands titles on demand is just kinda tv. Dont just kinda tv. Directv sign up for directv and get hbo included for a year. Call 1. 800. Directv forget about vacuuming for weeks. The new roomba i7 with Clean Base Automatic dirt disposal empties the roomba bin for you. So dirt is off your hands. If its not from irobot, its not a roomba. Whos already won three cars, two motorcycles, a boat, and an r. V. I would not want to pay that insurance bill. [ ding ] oh, i have progressive, so i just bundled everything with my home insurance. Saved me a ton of money. Love you, gary you dont have to buzz in. Its not a question, gary. On march 1, 1810 [ ding ] frederic chopin. Collapsing in 226 [ ding ] the colossus of rhodes. [ sighs ] Louise Dustmann [ ding ] brahms lullaby, or wiegenlied. 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Islam is not a monolith it comes in many forms. Ibadi theology arguably forms the backbone of many of omans codes of conduct. It places value on concepts like politeness, acceptance, unity, and understanding. Perhaps, as a consequence of that, the sultanate embraces grace and tact as a matter of foreign policy. Internally too, oman has avoided radicalism and sectarian violence. It is considered shameful by ibadi teachings to draw blood over religious conflicts, unless attacked. The terror and bloodshed in neighboring yemen feels very far away up here. Jebel al akhdar, the green mountain. Anthony this area, oh my god, look at this, its so beautiful. Halil we are 64 [ speaking in arabic ]. Anthony 64. How many generations has your family lived here . Hamden 200 years maybe, more than 200 years. Halil can you see all the small farms . Anthony yeah hamden all of our grandfathers built that. And they built all these things with only their hands. They didnt have any machines. Can you imagine that . Anthony hamdan al saqri, his father ali, and his uncle halal, come from a very long line of hard working farmers. They all grew up here, generation after generation. A tribal area of ancient villages and terraced farm land which have produced pomegranate, nuts, and dates, the premier cash crops of oman for many centuries. But, like so many places i go, so many traditional agricultural communities the young men and increasingly the women are looking elsewhere beyond the farm to seek Higher Education and opportunity in the city. Anthony this is a common story, i mean the young men, they go to university, you know . Hamden i have to study there, because you the future and i want to get a good job. Anthony many young omanis study abroad, they study in america or england, but most of them seem to come back. Hamden theyre only going outside to study and get something. That thing, you want to return in back to your country. Ive grown up in this village, its something simple and i really miss it. Anthony muscat, you dont like it . Halil sometimes. Anthony its not a life for you . Sometimes . Halil sometimes you go there for big shop, malls. Anthony you go to the malls . [ laughter ] anthony so what do we have here . Hamden we have food. Anthony delicious . All right. Oh man, that looks good. Whats in the biryani . Halil its rice and potato. Hamden we often eat this feast for celebrations we call it omani kahwa. Anthony lamb . Mhmm thats fantastic. Wow never had this. Hamden really . This is the harees. Anthony very famous dish. How do you say delicious in arabic . Both ladhidh. Anthony ladhidh. Thats what it is. How did you learn to cook this well . Hamden in muscat i lived with my friends, not family so i have to learn how to cook because no one is taking care about you, you should take care about yourself. Anthony so, if youd rather be here wh