Bull-Butting
in Barka, Oman
picture courtesy
V.V.
Williams
You may want to check out the old Al
Na'man Fort in Barka, which has free entrance, is quiet with history,
perhaps too quiet with history. The fort is open usually from 7:30 in
the morning till around 6pm. On Fridays you'll want to go earlier because
it closes at 2pm. The site was planted in the late 1800's with tens
of thousands of beautiful palm trees.
You will undoubtably be in Barka on
a Friday, to say you witnessed one of Oman's more traditionally idiosyncratic
sports: bull butting. Unlike the bullfights of Latin America, Oman's
bulls remain living, even in defeat. The butting takes place until one
of the bulls is cowed into submission, usually by bending their knees
or something of the like. These buttings are pretty low-key, so don't
expect a full-on circus like atmosphere, but it is definitely something
to take pictures of and an out of the ordinary sight for your "seen
it all" eyes.
Barka is an easy drive from Muscat,
about 60 Miles or so in the Northern region of Oman. If you are driving
it's fairly self-explanatory, you turn at the sign on the Muscat to
Sohar highway. Barka makes an excellent picnic spot and is well worth
the experience.
Or you can buy your own kebabs and
snack on them roadside, native style if you like. They're well worth
it.
Again, ask around to make sure there
is going to be some butting going on (Fridays), and then head out to
watch. If you want to stay in town there's a great quiet beach, and
the well kept (US$70 dollars-ish) four star Al-Sawadi
Beach Resort (link is to their homepage, not an agency) which is
a good place to stay if you are in Oman to do some scuba
diving as well.
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