IMAGES: GETTY; EMMA AL-MOUSAWI; AL BALEED RESORT SALALAH
OMAN
“This perfume was first made for royalty.”
The salesman at Amouage perfume factory in Muscat is pointing towards a 24-carat gold flask, a tiny, exquisite bottle shaped like a khanjar, Oman’s traditional dagger. “There are 120 ingredients in here, with two in particular that really represent Oman: rose and frankincense,” he says. The fragrance house was commissioned by
Oman’s beloved late Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said in 1983 and its name, Amouage, comes from the Arabic word for waves. It's fitting considering Oman’s strategic position on the eastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, where the Persian Gulf meets the Arabian Sea. At the heart of ancient trade routes, the country's location was intrinsic to its rise as a maritime superpower in the 18th and 19th centuries. The empire may no longer remain, but its influence can be found everywhere: from the multiple languages spoken on the streets of Muscat to the ingredients, like Indian oud and Persian saffron, blended into its perfumes. It’s my curiosity about the two key ingredients in that golden khanjar — rose and frankincense — that’s brought me to Oman. “We’ll stop off at the souk in the city of Nizwa,
which was once Oman’s capital,” my guide Khalid Al Rawahi tells me from behind the wheel of his 4WD. I’ve only spent a couple of hours with the former sergeant, who’s dressed in a crisp white dishdasha (traditional robe) and mussar (turban), but his encyclopaedic grasp of the country’s history already makes him feel like an all-knowing Omani uncle. We’ve left Muscat behind, setting off on the 100-mile drive to Jabal Akhdar, a region high in
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the Hajar Mountains. It’s here, from late March through to the end of April, that Oman’s prized damask roses bloom on staggered terrace farms that cling to the sloping peaks. Nizwa’s walled souk provides welcome relief
from the 40C midday heat. In the past, people would travel here by donkey to sell their rosewater in the market, Khalid tells me as we wander its maze of treasure-filled alleys. We pass a shop selling halwa, the country’s much-loved sweet treat, and Khalid buys a rose-flavoured version for me to sample. The consistency is similar to soft fudge, the taste floral but surprisingly smoky. “We Omanis prefer smoky rosewater,” Khalid reveals. “In the past, we’d wear it as perfume, too. Hosts would put rosewater on guests’ hands after eating halwa or spicy foods. You’ll see how we make it in Jabal Akhdar.” We depart Nizwa the following morning, the
temperature dropping by 10C on the ear-popping 40-minute drive. Jabal Akhdar is known for its mild climate and the road — carved into solid rock from the palm-covered village of Birkat Al Mouz — opened in 2006, replacing a gruelling six-hour trek. At the top, a sherbet-sweet breeze greets us, carrying the scent of thousands of magenta petals spread across the mountainside. Here, farmer Qais Al Amri and his family have been up since dawn, gathering roses from their fields. “Listen for the tick,” says Qais, as he removes
the flower from its stem in one rapid hand motion, producing a satisfying clicking sound. “You try,” he nods. I fumble unsuccessfully and dozens of silky
Clockwise from top: Jabal Akhdar’s rose terraces are engineered to thrive on steep mountain slopes; the harvest happens at dawn, when blooms are heavy with dew; the design of Al Baleed Resort in Salalah is inspired by the region’s ancient fortresses Previous pages from left: The resin of boswellia sacra trees oozes out in tears after the bark is cut; hundreds of thousands of roses are handpicked every year
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