what we all want as human beings. isn't it? to be loved, to be cherished. >> anthony: this is anthony bourdain, cnn, good ♪ ♪ ♪ i took a walk

through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la ♪ ♪ sha la la la la sha la la la la la la ♪ ♪ ♪

anthony: it's morning in the arabian desert. the place explorer, bertram thomas called "the abode of death." but it's a beautiful place, the kind of place i look for more and more these days. stark, empty, clean sand that stretches out, seemingly forever. ♪ ♪

>> anthony: oman defies expectations. it shouldn't, according to the cool logic of the world, exist. but it does, and it's incredible. the sultanate of oman is an absolute monarchy. a predominantly islamic state and a vital strategic choke point in the world's oil supply. it is surrounded by some of the trickiest and most 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 question of what's next is a big, if often unspoken, one. >> anthony: so pre 1970 this was a very different, very different, place to live, very different country. >> bin sulaiman: quite simply there was nothing. we had only three schools all over oman, and only for boys. we had only two hospitals. >> anthony: for the whole country? >> bin sulaiman: yes, for the whole country. and 9 miles of paved road in muscat. >> anthony: and what happened outside of muscat was really of no concern to leadership. >> bin sulaiman: absolutely, yes. ♪ ♪ >> anthony: vo sheikh bin sulaiman al ghafri is a businessman and the son of a

tribal leader. he's the kind of guy who will likely be prominent in the future of the country. >> anthony: the current sultan replaced his father and took the country really from the 19th century into the 20th century very, very quickly. >> bin sulaiman: absolutely, his majesty took over and he changed, you know, the whole scene. >> anthony: this is not a democracy but everybody, everybody it seems has genuine affection and respect for the sultan. [ speaking in arabic ] >> anthony: sultan qaboos bin said al said is the much admired and enigmatic absolute ruler and monarch. he's presided over everything omani for the last 467 years. in that time he has raised the nation, literally, from a dusty primitive backwater to a modern, functioning, largely secular society.

>> bin sulaiman: his vision was to deliver the services first, the electricity, water, healthcare, education. it was like a one man show. >> anthony: usually a one man shows are not a good thing. >> bin sulaiman: that's right. >> anthony: i mean historically, seldom does that work out. but you look around and see how the country is doing now it's pretty impressive. >> bin sulaiman: it's a tremendous job that his majesty has done. people just felt like, he's the man that they were waiting for to enlighten their life, and to open doors for them. ♪ ♪ >> anthony: oman, it should be understood sits at the top 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 and deep into east asia. modern oman is a fraction of

that size now, but its dna, culture, cuisine, and to some extent, attitude toward the outside world is a reflection of that history. muttrah is a port town in the capital of muscat. for centuries a central hub of commerce and trade. >> anthony: one of the first things i noticed about the city is its very low slung. it seems like a calculated aesthetic decision. >> aisha: if you're someone who wants to build your house, you first submit your plans to municipality. and, if you're going above a certain height it's generally frowned upon because the idea is to keep sort of a traditional omani vernacular. >> anthony: aisha stoby is a curator and a phd 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. >> aisha: we have such an old history and i think muttrah is a really great example of that, you know? this is something that functions in our daily life, it functions

very similarly to, say, how it would've functioned if you were coming into muttrah and going into the souq, say 200 years ago. and now we're coming to the cornice. which is one of my favorite spots. >> anthony: ugh i just love that word. i love any city with a corniche. it's such a beautiful word. [ laughter ] ♪ >> anthony: the food of oman is a mix of flavors and ingredients and tastes from arabia and from all over oman's former empire. bait al luban is an old boarding house turned restaurant. where you can try dishes like pakora, and kashori. which both came back from india. chapati from east africa, and shuwa, oman's classic special event dish. they do one version one version or another of this all over the world, but shuwa is special. they slather a goat with a spicy paste consisting of cumin, coriander, red pepper, cinnamon,

cardamom and nutmeg. then wrap the meat in palm or banana leaves, dig a hole, throw in some meat and cover it up and leave underground for a day or two over hot coals. >> anthony: oman has changed in a way that's unique to anywhere i've been. i mean, i haven't seen any place that has, sort of, maintained the architecture and the character that this country has. and that's a really unusual thing. >> hassan: yeah it's one of the only countries that i think, in the gulf that has kept their tradition. and, if you travel outside muscat you see the flavor of the old life still there. ♪ ♪ >> anthony: hassan meer is one oman's preeminent fine artist who works in painting and photography. muzna al musafer is a filmmaker, artist, and provocateur representing the increasingly vocal point of view of the young omani women in the middle eastern art scene.

>> muzna: the thing in arabia, we have a tradition of storytelling and saying things without saying them directly. we took this from poetry. they have a certain language with a lot of text, with a lot of -- >> anthony: subtext. >> muzna: yeah. >> anthony: there's an unusual mix here, very graceful very proud, mix of culture and languages. >> hassan: i mean, the mix was existent from the beginning. >> muzna: there is a beauty in being different and understanding the other. >> anthony: it's such a difficult time to make that argument. the whole world seems to be going exactly the opposite direction. i mean, my country, the last thing anyone seems to want to do is highlight the other. >> aisha: i think people discuss, like, fears of multiculturalism but within oman, because of our sacred history it's a traditional reality. it's our background, it's who we are.

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anthony: you know about the vietnam war. what you might not know is that while that conflict raged on, oman along with an elite force of british special operators and military advisors was engaged in a war in the country's southern dhofari region that was in every way, far more vital to american security interest, and of far more importance to global strategic and economic concerns. >> ian: where we operated were the frankincense trees. 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 haven't. but you'd have heard about if we'd 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 1920's winston churchill switched the royal navy's 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 gulf's femoral artery, 20% of the world's oil

flows through here making it one of, if not the most strategically important waterways on the planet. by 1970 sultan taimoor's 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 people's 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 ain't your system and it ain't my system and it's 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

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 i've been recognized from "the simpsons." [ laughter ]

>> samiha: that's 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, there's omani bread with honey. >> samiha: that's 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. he's 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! ♪ ♪ are we there yet? you don't always use your smartphone for directions... hey guys, up there. ...or to laugh out loud. ♪ but when it matters most, you count on tracfone to keep you connected for less. ♪ our smartphone plan gives you talk, text and data with unlimited carryover starting at $15 a month,

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♪ ♪ anthony: as one moves away from the coast and into the interior, everything changes. this is the country's more conservative core, its spiritual center.

uniquely, oman's majority is neither sunni nor shiite, but rather ibadi, a very old and particularly tolerant nonsectarian form of islam. this is a distinction we in the west would be wise to notice. islam is not a monolith it comes in many forms. ibadi theology arguably forms the backbone of many of oman's 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, it's 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 didn't 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: they're only going outside to study and get something. that thing, you want to return in back to your country.

i've grown up in this village, it's something simple and i really miss it. >> anthony: muscat, you don't like it? >> halil: sometimes. >> anthony: it's 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. >> halil: it's delicious >> anthony: delicious? all right. oh man, that looks good. what's in the biryani? >> halil: it's rice and potato. >> hamden: we often eat this feast for celebrations we call it "omani kahwa." >> anthony: lamb? mhmm that's 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. that's 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 you'd rather be here why not just continue as parents and grandparents? >> hamden: i really want to improve my country economy. i want to invent something. >> anthony: you're planning for a post oil oman, like after the oil. i think the whole country feels this way, i mean, everybody feels this way as well. as you say, the country is changing. you have a luxury resort right over there. the future will look much like this. the resort opens up, they have a big golf course, they have jobs for people to carry golf bags for tourist, for more money than he can make farming. is this good or is this bad? >> hamden: you have to deal with your traditional way and your life, so you want to keep all things safe. >> halil: it's more the government responsibility to make balance between advantage and disadvantages of tourism. >> anthony: but it's a very

delicate balance here, these are old and complicated system that have been working for a very long time. >> hamden: it's very difficult because there are many sides here. the lives keep changing. we cannot keep everything as it is before. >> anthony: do you know this cat or just a village cat? >> hamden: no, it's the guard for us. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ anthony: oman's future and history both are linked inexorably to the sea. the sultanate began with trade and it is likely that a new multibillion dollar port at duqm on the coast, intended as a center for international shipping will play a significant role in the coming years.

♪ ♪ >> anthony: omar abdullah al ghailani and mohammed sharban, spend every free moment at sea, free diving and spear fishing without oxygen for grouper, king fish, cuttlefish and tuna. said al namany is the captain and owner of this boat. saleh said al jabri is a former

navy officer who famously sailed the handmade 9th century style dhow, 3000 miles to singapore. >> anthony: the first omani boats that went out into the sea around how far back, how many years? >> said: i would say more than 3000 years. >> anthony: so b.c.? >> said: b.c. yeah. >> anthony: now, in the beginning it was fishermen but then start to trade all up and down east africa or around pakistan, up the china straits to china. >> said: and the evidence about it even in there, china, language there is some arabic. >> anthony: interesting. >> said: it's very interesting. >> anthony: what did the chinese have to trade that the omanis wanted? >> al namany: they exchanged it with the silk, fabric, and all the kind of things and of course coming back was spices. not only arab's went there, indians came as well so if you look at the eastern coast, they lack the spices and all this kind of food. >> anthony: well the people also, i mean, it's a real mix of

arab, southern indian, african, maybe that's why the food is so delicious. >> al namany: this food is so delicious because we like the taste. >> anthony: lunch is fresh sardines grilled over charcoal. some incredible prawns. and mashakeek, an oman cookout staple. cubed beef on skewers rubbed in cumin, garlic and cardamom, then grilled. and local slipper lobsters of course. and do not forget, the cuttlefish. >> anthony: delicious. this is, wow that cuttlefish is incredible.

>> omar abdullah: we cannot live without the sea, our relationship with the sea is too strong. >> anthony: so you're on the water every day? >> al jabri: myself i like be in the water, even 24 hours i don't mind. ♪ >> al jabri: this is what's so great about oman itself. people cannot go away from the sea itself, from the sand itself. >> al namany: what we like is, we like nature. we want to make it as naturally as it looks and it appears, and how it was before. >> al jabri: we were born on this beautiful country and we try to look after it. it has to stay because of inside the heart here. it's like the flower. to keep it and look after it, give them the right water, and

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♪ ♪ anthony: 130 miles south of muscat, the pavement ends and you hit this -- sharqiya sands on the edge of rub' al khali, the largest sand desert in the world. once you get up into soft sand things change, everything changes, you change.

this is the traditional domain of the bedouin. who, for thousands of years have moved across this harsh, dry, seemingly endless landscape, making it their home. amer al wahaibi and his family continue the tradition. ahmed al mahrouqui is a hardcore ambassador of the empty places of the desert. he spent more time there, much of it alone, than just about anyone. >> anthony: the bedouin have been questing the empty quarter hundreds of years, thousands of years? >> ahmed: thousands of years. the bedouin are the kings of the desert, it's their place it's their area. they know how to live and they know how to suffer. >> anthony: mark evans, a polar and desert expedition leader

knows firsthand how difficult the empty quarter can be. guided by amer and accompanied by colleague mohammed al zedjali he recently made the crossing, walking over 600 miles with camels in tow. >> mark: in the first 12 days of our journey crossing the empty quarter, we didn't touch our own food at all. and it became a competition to be more generous than the previous -- >> anthony: so you meet people out there all along the way? >> mark: you would, even though nobody lived there people would find you and travel. >> amer: [ speaking in arabic ] ♪ ♪

♪ >> abdullah: usually the guy who come, he have to open the head. >> anthony: okay. oh, i know just where i'm going for. i got it. >> abdullah: pull it. yeah, that is one. >> anthony: cheek. >> ahmed: yeah. here, it's too hot. this is the point. >> anthony: good. >> mohammad: it's good if you've got whiskey or brandy or -- [ laughter ] >> mark: you know, the empty quarter is emptier than it's ever been. it's almost impossible to do what the old explorers did, because they relied upon local people being in situ. bedouin have migrated to their edge of the deserts where life's easier, really. but they don't want to let go completely. amer sends his children to

school, in badr, yet he wants them to live in the sand where they have the freedom and that connection to their roots. ♪ ♪ ♪ leave me for schwab,

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♪ ♪ anthony: has someone crossed the empty quarter alone, absolutely alone? >> abdullah: no. you need people. >> anthony: no, you need people with you. >> mark: in my earlier years i was taking lots of new people on expeditions up to the arctic. which is very different to here but the inuit and the bedouin have a lot of similarities.

they both live on the edge of human tolerance. they're much more open and friendlier people. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> mark: it's like coming home when you come out here. it's very, incredibly powerful and enables you to put everything in perspective. fritjof nansen, the norwegian explorer said that, "salvation will not come from the rushing senses of civilization. deliverance will come from the lowly places."

in other words we all need places to think and calm down. >> man wearing olive coat: [ speaking in arabic ] here it feels peaceful. my heart and soul are at peace. ♪ ♪

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