Muscat: Nizwa souq thronged with shoppers after it was reopened recently after months without trade due to coronavirus restrictions.
Traders and shoppers were happy to be back in the souq together but apart from social distancing. Shopkeepers also ensured that shoppers and staff wore masks and used sanitizers.
After five months of closure, they were eager to regain the charm of the traditional Friday market, which sells perfumes, incense, rose water, copper products and silverware, fabrics, food, Omani Halwa, and spices.
Fish, vegetables, fruits, poultry, and meat saw brisk sales as shoppers were on the lookout for bargains.
Ibrahim al Ameri, a merchant, said: “We were very pleased with the opening of this place that we love to be in. This place is so important to our business that we have been worried about it. It is not just a market, it is also a place for people from neighboring villages to meet and greet.”
Customers have returned in steadily increasing numbers to the traditional souqs in the Sultanate after they had previously been temporarily shut down to stop the spread of the COVID-19 in Oman.
As part of the fifth package of the reopening of economic activities, shops inside traditional souqs, and fish markets across Oman, were allowed to reopen in the last week of August.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
