-

Muscat, Oman November 27


 Muscat is a beautiful city - no skyscrapers like Dubai and Abu Dhabi but there’s subtle wealth everywhere you look! Just seeing the Sultan’s two boats in the harbour speaks for itself. Up at 6 am to be ready for a tour at 8.15 am - sometimes I wonder if this IS a holiday!  But when we boarded the bus for a tour called ‘Mystical Muscat’ we knew we were on the right bus!  Issa, our guide, was a very handsome, knowledgeable, single Omanian, with a great sense of humour.  He was wearing the traditional hat and someone asked about the significance of that as opposed to the turban so he got out his beautiful piece of cloth/scarf (which he said cost over $200 US and proceeded to show us how to wear it.  I have nearly 8 minutes of video to prove it!!!! 

So the first stop was at the Grand Mosque - I never intended going in so just wore a t-shirt etc but a few ladies obviously didn’t read the brief as one didn’t have a head scarf and another had her arms exposed.  I just don’t get it - one said she hadn’t read anything about covering up - duh!  But then being such experts at mosques now we know it all haha!! Sharon from NZ & I walked around the lovely gardens while the others prayed! 

The streets we drove through were amazing, magnificent houses, no litter around, and all white or cream.  But the thing that is missing is a front garden!  I guess that’s easier said than done here and maybe they grow things in the back.  The parliament and government buildings are all in very spacious locations and the architecture is excellent.   We stopped at the souq for 25 minutes - definitely not long enough as it was one of the better ones.  Resisted buying frankincense for my friends!!!, 

Next stop was at Bait Al Zubair, a cultural foundation which started initially as a private museum.  This museum opened it’s carved wooden doors in 1998.  It is funded by its founders, the Zubair family and displays the family’s collection of Omani artifacts that spans a number of centuries and is considered to be the finest privately owned organisation. There are also some magnificent pieces of modern artwork in a separate room - was well worth a visit. The museum is in the old town of Muscat.

Next was just for a photo stop outside the Al Alam Palace - official residence of Sultan Qaboos.  The opulent Palace, which boasts lovely views over Muscat Bay, was built in the 1970’s between Al Jalali and Al Mirani, two imposing 16th century fortresses constructed by the Portuguese.  Definitely a place to visit if travelling to the Middle East - but it is HOT!  


Popular posts from this blog

-
Safaga, Egypt, November 11 Well, I’m a bit light on for news today - I’ve picked up a cold, probably due to the coughing ‘symphony in x-minor’ of people on the bus in Jerusalem a couple of days ago.    So unless I talk about what I had for breakfast, lunch and dinner, there’s not a lot to say!!! I did have a small tour booked, a Red Sea Beach Break , total of about 5 hours, at the Sheraton Soma Bay.    George went and said it was quite a nice resort but that the tide was out and he had to walk a long way to get past his knees!  A lot of passengers have left the ship for an overnight in Luxor, and others are flying there early tomorrow morning for the day.    G has a full day tour to the Valley of the Kings, I think about 13 hours.    We are here overnight, the port itself is unimpressive and no port shop nearby.    I didn’t arrange anything for tomorrow, will buy a postcard!!  I must say it was very enjoyable being on the ship ...
Read more
-
Salala, Oman, November 17 Off the ship today in Salala after 4 sea days. Lots of people were very pleased about that! Salala is probably not a place I’d come back to, it really doesn’t have much to offer although it is apparently a haven for local holiday makers.    Is clean, and has lovely buildings, though not skyscrapers like we’ll see in the Emirates of course.    Our tour was for about 5 hours, first stop at the Mosque.    Our lovely guide demonstrated how he prays, and showed us copies of the Koran which can’t be touched unless by someone of Islam faith.    Was a nice Mosque, much less busy than earlier ones.  Next stop was at the souk but that was disappointing - every shop, all outdoors, had pretty much the same stuff, and I doubt anyone bought a thing. Frankincense is a typical thing to but here as it only grows in three places, Oman, Sudan and Yemen!   Back on the bus we were driven over 20 kms to a beach - I reckon if we ...
Read more
-
Newcastle, December 28 What a lovely surprise to look out our windows this morning and to see blue skies, sun shining, no humidity and then pulling into the harbour in Newcastle!    Everything looked pristine! Our daily Passages bulletin describes Newcastle as being famous for coal exporting, being the largest coal exporting harbour in the world, but also its music scene is now very famous too. If I mention Silver Chair, The Screaming Jets and Vacations, you’ll all know that they are highly successful Australian Bands and are products of Newcastle! I’m not going to take coals to Newcastle by saying any more about the place as you’ll all have been here - we stayed here a few years back ourselves but we’d never been to the Hunter Valley wine area so took a trip there today.  Entitled ‘Cheese and wine of the Hunter Valley’ our bus left at 9am and we drove to the McGuigan Winery where we first tasted 6 different cheeses - all delicious.    Then into the wine tasting...
Read more