Muscat, Oman

I I had no idea what we would find in Muscat but whatever pre-conceived ideas I might have had have been blown away.  As the ship glidded through the silky waters of the Oman Gulf to the dock we passed souring rugged mountains of rock.  It looked very inhospitable but when we came around a bend and saw what lay in front of us was a complete surprise.  There lay a mecca of white buildings, nothing above a couple of stories high, and their appeared to be lots of greenery from our balcony viewpoint. This was the Sultans Palace! Further on and dominating the sky-line high above the city was a giant Incense Burner.

As we docked, it was pointed out to us that right beside us was the Sultans ship.  It is the second largest privately owned ship in the world and is almost the same size as our cruise ship!
Our chosen tour today was Hop-On Hop-Off and it appears that the majority of us had chosen the same thing.  Indeed it is an excellent way of seeing the city and the narrative is very interesting.  The tour took almost 2 hours and I was almost disappointed when we finally had to leave the bus.
A little about the The Sultan of Oman. Sultan Qaboos was born in 1940.  He is extremely well educated and completed the majority of his studies in the UK where he majored in business and government.  After studying he spent time in the British Army.  He returned to the very under-developed Oman in 1970 and in a coup, overthrew his father to become leader of his country.  He started oil production and from here set about changing Oman from a desolate place to one of beauty.  He is a much loved leader and is seen as the peace-maker in the Middle East.

Oman is one of the safest countries in the world to visit and I would go as far as saying the cleanest city in the world.  I never saw any litter anywhere.  And can we talk about the gorgeous gardens with all their manicured lawns.

As we made our way to the beach we passed Omani women bathing, still fully covered, in the cooling waters.  We watched families strolling along the esplanade, Dad usually pushing the pram and mum holding the hands of another child.  We passed the Royal Opera House with it’s opulent facade and then Al Alam Palace where the Sultan lives.

Palace is hardly the word to describe what is more like a village of magnificent buildings all united by formal gardens.

Our tour ended at the building that housed the markets.  This is very much like the Spice Market that we visited in Turkey with its hundreds of stalls selling everything you could imagine but instead of the aroma of spices the beautiful smell of frankincense filled the air.  It was very crowded with westerners from two cruise ships but I’m sure the stall owners had a very lucrative day.

It’s hard to capture, from a moving bus, the heart of Oman.  It pulsates with an easy rythym.  I loved Oman and we will be returning to a different part, Sallalah, in a few days time. We are now heading to Abu Dhabi and then Dubai where this segment of The World cruise ends for some. We will be staying on for the next segment that will take us deep into the heart of the Middle East.