Muscat, Oman

Thursday April 10

Muscat made a good first impression as we docked close to town and over breakfast could admire the white buildings set against the backdrop of multi coloured hills behind them. The Sultans ship was docked next door and it was very impressive, so we were excited about getting ashore to explore this city.

We met our travelling companions for the day at the pre arranged time and place, and once through the port gate we began haggling with the taxi drivers to take us where we planned to go. We secured a mini van as there were 3 other couples, and set off for the Grand Mosque. The Omanis take Friday and Saturday as their weekend so we had to get there today before 11am or we'd miss seeing inside it due to it being used for prayers etc on the next 2 days. This meant all the ships excursions were there as well but it is so big and impressive that there was plenty of room for all the tourists and a few locals. The religious police were on guard to make sure all the women were covered, and if it wasn't adequate they had to borrow an approved cloak or not go in. We've been to quite a few mosques now but this was huge with marble everywhere!

The next stop was nearly 2 hours away so we settled in and let our trusty taxi driver tell us about the modernisation of Oman and point out some of the features of the countryside. The contrast of the stony, scrubby bushes against the mountain backdrop and punctuated by the occasional oasis of date trees made for an interesting drive and before we knew it we arrived in Nizwa.

There are a number of forts in Oman which date back to the 17th century, and the one at Nizwa was important as this town used to be the capital of Oman. As such the city also had an ancient irrigation system (among other things), and there were interesting exhibits of life in the fort from centuries ago. It was fun climbing up and down the stairs and exploring all the various rooms but it was a hot day for it!

Next was another fort about 30 minutes away in a town called Bahla, and this fort is a UNESCO World Heritage site that goes back to the 15th century and predates the spread of Islam in this area. It's walls were massive and you could see the outline of where the city wall used to extend around the city, and there was quite a bit of it still standing in lots of places along with some of the old houses within the walls.

Our driver suggested another nearby fort seeing as though we were in the area (about 250km from Muscat) called Jabrin Castle, and this turned out to be a great suggestion. It was different to the other two and although it was another well preserved 17th century fort the decorations in it were still visible and were really beautiful (refer details of a ceiling below). The fort is also called the Palace of Bilyaroub but we never found out why - maybe it was the heat and we were beginning to get forted out!

By the time we arrived back at the ship today's adventure had ended up a 9 hour expedition into the heart of Oman and we had covered over 500 kms! A quick bite to eat and we headed off to the souk(market) in the old part of Muscat for a quick look, and then back to our floating home to freshen up before tonight's show. After 20 minutes of the same singing and dancing we decided to call it a night in preparation of further exploration of what Muscat has to offer.

 

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