After 4 leisurely days at sea we arrived in Muscat, Oman today 21 January. Surprisingly the temperature has not risen significantly yet and we even felt a few drops of rain during the day. Again, we decided to do our own thing rather than an organised tour.
After being dropped off at the port gates we negotiated a rate for a taxi for 3 hours. There were highlights of Muscat which we really wanted to see and the driver was happy to oblige. En route to the Grand Mosque we stopped for a quick look at the new opera house which hasn't yet opened for concerts but was nevertheless, a beautiful building in typical Arabic style with pillars, columns and decorative arches.
There are no skyscrapers in Muscat in contrast to Dubai and the city sprawls across the plain surrounded by a dramatic backdrop of rugged mountains completely bare of any vegetation. The impression you get is of a vibrant city with much new development and building; roads are excellent, wide dual carriageways flanked by beautiful lush gardens - a serious contender for Cleethorpes in Bloom!
The highlight of the day was our visit to the Grand Mosque - an impressive array of buildings, minarets and domes built from Italian marble and granite set in stunning gardens and tiled pathways and spotlessly clean. The mosque comprised a ladies' mosque and the larger mens' mosque. The main prayer room at least 50 m square, featured beautiful 3 dimensional colourful tile work on the walls and ceiling, ornate carved woodwork and an enormous carpet - the largest in the world to have been woven in one piece. Outside, the sheltered walkways and gardens invoked a feeling of calm and well being and it was relaxing to stroll without having to dash round in a large organised tour group.
As instructed by our driver, we visited the shop and joined the 3 lovely ladies running the shop/visitor centre for Arabic coffee and dates and a chat about Islamic culture - such lovely people.
Back to the taxi for further adventures - next stop was a visit to the area of Muscat where the embassies have/are being built - interesting to see the US embassy nestling next to the Iranian embassy!!
On to the beach - seen one beach, seen 'em all.
We headed up to the mountains next, but not before Mohammed had called in to the petrol station to buy crisps, fruit juice and bottled water for us - see - it's not just the UK where we stop off for snacks!
Dramatic scenery as he drove out of Muscat over the mountains and down to the coast to a sheltered bay where pods of dolphins could be seen leaping out of the water.
Our last stop was to Old Muscat, by the port, to visit Muttrah Souk - much like the Sunday market - shop after shop selling pashminas, incense burners, frankincense and football shirts!
We left Muscat at 5pm to the announcement that one of the ship's engines was not working and that we would be late to Dubai as we had to reduce speed - more about engines tomorrow!!