Muscat Oman

Muscat Oman was not what I was expecting to see. No, I didn't expect tents and camels, but I did expect something sandy and older, and I was definitely not expecting mountains. The old town of Muscat is nestled among volcanic mountains and rocky hills alongside many beautiful bays. The mountains (either short mountains or very high hills -- take your pick) are dry, barren and very rocky. There is very little greenery, except for the manicured landscaping in the city. There are many, many palm trees.

The new part of the city is more inland. The architecture is Arabic in style, new, low lying, modern, clean and by mandate, all buildings must be white (to reflect the sun and heat). There are no glass high rise buildings. Everywhere we looked, it was spotlessly clean. Our guide said over 2,000 people do nothing but keep the city clean. In fact, he says, their religion (Islam) tells them to be clean.

Oman has a population of approximately 2.3 million. The country is ruled by a Sultan. There are no taxes and there are many western fast food franchises. If you perform in the top 90% in secondary school, you get a free university education and a stipend. When you graduate you get a plot of land to build upon. Each man is allowed to have up to four wives, and they must pay a minimum of $15,000 for a bride. The men wear the dishdasha and msaar (white robe and scarf wrapped around the head). There is a tassel that hangs from the collar and is perfumed. Our guide spoke excellent English, but the a/c on the bus could have been better. The temperature at 10:30 am was 118*. Oy vey!

Our tour took us to the Grand Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world, which we could not enter because it is closed on Fridays. A senior government guy was on his way to the Mosque to pray, so we had to skedaddle.  There were two men's bathrooms, but none for the ladies. It contains the biggest chandelier in the world which is made of gold and Swarovski crystal. It also has the largest single piece of carpet in the world and weighs 21 tons. It took 16 years to make by 600 Indian women. I wish we could have seen it.

I am not crazy about museums, but this one was very nice (and had air conditioning). The silver scabbards were amazing. Lots and lots of silver items in Oman.

Oman, for the most part, has rebuilt most of its infrastructure. Nothing looked to be very old even though it is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East. It has only been open to tourists since the 1970s.

One of our stops was to the Mutrah Souk, the market which is partly open air and partly undercover. The walkways were actually crooked paths and we saw deliveries made using hand carts piled high with boxes. The vendors hawked incense and spices, plus pashmina shawls and silver. Women wearing full burquas with face veils were shopping. I did not see any local woman wearing western clothes. How they wear that in the heat is incomprehensible.

We stopped at other palaces, a hotel and Muscat Bay for photo opportunities. I did not like Dubai, but I found this city charming. Two totally different places, yet with the similar culture. We were told to dress modestly as women were not allowed to show shoulders and wear loose fitting clothes; neither sex was to show knees. This was a beautiful place in a desert-type of way.

We returned to the ship completely hot, tired and completely worn out.