Pulling out my schedule, one of the first things listed was the Bait al Zubair museum. I had noted that they offer a tour through a traditional home at 11:30 and 5:30. By the time I got myself organized, and out of the hotel, it was about 11:00. It appeared as if it was close by, so I meandered out. I quickly learned that Muscat is no easier to navigate during the day than it is at night. So much of the land is large jutting rock masses, that residential areas and streets meander through the rocky outcrops. My guide book to Oman has some maps in it, however, each neighborhood is on a different page peppered throughout the book, so driving more than half a mile requires you to try and flip 20 pages to find the right map. The book actually says there are no good road maps available of Oman. (although I haven’t checked for myself) Adding to the confusion, many streets and areas have multiple English spellings. For example in some places I saw Azaiba, and others I saw Athaiba.
The best point of reference when driving are the roundabouts. Many of them have different statues in them, which aids in remembering where you are going. Unfortunately, where I am staying in Ruwi, there are dozens of meandering streets and several roundabouts. Every time I
Typical Roundabout
thought I knew where I was on my map, there would be a major intersection, a fort, or a roundabout that didn’t match. At about 12:00 noon, I had wandered to the coast, and saw a few forts, and decided to give up on the museum for now, and get out and walk. At this point I was in Muttrah. The coast was absolutely stunning. The road runs along the Muttrah bay. And on the other side are rocky “mountains” (ok, not quite, but they are extremely high.) that jut up into the sky. Many of the taller ones have either a fortress, or a tower on the top. Most of these were built by the Portuguese 500 years ago. I was surprised to find A LOT of western tourists walking about. I would say about 15-25% of the people I saw were of the sort. In line with what Thamir told me on the airplane, they did all seem to be European, and not American.
Muttrah Bay (looking West)/Muttrah
Muttrah Bay looking east towards "The Incense Burner"
After taking a long walk on the coast, I jumped back in my car, and drove towards Muscat Old town (which is less than a 5 minute drive.) I happened across Merani Fort, one of my planned destinations, and again found a spot to drop the car, and take a walk.
Merani Fort
Next to Merani Fort is the Al Alam Palace, palace of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said. (sometimes shortened as H.M. Sultan Qaboos bin said) The palace and grounds around it were immaculate. Each gate entering into the palace complex held the Omani insignia of two swords behind a khanjar dagger. At one
Al Alam Palace
point I sat down to rest in front of the palace, and plan out the next steps of my day, and a cab driver dressed in the traditional Omani dishdasha and cap (About 80-90% of the local men on the streets wear these. The dishdasha is basically a white floor length shirt, sometimes with some decoration along the button line. ) approached me. He paused for a second before saying anything, so I initiated with a “Marhaba” which means hello. He then responded a little more in Arabic, (I believe he asked if I was French) and I responded in Arabic that I speak English. He then asked if I wanted a cab ride for which I declined. He talked to me for several more minutes, and asked if I was muslim. I said no, and he said he thought I was because of my beard. We continued small talk for a few minutes and he then returned to his cab. I have noticed there is a much slower pace of life here. All the locals walk very slowly, and even those that are working, seem not at all bothered to stop and talk for a few minutes.
Muscat (newer section)
After a little more wandering in the car, I finally found the museum I had been looking for. It wasn’t the right time to get the tour of the home, but I could see the museum nonetheless. I got out of the car and realized there was mass exodus from the building. On the way in I checked the sign which said the hours were 9:00-1:00 and 4:00-7:00. (Many of the business take a several hour break early afternoon here.) I checked my watch, and sure enough, 1:25pm. Back to the car.
After Muscat, I traveled westward, and landed on the beach at Qurum. The Arabian sea looked absolutely fantastic, so I found a place I could pull over and go take a look. To my pleasant surprise, the place that I stopped happened to be right next to a Starbucks! Score!!! I bounded up the stairs to get a nice big Frappuccino to cool me off—and the door was covered on the inside with packing paper. Hmmm, I went around to the other side. Locked up. Ughh what a downer.
Qurum Beach
I continued to trek west along side streets, and admired some of the beautiful houses. Probably belonging more to the upper class, as they were pretty near the coast.
Homes near Qurum Beach
My next site to the west was the Grand Mosque. I found it without too much trouble. I knew that it was too late to visit, as its only open early in the morning for non-muslims, but I circled it trying to find a good spot to take a picture. Unfortunately, the grand Mosque is too grand. I couldn’t find a good spot where I could actually fit the entire building into the picture and get a good angle. So I settled for a rear view, obstructed by power lines.
Grand Mosque
On the way back, I carefully made my way to the museum (3rd attempt). I found it, and it was open!!! No pictures allowed though, so sorry. It focused on Omani clothing and weaponry, and a little bit on the history of some of the forts. I did however miss the 5:30 tour by 15 minutes. Oh well. At one point, I stopped in the bathroom, and as I was washing my hands, was unpleasantly shocked by how sunburned I was. I didn’t spend much more time outside today than the past week, however since I am now taking Cipro for my stomach issue, one of the side effects is it causes you to be more prone to sunburn. And I forgot my suntan lotion at the hotel. Uggh.
Muttrah at Night
My last stop for the day was the Muttrah souq (or market). Entering into this market you head down a series of narrowing corridors. At first it is about 20 feet wide. Each side lined with small store fronts or simple stalls. As you progress in, you find that it is a labyrinth of every narrowing corridors at some point getting down to a mere 4 foot wide walkway, with stalls on your left and
Muttrah Souk
your right. After wandering for about a half hour, I found an exit, and was amazed to find that I was about a block away from where I entered at. Absolutely huge. While in the souq, I picked up some of the obligatory Frankincense and Myrrh for which Oman is very well known.
My sunburn
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