After a wonderful visit to Jordan we flew 3 hours to the Sultanate of Oman…
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman's coastline faces the Arabian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Oman on the northeast.
It is the oldest continuously independent state in the Arab world and has been ruled by the Al Bu Said dynasty since 1744. The heirs to the dynasty are passed down through the males in the family.
Oil was discovered in the desert in 1964 making Oman a high income country. It has a population of 5.2 million with over 2 million of them being foreigners mostly from India and Pakistan. Most of these workers are in semi skilled and unskilled jobs supporting the service and construction industries.
So Oman is a very different county from both Egypt and Jordan and the wealth is quite evident.
Stepping outside the airport all you can see is shiny, clean surfaces everywhere…
Muscat is the capital of the city and we used it as our base to explore a bit of the country. It has a population of 1.7 million and is rapidly expanding with new buildings going up everywhere.
It looked as all the shops along the streets were new and white…
We stayed at a really neat hotel not far from the airport and the service was exceptional…
This was the breakfast room serving up buffets full of great food.
The view from our hotel which shows that the construction is reaching further out into the desert. Muscat doesn’t have a city centre as it is a long city being built between the sea and the mountains.
As in most cities we visit we booked a tour of the city starting with a visit to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque which is the largest mosque in Oman and a major landmark. It was built between 1995 and 2001 and has very contemporary Islamic architecture. The cost was never revealed to the public.
Since Oman is a very conservation Muslim country women need to dress conservatively. There were 3 soldiers at the entrance sizing up all the women and apparently my outfit was a little too transparent and didn’t cover my wrists so I had to wear Don’s jacket. Quite the fashion statement!
This mosque is massive holding 20,000 worshippers and is made extensively of Indian sandstone and marble and it gleams!
Some photos showing its’ size and glamour…
The men’s prayer room…
The chandeliers are Swarovski crystal and the carpet took 100 women from Persia a year to make in one piece!
Our guide Mohammed showed us how they wash before praying which is quite a ritual and done in a special ablution room…
The landscaping was immaculate and there were gardeners and cleaners everywhere…
Another fabulous building was the Royal Opera House, again our guide told us the cost was never revealed. I guess when money is not an issue the sky is the limit..
It is housed in a beautiful building with expensive shops…
It is very high tech with movable stage, seats and even the organ depending on the performance. Each seat has a screen that translates all the performances in English and Arabic..
Don was happy to wait in the lobby…
We then went to the older part of the city by the harbour where we saw one of the Sultan’s yachts moored. This one accommodates 300 people.
Here we visited the old souq which was quite large and not too chaotic. Our guide told us that when the Portuguese ruled Oman they wanted to bring their weapons into the market but it was too narrow so they widened the alleyways…
Good price madam….
One of the Sultan’s palaces…
One of the forts protecting the place which was built in the 16th century by the Portuguese when they ruled Oman. They were later driven out and moved in to Goa, India where they established themselves for sometime. We remembered that when we visited Goa we learned that it still had a lot of Portuguese influence. There are so many connections from country to country when it comes to who ruled who.
As can be seen Muscat is a very modern city with ancient roots and lots of present day riches which was evident as well when we visited the Mall of Oman.
 |
Again shiny surfaces with rows and rows of high end jewelry and watch shops and a Tim Hortons! A medium tea and coffee costs 10CAD!
 |
A multi storied snow palace with a skating rink and a snow making machine…
Something shiny to wear under her abaya.
Ending each day with a swim in the rooftop pool…
No comments:
Post a Comment