Muscat’s a Must…!!

Breakfast at the Beach Hotel is served around the pool area...

After an early breakfast served in the inner courtyard of the hotel, I was ready to explore Muscat…

With a full itinerary of sights to see in this the capital city of Oman, I was up and on the bike before many of the other guests started their day…

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque on the eastern edge of the city, is only open to visitors from 8.00am to 11.00am, so I made this my first stop for the day…

The Mosque is one of the largest in the world, and while not as glitzy as the one in Abu Dhabi, is just as impressive…

In 1993, “the Sultan decreed” that Oman should have a Grand Mosque, and by 1995, the design was finalized and building began…

It took six years to complete and was built using sandstone imported from India… A mere 300 000 tons of it…!!

At full capacity, it can accommodate about 20 000 worshipers…

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Muscat... I stopped on the main road in front of the mosque to get this photo, before riding a few kilometres to the far side where all the parking is located...

Instead of the stark and almost sterile Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, this one contains large gardens and an interlinked series of fountains within its walls, making it feel like the haven of peace and tranquility that it is meant to be…

Using the Garden Entrance, this is your first view of the grounds...

A small army of gardeners and cleaners continually bustle about, raking leaves, trimming lawns and mopping the acres of marble floors…

A wide and open walkway flanks either side of the main prayer hall...

The main prayer hall with its massive dome, dominates the site, and in front of it stands a separate prayer hall for women…

The huge golden dome of the mosque...

I discovered that more than 75% of Muslims here practice Ibadhi, a form of Islam separate to that of the Sunni and Shia denominations…

Instead of the massive courtyard that stands in front of the Abu Dhabi mosque, here, there are many separate and smaller buildings and open areas, all linked by souring archways…

A series of massive arches lead you through to the inner sanctums...

As I walked about outside, I wondered if I would be disappointed by the interior, as I was by the garishness of the Sheikh Zayed mosque, but on stepping through the wooden double doors and into the prayer hall itself, my mind was put to rest…

Entry to the main prayer hall is through these double doors... But watch your step...!! The tall gentleman on the right, eager to go forth, tripped and came fifth...!! He lay sprawled on the carpet for a few seconds while all the people around him did their best not to laugh...!!

Mohammed, who worked at the Beach Hotel, had shared his thoughts about both mosques, and told me that this mosque was the “real deal” , and he was right…!!

The world's second largest chandelier dwarfs the folk standing beneath it...

As impressive as the world’s second largest chandelier is, it does not draw your eyes to it as often as the multi-coloured one in Abu Dhabi does, which for me spoiled that particular visit… Here, I could not help a feeling of reverence as I walked along the blue carpet, down the centre aisle…

The four soaring pillars that support the dome are tastefully decorated, not with embedded jewels, but with small, tiled niches at their bases, and sculptured longer one rising towards the ceiling…

You have to admit that the decor in this mosque is in stark contrast to that of the one in Abu Dhabi...!!

Never seen a sigh like this one before...!! But I guess it keeps everything clean...!!

What I enjoy most about my visits to many of the massive mosques that I have been in, is the perfect symmetry of their design… No matter where you stand in this particular mosque, a glance to your left and right presents an identical picture…

The carpet here also matches with the blue and green tiles on the inner dome and a wall, took four years to produce and weighs twenty one tons…!!

While I was there, a small group of European women arrived, escorted by at least a dozen security personnel with their holstered side-arms in plain view… I was informed that they were the wives of various ambassadors to the country, including the British and American…

I was surprised when they entered the main prayer hall with their guns in plain view… They seemed so out of place… But I guess in the world we currently live in, there might well be people crazy enough to attack dignitaries inside a holy place such as this… Sad, really…

From directly below the chandelier...

Its all about the symmetry...!! Archway leading to the main minaret...

After my tour of the buildings, I sat down on a marble bench in a tree lined section of the main gardens and studied my map of the city… Mohammed had ringed all the places I should attempt to see, assuring me that “Muscat could be done in a day”…

Speaking to him, I had quickly come to realise that like me, Mohammed was not a “city boy” and preferred the slower pace of the countryside and desert where he grew up… He lived in the town of Adam, a few hundred kilometres south-east of Muscat, on the edge of the Rub al Khali, the Empty Quarter, and visited his family there as often as he could…

He was right about being able to tour the city in a day, if  your time was short but you wanted to get a good idea of what it was all about…

The old quarter of Muscat lies nestled between hills... On almost every hilltop stands a watchtower or a fort...

The superb road system, combined with the far smaller size of the city when compared to other capitals of the world, allowed me to zip from one end of it to the other in less than half an hour…

The Muttrah Fort dominated the harbour area...

I was able to take in the National Museum, one of almost a dozen museums in town; the Muttrah Fort, perched high above the harbour; the old Souk, where I sat and ate a leisurely lunch while watching folk haggle for the items they were buying; the Sultan’s Palace and surrounding forts, where visitors are only allowed as far as the massive wrought iron gates, and have to be satisfied with holding their cameras through the bars to get half decent photos, and finally, wanting to get the feel of the wind on my face, I rode south along the coast, stopping at the many small harbours and marinas to take in the views…

The Sultan's Palace... You will get no further than those gates....!! The man is too busy thinking up new Decrees to be disturbed by tourists...!!

Entrance to the old market (Souk) just off the Corniche...

The current catchphrase in Oman... "Celebrating 40 Glorious Years"...!! The Sultan is a popular fellow...!!

I enjoyed myself to such an extent, that I decided to spend an extra day in the city, not to take any sights that I “missed”, but rather to revel in the “good vibes” that Muscat gave off…

Most of my second day there was spent in the saddle, just cruising…

Into and amongst the houses on the dge of the city, down narrow alleyways, greeting the young children that ran out to meet me and gawk at the Big Fella…

I rode without a thought of tomorrow, simply enjoying being in the midst of the friendly Omanis that I met everywhere I went…

The city occupies many small valleys, with hardly any buildings built on the steep slopes of the hills and mountains within its boundaries… Perhaps by “decree of the Sultan”…!!

This is probably what makes it so picturesque… Rather than looking up onto buildings, you can always see the craggy mountains against the blue sky, or look out over azure blue waters of the Gulf of Oman…

I stopped above one of the many marinas and watched the sailboats race around the rocky island...

It is one of the cleanest cities I have ever been in, and much thought has gone into public parks and gardens, despite the fact that the city is growing, spreading itself further away from the coast, but never encroaching on the natural beauty that surrounds it…

Space has been set aside for the many parks and picnic areas such as this one...

The Asia Panel begins to take shape...!! Don't ask about the gap on the top right hand corner...!!

It is a great place to visit, and if you’re interested in an “exotic” holiday, one that very few of your friends have been to or even heard of, Muscat and the Sultanate of Oman is the place for you…!!

But be warned, it gets rather hot here in Summer…!! Apparently, temperatures between may and August have been known to reach 54º Celsius, with an average temperature in June and July of 40º…!!

Muscat itself, being on the coast, never gets that hot, and receives barely four inches of rain a year, which falls mostly in…you guessed it…!! January…!!

I sure know how to pick them…!!

But in my defence, Oman, and the Gulf states were never on my planned route anyway… I just sort of ended up here…!!

But in the case of Oman, I’m very glad I did…!!

©GBWT 2011