Muscat, Sultanate of Oman March 27th

Oman is the oldest of the Gulf states.  The Sultanate has settlements dating back 5,000 years.  Muscat is a leading city, capital, and home of the primary Sultanate Palace.  This is Muscat as we approach from the sea.

We passed a car carrier.  I think it is one of the strangest looking ships.

This tug came out to escort us in.  In addition to assisting ships in maneuvering within the port, these tugs are also used as firefighting vessels.  Note the three water cannons over the bridge area.

It was the Captain’s birthday and the Deck Crew put this dummy and sign where it could be seen from the bridge.

This is the Al Jalali Fort built by the Portuguese and overlooks the city and the Sultan’s Palace.  Note the detached guard towers on the left and right.

This is an very modern, active port but it still has dhows moving around and working.  Remember these from Dubai.

You can see the busses and private cars waiting for the ship to dock.  Only one ambulance in the top center of the picture behind the busses.

We took a shuttle bus into town.  The local area usually provides a shuttle service to the port gate or into town (usually a shopping area) and back.  This is our bus driver.

Sometimes it is hard to determine what the message on the seat back in front of you.

First things first.  We headed for the local Souk.

Side alley off the Souk.  Note the a/c units. 

Establishing friendly relations with the locals.

It got a little crowded.  Note the women in the center with just her eyes showing.  We saw a number of women like this.

A crossroads in the center of the Souk.  Oh to go left or right….or we could just go one way and then the other.  Can’t risk missing anything.  Note the Souk is covered as in Dubai.

Coming out into the light.

The street outside the Souk.

We hired a taxi driver to take us on a tour.  You can see the roads through the coastal mountains.

Muscat from the road.  Note the for guard towers in the upper left and right.  These are the same from the earlier picture of the fort.

This gate leads to the Sultanate area and were closed to the public until 1976.

This is the back of the palace with the private harbor.  You can see the fort above.

The fort maybe for historical decoration now but those orange items are 37mm cannons guarding any approach from the sea.  They are not decorative. 

This is the Sultan’s yacht.

This is a picture of the front entrance of the palace.  Plenty of room to stage supporting the Sultan gatherings.

Close-up of gates.

Local areas, roads, and housing.  All the greenery is irrigated

This is the entrance-way to a seven star hotel.  That seems to be the standard number for exceptional hotels; seven stars.

This is the entrance.  It was built to support an international finance ministers meeting several years ago.

Noreen with the outside guys.

The lobby is huge and all marble.  I couldn’t get a good picture to show the magnitude.  Here is Noreen with the central fountain.

Back on the road.  Here is a yacht club.  They even have dhow yachts.

This dominates the area and harbor.  We wondered what the significances was and what monumental use it had.  Our taxi driver said it was only ornamental.

You can see how prominent it is from a harbor shot.

This is a fountain by a roadside park as we headed back to the ship.

But wait…….is there a Souk that we missed??   Yes, let’s head for it.

Perfume shop

I know, they all look the same to me but I have been told that each Souk holds unique and priceless wonders.  We are finally on our way back to the ship.  Saying goodbye to Muscat and our local access card.

We are on our way to Salalah, Oman.  Hope you enjoyed the visit to Muscat.