My Arabian Adventure Part II: Muscat, Oman

Muscat is the capital and the largest city of Oman, a Middle Eastern country that often flies under the radar. I have to admit, I knew absolutely nothing about the country before we decided to go there upon the recommendation of our hosts (Brian’s sister and her fiancé), but I’m so glad I went. Compared with Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Muscat is a much more traditional Arabian city, and it feels more authentic, with its low-rise white buildings and lack of skyscrapers, its abundance of forts and watchtowers and its mostly local, non-franchise establishments.

Mutrah, the waterfront district that is part of the older area of Muscat

All my photos from Muscat

Oman is a wonderful town, and I think there are plenty of Americans who could learn a lot about Islam by visiting here. No, Muslims are not all crazy jihad warriors out to take down America. There was actually a column by Nick Kristof in The New York Times just this week about this very subject. In fact, Omanis are reputed as being some of the friendliest people in the Middle East, and in our experience that statement held true. The first Omani we encountered, our cab driver, seemed quite excited to be driving around some foreigners, and he gave us a full lesson in Arabic on our drive to our hotel. (Though nearly every local resident we encountered in both the UAE and Oman spoke nearly flawless English, Brian studied Arabic for a year in college, so we wanted to practice it a bit.)

Our first night we  went to a totally local joint on the Corniche (the waterfront) to grab dinner – chicken shwarma, which is tasty and consists of chicken cooked in some sort of sauce wrapped up in a tortilla.

 

The Corniche area in Mutrah at night

We tried to take a walking tour of the old parts of the city, and managed to be mostly successful, though it was so unbearably hot we had to flag cabs a couple of times to get us from Point A to Point B. We started the morning at the Mutrah fish market, where local fishermen in their dishdashas (the full-length white robes that most men wear in the region) peddled their’s days catch. Though it was obvious we weren’t likely to buy anything, the fishermen were all friendly toward us and nodded hello.

 

The fish market in Mutrah

Before heading out for the day, we helped ourselves to a sumptuous breakfast of egg briyani, nan and chicken masala. This might be my favorite thing about the Middle East: I can eat Indian food for breakfast! We made an extended stop at the Mutrah Souq, the local market, a huge stone-covered area with probably over 100 stalls selling a variety of items. Most common are frankincense (an Omani special) and other fragrant perfumes and potpourris, scarves of all colors and sizes, and gold jewelry.

We went to Muscat proper, the oldest part of the city, which is home to most of the sultan and government-affiliated departments and buildings as well as some museums and the sultan’s palace, which surprisingly seemed lightly guarded: We walked right up to the gate.

 

Muscat proper, the oldest part of town and home to the sultan's palace

We also visited a number of other sites, including the Qurm beach, some fancy restaurants and other nondescript local buildings. Oman must have some of the most beautiful oceans anywhere — we went on a boat ride one day, where we got to go “dolphin watching.” I was expecting we’d get lucky to spot a few, but there were hundreds, swimming about and showing off for us.

Muscat was a wonderful, magical place, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone considering travel in the area! Even better, flights there are a steal from Dubai if you travel on the budget Fly Dubai airline. Brian and I both flew there, round-trip, for just $167!  For more, see all my photos from Muscat.

Next up: The glitz and glamour of Dubai