Oman April 19

As we pulled into the harbor of Muscat, Oman, it was clear that this would be a much different experience than had been our two stops in India. The coast of Oman is very mountainous, with the mostly white buildings of the city of Muscat hugging the shoreline. On top of a large hill at the entry to the harbor stood a white watch tower shaped in the form of an incense burner. There were the remains of an old castle or fort perched among the crags over the city, with several old guard towers spaced along the mountains above the shoreline.

We had only a half day in Muscat, having to leave at 1:00pm in order to traverse the straits of Hormuz late at night on our way to Dubai. We opted to take a short shuttle ride into the city, and explore what we could on foot, in the time available. The old Souk, or market place was very reminiscent of the bazaar in the film Casablanca, with small shops lining the sides of very narrow winding streets and walkways. It was easy to get lost among the many curving streets and alleys, sometimes finding ourselves back to where we had been just a few minutes before.

Most of the men were dressed in their traditional white arab dress, while the women wore the traditionally black birkas, some veiled and some not. Although Muscat is a small city with all the modern conveniences, we left with the impression that we had gone back in time to an Arab city of many years ago. A short but very interesting port call.