Arabian Gulf and Oman Cruise 2016 Blog 2 Muscat

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Wednesday 12 January: Muttrah Port Muscat: after breakfast we got off the ship around 10.30am and left the port for a look around Muttrah Souq which was entertaining and then a quick look for the building that had housed the branch of Eastern Bank that I’d opened in August 1970: amazingly still there though the Bank is long gone. We took a taxi to “Old” Muscat to see what had happened to the Bank building there – where it stood is now the car park of a grandiose Government building. It seems as though most of the original town of Muscat (the area inside the walls) has been demolished and rebuilt as Government offices and ministries. We took an interesting tour around an old house that has been restored as a museum: had a look at the harbour front and the Sultan’s Palace and headed back to the ship for lunch. Later on we went on a hop-on hop-off bus tour of (new) Muscat which was fascinating for me as the areas we visited were bare hills and wadis when I was there, and it’s now a city of over 1.5 million with well organised roads and other infrastructure: and clean and litter free (the Ruler has a thing about litter and he’s evidently inculcated a similar distaste for it amongst the public here). We got back to the ship after a couple of hours (memo to self: don’t go on bus tours during the rush hour) got changed watched an excellent show put on by the very energetic ship’s dancers – one of whom was built like a miniature prop forward, complete with paunch, but who could nevertheless put on some good moves.

Thursday 13^th January: we took the hop-on hop-off bus to a beach further up the coast with the idea of going for a walk along the sand but the tide was in and the beach wasn’t there, so we had a coffee and waited for the next bus to come along and continued on the circular tour. We hopped off at the penultimate stop in order to walk back to the port via the Muttrah Corniche: a very pleasant walk in the warm sunshine: and incidentally retracing my former daily commute to work from Old Muscat to Muttrah. A diversion into Muttrah Souq ended with the purchase of some frankincense and sandalwood and a Kashmiri pashmina – though not the replacement cap for me – mine having blown off while we were on the bus (it’s all about priorities).

Note: there are more photos below this text and if you double click on any of the pictures you will get an enlarged image

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Photos

Official on-board Cruise Map
Dubai to Khasab 178 km / 111 miles
Khasab to Muscat 439 km / 274 miles
Muscat to Abu Dhabi 735 km / 459 miles
Abu Dhabi to Dubai 146 km / 91 miles

Port Qaboos Muscat
Still recognisable but greatly expanded

Port Qaboos
Our next door neighbour an Australian destroyer
D05 - reassuring

Muttrah Souq
Pretty much as it was back in the day, although the lanes were not paved: they were just sand and one had to go up 4/5 steps to get into a shop. The little local girl at the stall is dressed in the colourful outfit that was common in Oman in the 1970s.

Muttrah 1970
The Eastern Bank Muttrah Branch opened by me in August 1970. However I didn't choose the lunatic location on the first floor of an unfinished two storey building.

Muttrah 2016
The same building, now complete, is still there - amazingly so, as I had thought that it wasn't very structurally sound when it was originally constructed. The traffic has increased somewhat.

Gridlock Oman style
Sometimes it's better to be on a bus than in a car as "might is right" was the rule on this roundabout.

"Old" Muscat
No change to the geography of the place but all the buildings along the shoreline are new

Muscat Jane
Taking it easy in front of the Al Alam Palace

Al Alam Palace Muscat
View from the landward side

Parliament Roundabout
The way of the future? The Sultan has no direct heirs and there's been talk that the country may change to a parliamentary democracy when his rule ends. The Parliament Buildings are located just outside the Al Bustan 5 star luxury hotel where the Rulers of the Gulf Co-Operation meet once in every 7 years or so. So maybe the Parliament buildings are intended as a not so subtle hint about the way of the future for the nations of the Gulf

Qurum Beach south
Where the mountains finally give way to the sandy beaches.

Qurum Beach looking north
This sandy beach, known as the Batinah Coast, extends over 100 miles to the UAE border near Fujeirah

Muttrah Corniche and Port Qaboos in the background
Actually that's the Sultan's "yacht" in the background

Muttrah Corniche looking towards "Old" Muscat
This was my daily commute but in those days it was a very narrow bumpy road that hugged the base of the cliffs - and no flowers or lawns for miles around

Route Map 2
Possibly a clearer depiction of the UAE and Oman than the official cruise map