Final Moments in Muscat

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Having made a grand circuit of sea, sand, and mountain in Oman, with a good balance of urban versus rural and coast versus interior thrown into the mix, I was happy to return for one more day to Muscat. After spending a week in more sparsely populated areas, Muscat seemed a veritable metropolis when I drove in on the Nizwa highway. But I suppose that could have been due to the fact that the city is quite looooong, strung along the coast for a good 50km – while not very wide.

Although I didn’t have much specifically planned other than enjoying my final moments in the country, I did make a point to stop at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, which I had only glimpsed on my way from the airport a week earlier. Unfortunately, since it was Friday, I couldn’t actually enter the mosque, but I could wander the grounds. It is indeed an impressive piece of modern Islamic architecture, enormous but tastefully minimalist in form, with gorgeous accents from around the Muslim world (like the mihrabs set into the colonnade). Apparently, the interior is more overtly sumptuous, but I will have to wait till next time to check it out.

Back in Mutrah, the market was shuttered for the afternoon, but I followed a crowd of Indian men heading post-noon prayers to a non-descript lunch spot near the souk entrance. I think they were bemused to see the clearly non-local joining them at the communal tables, ordering, like them, the chicken biryani. I tucked in with my fingers, too, and loved every bite.

Once the sun began to set, the souk came back to life, and I spent my remaining hours just wandering amid the crowds.

I wouldn’t have spent my last day in Muscat any other way.

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