Friday, June 7: Today, I meet up with Mario near the Costa Coffee at Qurum Beach. We plan to go on a photo shoot of Muscat to capture “the essence” of the Sultanate’s capital city.
Qurum Beach is a popular area for both tourists and locals. The little shopping center near the Intercontinental Hotel is quite a hub of activity, especially Costa Coffee, a hot spot which sits at a strategic people-watching corner overlooking the beach.
ice cream cone in front of Costa Coffee on Qurum Beach
view of Qurum Beach from the Costa Coffee and mall terrace
view of Qurum Beach
Costa Coffee, where people sit to people-watch
a crepe restaurant
wall of crepe restaurant
We end up capturing only a few icons of Muscat because of the extreme heat (42 degrees) and high humidity. Getting in and out of the oven of Mario’s car and walking around blinded by salty sweat dripping into our eyes and down our backs is not a pleasant experience, but Mario keeps reminding me: “What’s the worse that can happen? So what, we’re sweating. That’s the worst, right?” And so we go: starting from the east on the harbor side of Al Alam Palace and working our way west, making a stop at Muscat Gate on the way.
view toward Mutrah from Ruwi
Ruwi
Ruwi
Our first stop is at Muscat Gate Museum. The museum is closed, but we walk around and over the gate. Opened in January 2001, the museum contains displays about Oman’s history from the Neolithic times to the present. I’ve never been inside the museum, but apparently it has a number of special exhibits on Muscat’s water springs, the ancient wells, underground channels, the souqs, houses, mosques, harbors and forts (Wikipedia: Muscat Gate Museum).
Muscat Gate
Muscat Gate
zinnias at Muscat Gate
view of the Al Riyam Incense Burner from Muscat Gate
View from Muscat Gate
View of watchtower from Muscat Gate
historic sign about Muscat
minaret
Al Alam Palace is the ceremonial palace of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. The palace was built by Imam Sultan bin Ahmed, the 7th direct grandfather of the current Sultan. The existing palace, which has a facade of gold and blue, was rebuilt as a royal residence in 1972. Visitors are not allowed inside the palace, despite the fact that His Majesty normally lives elsewhere in Oman. Al Alam Palace is surrounded by the Mirani and Jalali Forts, built in the 16th century by the Portuguese.
The Palace is used for official functions and receiving distinguished visitors and in January 2012, the Sultan received Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands at Al Alam Palace during her state visit to Oman (Wikipedia: Al Alam Palace).
I’ve visited Al Alam Palace several times while in Oman, but usually we come from the center of Muscaat, which has a long colonnaded approach and is quite picturesque. I have heard there’s a back view, from the harbor, so today we go to the harbor side for pictures. If you want to see the front view, you can check out this post: al alam palace in muscat.
Al Alam Palace from the harbor side
fort and government buildings in Muscat
government buildings in Muscat
Al Alam Palace from the back gate
fort near Al Alam Palace
Al-Riyam Park is along the coastal road and is a leafy park with a small fun fair and an ornamental incense burner adorning a rocky crag.
Incense burner in Al Riyam Park
Watchtower near Riyam Park
Watchtower
Incense burner
Incense burner of Riyam Park
I want to stop and photograph a small mosque I always pass on the highway between Qurum and Ruwi. We stop but the view from the ground is much less impressive than the view from the highway, which sits above the mosque. Too bad it’s impossible to stop along the highway for photos.
the mosque on the way from Qurum to Ruwi
mosque
The Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque (جامع السلطان سعيـد بن تيمور) was built in the memory of the father of Sultan Qaboos in 1999. It sits off a roundabout in Al Khuwair near the Radisson Blu Hotel and the Technical College. The mosque is built in the style of Ottoman mosques which are found in Turkey. Sadly, Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque is not open to non-Muslims. (Oman Tripper: Muscat’s Ten Most Beautiful Mosques)
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque, fashioned after Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
flowers in a garden near Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
flower garden at Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
Here’s a video of the mosque during the Friday call to prayer, with a backdrop of screeching cicadas.
Sultan Said bin Taimur Mosque
We end the night with an Iranian meal at the Shiraz Restaurant at the Crowne Plaza, at the opposite end of Qurum Beach from where we started. We meet our friend David, whose birthday is today, along with his friend and colleague, Janice, who’s from Marin, California.
the view of Qurum from the Crowne Plaza
view from the Crowne Plaza
I’m exhausted from our hot day, so I stay overnight at my favorite go-to hotel in Muscat: Safeer Suites, near Medinat Sultan Qaboos. It’s really nice not to have to drive back home to Nizwa, as it’s a long tedious drive. However, it’s money I certainly don’t like to spend. Muscat hotels are not cheap. I’ve been saving like crazy for my month in Spain and Portugal and I really don’t want to part with any money in Oman unless absolutely necessary. 🙂
And who knew, if you keep walking straight as you exit Costa Coffee on Qurum Beach, around 50 feet across the parking lot parallel to the beach you will hit THE one and only Irish Pub (Feeney’s) in Oman, hidden behind a wall next to the Dairy Queen!!!? A pub which sells your favourite Spanish Atrium wine no less, as well as a good, varied menu, and of course, Guinness??!!
We’ll have to try it out in Muscat on Saturday! 🙂
The city looks quite spectacular at night from the Crowne Plaza!
Thanks, Mona Lisa! 🙂
What a beautiful country. Even the call to prayer is lovely. But I couldn’t stand that 42 degree heat ! You must have so many mixed emotions about your departure.
Thanks so much, Sybil. The heat here is really miserable and is one of the top reasons I’m leaving to return to the USA. I’m so much more a winter and fall kind of person, and I can’t wait to experience 4 seasons again. I do have some mixed emotions, but mostly, I’m just ready to go home. 🙂
These are fabulous pictures – it’s such a lovely part of the world.
Thanks so much, Elaine. 🙂
BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS! Hope we don’t get the cicadas here in Pittsburgh.
BE ENCOURAGED! BE BLESSED!
Thanks, Francine. I’m so tired of the high-pitched screech of the cicadas!!
Wow, that 42 degrees sound s really fierce. I think I’d take the ice cream over the coffee. Your pictures are beautiful, especially that turquoise and gold minaret. 🙂
Sylvia, you’re so right: the 42 degrees is really fierce. But what puts it over the top is the humidity. We don’t have much humidity in the interior, so I can usually bear the heat, but in Muscat, it’s very humid. As soon as you walk outside, you immediately start sweating and quickly become miserable. 🙂
It really is a beautiful city, isn’t it? I doubt very much that I’d have gotten through the day out in that heat, so kudos to you for surviving it!
It really is a beautiful city, Carol, but it’s a car-city, rather than a walking city, which I’m not particularly fond of. I love towns where you can actually wander the streets, but Muscat isn’t really like that. The heat now is unbearable. Most days, I’m hunkered down in my air-conditioned flat, preparing (slowly) to leave!
Nice photos, but those marigolds are actually zinnias! I’ll blame the heat!
Thanks for setting me straight, Caroline! We can blame the heat if we like, but the fact is, I simply don’t always know my flowers. Thanks for the correction; I’ll fix it! 🙂
wonderful beach mall terrace!
Yes, it’s quite nice, Frizz. Too bad it’s too freaking hot to enjoy it! 🙂
I’m always surprised to see so many flowers in your pictures, even some familiar ones. Was that not Cock’s Comb? You are getting so close now to leaving….
Yes, Annette, I think that is Cock’s Comb. These flowers have to be constantly watered. I’m surprised they survive at all in this heat. 🙂 Yes, I’m now down to 16 days till I leave!! And best of all, only 11 days of work!
I loved the pictures! Funny enough, I was at the same Costa Coffee that day!
Thanks so much, Pedro. Funny! Too bad I didn’t see you. 🙂
Everything is so pristine and perfect looking.Beautiful images. I’m intrigued by the incense burner. Does it actually get used?
Thanks, Lynne. Yes, Muscat is a very beautiful and pristine city. As far as the incense burner, it’s just a statue; I don’t think it ever gets used. 🙂
Wonderful photos!
Thanks so much, Mo, and thanks for visiting my blog! 🙂
even though I’m not blogging right now I had to come check on you… Wow only 5 days to go! You must be frantically busy.
I appreciate that you shared your trip to Muscat with us. Mario sounds like a great tour guide. I love his comment:
“What’s the worse that can happen? So what, we’re sweating. That’s the worst, right?”
Even though the buildings are so unique I recognized the flowers (amazing how they manage to grow in that intense heat).
Are those Incense burners really burning incense or are they just “sculptures” ….?
Thanks for coming to drop in on me, Rosie. I’m so far behind with my dropping in on everyone else, I fear I’ll never catch up. I am busy but work is very slow and some of these minutes where I’m captive here are dragging!!
Mario is always full of wise quips, and is always good for a lot of laughs. I will miss him dearly when I go.
I don’t know how any flowers manage to survive in Oman. It’s regularly 42-43 degrees every day now. Ugh.
There’s only one incense burner statue; I just shot it from different angles and vantage points. I don’t think they use it. It’s just a decoration on a hill. 🙂
Thanks, as always, for your great comments, Rosie!