Hello friends,
My narrative about our 2019 holidays continues. Thanks to my visa
fiasco, the full story of which you can read in Part One , our wandering
through the Middle East continues. We spend a first few days of our holidays in Doha and then
we flew to Muscat, the port capital of Oman that sits on the Gulf of Oman and surrounded by the mountains and the desert which means that we continued to
experience an extremely hot, up to 45 degrees C, weather.
We stayed at Kempinski hotel in Doha and liked it so much
that we booked it in Muscat too. It's situated right on the beach which
we were able to see from our room and that remained absolutely deserted during the day and only in the evening, when the heat would subside, few people would come outside to have a swim.
We didn't want to have dinner at the hotel and asked the concierge where the locals eat. He suggested that we should try the The Walk, a pedestrian mall with many shops and eateries frequented by locals and tourists alike serving food from all corners of the world, some of them with prime waterfront
locations. We reached it in about 10 minutes after a slow walk
and joined the throng of local men and women dressed in their national
dress walking up and down the drag enjoying each other’s company on the
way to their dinners.
After a few
minutes of walking up and down the street, we settled on a place that was
serving local food which was absolutely delicious.
Since the consumption of alcohol in public places is totally prohibited, except at the Western hotels and resorts, the locals like to spend their evenings over a cup of tea, coffee or some other non-alcoholic beverages and a plate of a delectable sweets in one of the many desert places that you can find along the mall.
Since the consumption of alcohol in public places is totally prohibited, except at the Western hotels and resorts, the locals like to spend their evenings over a cup of tea, coffee or some other non-alcoholic beverages and a plate of a delectable sweets in one of the many desert places that you can find along the mall.
Earlier on, as we
were walking along The Walk, I looked through one of the shopping windows, I
saw a beautifully decorated sweet shop and mentioned to my husband that we
should go there after dinner for something sweet.
Since we didn't have a car, and public transport is scarce
in Muscat and given the extreme weather conditions, we ruled out the
possibility of exploring the capital of Oman on our own and let a professional
tour guide help us. We contacted
the agency called Zahara Tours and for the next two were driven everywhere by an extremely
polite and knowledgeable driver/tour guide in a luxury air-conditioned
car.
Our tour began by visiting by visiting Royal Opera House of Oman. As
it was a summer season, there were no performances but it was open for
excursions and we went inside.
It was built on the royal order of
Sultan Qaboos of Oman in in a
unique Omani contemporary architecture. Our next stop was a visit to
the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the main
mosque in the Sultanate of Oman. It was the middle of the day and the
Mosque was closed but it looked beautiful from the outside, its golden dome
glittering under the hot sun.
Our last stop for the day was
at Alam Palace, ceremonial
residence of the Sultan known for its facade with bright blue and gold columns.
The following day our
guide took us outside Muscat so we could see some old forts which played an
important role in the country's history. After an hours drive, we reached
Al Mirani Fort built by the Portuguese
in the 16th century. Although closed to the public, its formidable
structure looms large over
the harbour and it is noted as one of the iconic landmarks of Muscat.
Luckily for us the
nearby Al Jalali Fort built
around the same time as the nearby Al Mirani Fort
to protect the harbour was open and we went inside.
The last stop on our daily itinerary was a visit to Oman's Grand Canyon. It is often referred as Grand Canyon of Arabia and is regarded as one of the best natural attractions in the country. Our driver carefully and expertly drove the car close to the rocky rim of the canyon and invited us to step out onto so called Balcony Walk. As we did, we were greeted by the breathtaking view over the canyon, the surrounding mountains and the villages below.
Anna
xoxo
Such a unique destination Love all the amazing locations The food looks incredible too Enjoy xoxo Cris
ReplyDeletehttp://photosbycris.blogspot.com/2019/08/you-are-in-charge.html
Wow! It looks impressive!
ReplyDeleteit was, we really liked it there
DeleteI've really enjoyed watching your travels so far. The buildings look amazing. I don't know that I would be able to bare that heat though! Enjoy Anna xx
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that bad because it was dry. It is the humidity that is killing me:)
DeleteSo many beautiful places! The food looked absolutely delicious also!
ReplyDeletehttps://colorandgrace.com
thank you Grace
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing trip! The food looks delicious and the I love the architecture!
ReplyDeleteJill - Doused in Pink
Thank you Jill
DeleteLas fotos están preciosas y te veo genial ! Te espero por mi blog ! Feliz dÃa bonit@! 🧡🧡🧡
ReplyDeleteLooks a fascinating , mystical and beautiful place which appeals to me far more than UAE, where I used to go quite a lot for work a few years ago. I had a former colleague who became Editor of the Times of Oman and lived in Muscat for a few years. Thanks for joining #WowOnWednesday!
ReplyDeleteI guess I could've lived there if I needed to but it is so different from my world. Thanks for hosting, GAil
DeleteLooks like you had such a amazing trip! Thank you for sharing these gorgeous photos!
ReplyDeletehttps://colorandgrace.com/
Thank you Grace
DeleteGreat post, love it! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you want that we follow each other let me know by leaving a comment and please click on links at the end! :)
---> https://beautyshapes3.blogspot.com/2019/08/winterish-outfit-zaful-rosegal.html
Thank you, will do
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely trip indeed! Loving your photos dear!
ReplyDeleteJessica | notjessfashion.com
Thank you Jessica
DeleteOh it looks amazing! I've never been to the middle eat - even being a Queenslander I'm not sure I could handle the heat, haha! But you did it so stylishly!
ReplyDeleteHope that you had a great weekend :) Thank you so much for joining the #weekdayWearLinkUp :)
Away From Blue
Thank you Mica, it is hot there but the air is very dry and somehow it is easy to manage then the humidity of Sydney Thanks for hosting :)
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