While graduating from my last post to this, I have undergone many
experiences, on a strictly personal level though. I shall save that for
some other time, this time I want to actually write about what I have been meaning to write about - Oman. Somehow I
have come to a conclusion that I deliberately postpone writing so that the
experience slowly starts fading, so that in my bout of excitement I
do not clutter the space with unwanted details, so this is yet another late post on a holiday we had.
Before I digress any further, let me plunge right into the heart of the topic. I shall start from the visit to the much talked about Sultan Qaboos Grand mosque which was first in our travel itinerary. The mosque is open to people of all religion and nationality. The timing for its visitors is 8 am to 11 am, which meant an early morning wake up call and a quick wash and rush. I carried hubby’s checked shirt to wear on top of my half sleeves and a scarf to cover my head. Thank god for the timely caution that came from a friend, "you gotta be fully covered or you will be held outside the mosque." The entry was rather less dramatic, the mosque door opens to its visitors very carelessly, very un-grandly I thought.
And it gives way to alleys of chandeliers and splendid craftsmanship on its walls, ceilings, carpet, lamps et al.
The craftsmen apparently were hired from all across the Middle Eastern countries. The carpet was but of course Iranian. The carpet weavers sat on the mosque floor and gave shape, colour and pattern to what it looks like today.
The chandeliers, roughly about 20 of them, were brought from India, each weighing 8 tonnes.
The exterior will remind an Indian of Taj Mahal for sure. The dome shape, which is quintessential to Mughal architecture, forms the top of this mosque as well.
The untainted white marble and the breath taking craftsmanship will leave its visitors asking for more, or may be not , if you are exploring a monument on bare feet under a sweltering 45 degrees in the month of May! So once both me and hubby were convinced that we have seen the mosque from all its angles and admired all the intricate details that called for attention, we headed back to our hotel. The first thing I did after huddling into the car was strip!! Remember I am adorning hubby’s full shirt on top of my own clothes? The driver was in for a mild heart attack, his racing heart calmed down when he realized I wasn’t exactly stripping.
The next destination was the marine life through the semi submersible boat – apparently a new addition to the to-do list in Muscat. So, to diligently tick the 'must do' list we followed suit with the other visitors. They promoted Marina as an under water experience without getting wet! Could have done better, I thought. It did not exactly look as great as it did on the brochures. I silently cursed at our choice, but gave into it anyway. The temperature at 2.30 pm was just little short of melting me down, we sat on the vessel never-the-less and cruised through the sea, once its propellers pierced through the waves and cool breeze swept across our hair and faces, we started enjoying the ride. The kids in the boat, were flipping, falling, laughing and the only father on the boat kept saying some words of caution in Arabic which I obviously did not understand.
The boat takes you to the areas where you can easily get a view of the marine life through the windows of the submerged portion of the boat. After a long patient wait, the sea life finally starts showing up and this was my first!! I have not done snorkeling, diving and anything close to save my life. And I was quite excited to see the fishes ( in all shapes, sizes, colors imaginable), the crabs, the lonely tortoise, the breath taking corals, albeit in a somewhat muddy water. It must have been the first time for the kids too, they were as excited as I was, couple of them even dared an amused smile while seeing me jump while spotting the tortoise, I simple ignored them.
Next day was meant to check out what the souks of Muscat look like and to explore the famed Omani silver which finds a mention in almost all the brochures. We headed to souk Mutrah - a 500 year old souk, much popular with the tourists. To be honest, it was like any other traditional souk in the Gulf with a plethora of eye catching nick-knacks, shops decked up with local handicrafts, antiques, silver jewellery on display and ofcourse, the unmatched fragrance of the spices.
I ventured into a few shops and shortlisted a
couple of silver items and finally dared to ask the price, I was told
Omani silver is cheap, cheaper than the rest of the world, but what came
out of the keeper’s mouth left me dumb founded. I
concluded I have enough silver items for a lifetime, and if ever I fall
short, Dilli Haat is always at my disposal.
The entire next day was booked for Waadi Shab. Sometimes I just fall for the name you know, I have to admit. My little research and the information on the brochures got us all geared up for this waadi (mountain) called ‘Shab’. The pretty Algerian guide picked us from our hotel and we headed to the ‘mountains’, in less fancy words. The entire stretch from the outskirts of the city to the Qarrayat fishing village was dry barren land stretched beyond your eyes would reach. The driver and the guide made good noise speaking in Arabic, me and hubby stared at each other, smiled and chose to doze off. We were taken to about 2-3 different spots(the guide took it upon himself to prove that this was a well chosen trip after all), before we actually reached waadi Shab. We went to a fish market, nearly fainted with the smell, saw the fishing village from a distance, took pictures robotically and moved on. Then we headed to the villages in the mountains. I could tell we were finally up for some fun. The 4 by 4 raged through the stubborn roads, we stopped where the view looked the best, posed, took pictures, sighed, felt like something close to an adventure and moved to the next destination. And in a matter of few minutes, we were at the foot of a mountain from where our journey to the wadi would begin.
The first glance of the waadi took my breath away. For once, the reality looked so much more spectacular! But the real surprise was yet to come, the driver stopped the car under a bridge and, in his characteristic English, announced that from this point we would be heading to the mountain on foot!! I did try the usual back ache, head ache excuses, but the guide and the driver together made quite a stubborn team. We inched little by little, although not a very difficult trek, but the heat made it tiresome. And we finally reached somewhere close to the mountains!! The journey (45 mins trek in 45 degrees) from this spot to the mountain cannot be expressed in words. If I have done anything remotely adventurous, this could top the insipid list. If I have trecked through these vertigo intriguing cliffs and mountains, I think I can consider myself ready for a real sand dune bashing experience! Wait, don't judge me already, I still think it's pretty dangerous, so haven't tried it yet.
Once we made it to the point which gave the most satisfying view of the waadi, it was nothing less than a dream; the trek felt totally worth it as we were witnessing the exquisite cliffs, the emerald blue water in the steep lakes, the coves and the creeks and what not. I was absolutely rejuvenated after a shower under a narrow yet strong water fall, brunch under a palm tree for some respite from the merciless sun, and at the end, to pamper the overworked feet - an accidental fish pedicure!! Sigh! Things daydreams are made of.
Before I digress any further, let me plunge right into the heart of the topic. I shall start from the visit to the much talked about Sultan Qaboos Grand mosque which was first in our travel itinerary. The mosque is open to people of all religion and nationality. The timing for its visitors is 8 am to 11 am, which meant an early morning wake up call and a quick wash and rush. I carried hubby’s checked shirt to wear on top of my half sleeves and a scarf to cover my head. Thank god for the timely caution that came from a friend, "you gotta be fully covered or you will be held outside the mosque." The entry was rather less dramatic, the mosque door opens to its visitors very carelessly, very un-grandly I thought.
And it gives way to alleys of chandeliers and splendid craftsmanship on its walls, ceilings, carpet, lamps et al.
The craftsmen apparently were hired from all across the Middle Eastern countries. The carpet was but of course Iranian. The carpet weavers sat on the mosque floor and gave shape, colour and pattern to what it looks like today.
The chandeliers, roughly about 20 of them, were brought from India, each weighing 8 tonnes.
The exterior will remind an Indian of Taj Mahal for sure. The dome shape, which is quintessential to Mughal architecture, forms the top of this mosque as well.
The untainted white marble and the breath taking craftsmanship will leave its visitors asking for more, or may be not , if you are exploring a monument on bare feet under a sweltering 45 degrees in the month of May! So once both me and hubby were convinced that we have seen the mosque from all its angles and admired all the intricate details that called for attention, we headed back to our hotel. The first thing I did after huddling into the car was strip!! Remember I am adorning hubby’s full shirt on top of my own clothes? The driver was in for a mild heart attack, his racing heart calmed down when he realized I wasn’t exactly stripping.
The next destination was the marine life through the semi submersible boat – apparently a new addition to the to-do list in Muscat. So, to diligently tick the 'must do' list we followed suit with the other visitors. They promoted Marina as an under water experience without getting wet! Could have done better, I thought. It did not exactly look as great as it did on the brochures. I silently cursed at our choice, but gave into it anyway. The temperature at 2.30 pm was just little short of melting me down, we sat on the vessel never-the-less and cruised through the sea, once its propellers pierced through the waves and cool breeze swept across our hair and faces, we started enjoying the ride. The kids in the boat, were flipping, falling, laughing and the only father on the boat kept saying some words of caution in Arabic which I obviously did not understand.
The boat takes you to the areas where you can easily get a view of the marine life through the windows of the submerged portion of the boat. After a long patient wait, the sea life finally starts showing up and this was my first!! I have not done snorkeling, diving and anything close to save my life. And I was quite excited to see the fishes ( in all shapes, sizes, colors imaginable), the crabs, the lonely tortoise, the breath taking corals, albeit in a somewhat muddy water. It must have been the first time for the kids too, they were as excited as I was, couple of them even dared an amused smile while seeing me jump while spotting the tortoise, I simple ignored them.
Next day was meant to check out what the souks of Muscat look like and to explore the famed Omani silver which finds a mention in almost all the brochures. We headed to souk Mutrah - a 500 year old souk, much popular with the tourists. To be honest, it was like any other traditional souk in the Gulf with a plethora of eye catching nick-knacks, shops decked up with local handicrafts, antiques, silver jewellery on display and ofcourse, the unmatched fragrance of the spices.
The entire next day was booked for Waadi Shab. Sometimes I just fall for the name you know, I have to admit. My little research and the information on the brochures got us all geared up for this waadi (mountain) called ‘Shab’. The pretty Algerian guide picked us from our hotel and we headed to the ‘mountains’, in less fancy words. The entire stretch from the outskirts of the city to the Qarrayat fishing village was dry barren land stretched beyond your eyes would reach. The driver and the guide made good noise speaking in Arabic, me and hubby stared at each other, smiled and chose to doze off. We were taken to about 2-3 different spots(the guide took it upon himself to prove that this was a well chosen trip after all), before we actually reached waadi Shab. We went to a fish market, nearly fainted with the smell, saw the fishing village from a distance, took pictures robotically and moved on. Then we headed to the villages in the mountains. I could tell we were finally up for some fun. The 4 by 4 raged through the stubborn roads, we stopped where the view looked the best, posed, took pictures, sighed, felt like something close to an adventure and moved to the next destination. And in a matter of few minutes, we were at the foot of a mountain from where our journey to the wadi would begin.
The first glance of the waadi took my breath away. For once, the reality looked so much more spectacular! But the real surprise was yet to come, the driver stopped the car under a bridge and, in his characteristic English, announced that from this point we would be heading to the mountain on foot!! I did try the usual back ache, head ache excuses, but the guide and the driver together made quite a stubborn team. We inched little by little, although not a very difficult trek, but the heat made it tiresome. And we finally reached somewhere close to the mountains!! The journey (45 mins trek in 45 degrees) from this spot to the mountain cannot be expressed in words. If I have done anything remotely adventurous, this could top the insipid list. If I have trecked through these vertigo intriguing cliffs and mountains, I think I can consider myself ready for a real sand dune bashing experience! Wait, don't judge me already, I still think it's pretty dangerous, so haven't tried it yet.
Once we made it to the point which gave the most satisfying view of the waadi, it was nothing less than a dream; the trek felt totally worth it as we were witnessing the exquisite cliffs, the emerald blue water in the steep lakes, the coves and the creeks and what not. I was absolutely rejuvenated after a shower under a narrow yet strong water fall, brunch under a palm tree for some respite from the merciless sun, and at the end, to pamper the overworked feet - an accidental fish pedicure!! Sigh! Things daydreams are made of.
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