Muscat, Oman

Muscat is one of the fabled ports of the Near East, a legendary trading center connecting Europe and Asia. It has been a crucial seaport for at least 24 centuries with Links to India and beyond dating as early as the 6^th century BC. Conflict between Portugal, Persia and the Ottoman empire led to Muscat and Oman’s eventual liberation from foreign domination in the 18^th century.  Muscat and Oman have been ruled by the Al Said dynasty since the 18^th century.  In 1970, Qaboos bin Said ascended to the Sultanate, and began an ambitious program of revitalizing Muscat and Oman. Part of the revitalization process has seen the development of tourism. Visitors to Muscat will discover a fascinating amalgam of the ancient and the modern. The harbor is guarded by two 16^th century forts. Between them stands the modern Al Alam Palace.  The official residence of Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the palace blends classical and contemporary Islamic architectures. Palaces and souks, museums and mosques – but beyond the city of Muscat lies the vast reaches of The Arabian Desert.  An hour’s drive leads the traveler into a region of stark mountains and hidden oases.  Ancient pre-Islamic forts stand guard over deserts springs nurturing groves of dates and bananas.  Muscat, in short, is a city out of the Arabian nights.  And if you should have any doubt, enjoy a cruise along the bay in a traditional Arab dhow as merchants, adventurers and dreamers have done for centuries.
Their population is about 3 ½ million, Capital: Muscat Government: Absolute Monarchy Currency: Omani Rial (OMR) .

We docked at about 7 am and took the shuttle to town at 8:30.  We only had about 4 hours here as the ship leaves for Dubai at 1:00 and we had to be on board by 12:30. There wasn’t much to see neither the palace nor the museum were very interesting.  We spent a couple of hours in the Souk (market) and found it to be another shopper’s paradise.  It was all inside and extremely hot.  We made it through the clothes, trinkets, purses, and silver and the gold .  It wasn’t too bad until another ship docked that carried 3,000 people.  They all came to the souk, it was maddening.  Now not only was it unbearably hot, but impossible to maneuver in a shop or just walking around. We had enough after 2 hours and took the shuttle back to the boat. 

We heard that pirates took another ship yesterday, an oil tanker, and it was only 65 miles from us.  We are on very high alert with crew standing watch through the night.  Tomorrow we will be Dubai then 5 days at sea.  We will be off the coast of Somalia for a while en route to our next stop which are the Seychelles.