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  #1  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2020, 9:48 AM
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hkskyline's 2019 in Muscat, Oman

Muscat was the start and finish of my Oman road trip adventure. While I focused on the historic and natural attractions elsewhere in the country, I still allocated one full day for sightseeing in the city to match up with my flight time. Similar to other places in the area, there are impressive mosques, busy markets, and historic architecture, although the crowds are smaller here.

The city doesn't have that many highrises, so views from hotels can be quite nice even on a seemingly low floor.







Make it out to the elaborately-decorated Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque first thing in the morning. They're only open a few hours in the morning a day most days of the week.



























Muscat has plenty of coastline, and one of the popular activities is to go dolphin watching just offshore. All cruises depart from a central location in the eastern outskirts at set times during the day.







Mutrah is Muscat's old commercial hub. Unlike the old port that was hard to access by land, this part could be reached by camel caravans, which continued until the 1960s. The attractions are within walking distance and the beautiful corniche is worth a stroll.











The souk is nowhere near Istanbul's Grand Bazaar, though it can still get quite busy when the cruise ships are in town. The main entrance starts at the corniche and is sheltered, but do make your way around the side alleys for some surprises.





















More on my website and in the next part : https://www.globalphotos.org/muscat.htm
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  #2  
Old Posted Apr 10, 2020, 2:41 AM
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Nice pictures! This looks like a nice, "real" alternative to glitzy Dubai (although I like how you have covered the historic areas of Dubai as well).
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Old Posted Apr 11, 2020, 12:36 PM
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I googled the mosque out of curiosity. Clearly some Islamic classicism revival, it was built from Indian sandstone from Dec. 1994 to May 2001 according to Wiki.
I find it well executed in this case; always liked this type of embroidery made up of fine geometric patterns.
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Old Posted Apr 11, 2020, 3:23 PM
JMKeynes JMKeynes is offline
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Gorgeous!
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Old Posted Apr 14, 2020, 3:34 AM
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Originally Posted by xzmattzx View Post
Nice pictures! This looks like a nice, "real" alternative to glitzy Dubai (although I like how you have covered the historic areas of Dubai as well).
Oman takes pride in keeping its traditional life relatively intact, and not taking Dubai's glitzy approach. This is more evident in the countryside, where locals are incredibly friendly and helpful.
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Old Posted Apr 14, 2020, 3:36 AM
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Al Qurum was once a fishing village but has now been absorbed into the city. It is famous for a long public beach that faces the Gulf of Oman and nearby mangroves.























Further inland and closer to the highway, the Royal Opera House opened in 2011 and its attached Opera Galleria mall opened in 2013. Tours for the performance venue are available but there doesn't seem to be reliable information online on the times. I went twice and left disappointed.







More photos on my website : https://www.globalphotos.org/muscat.htm
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Old Posted Apr 14, 2020, 5:05 AM
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Nice photos! I have a close friend who is originally from Muscat, and he always speaks very fondly of the place. I hope I get the chance to visit someday!
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Old Posted Apr 17, 2020, 3:11 PM
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Nice photos, white and beautiful! I wonder why they chosed not to built skyscrapers like in Dubai and other nearby cities in the region.
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Old Posted Apr 17, 2020, 5:32 PM
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I would never travel to the middle east outside of Turkey and Israel and unfortunately this is the one place that I am bummed about I have always thought Muscat was beautiful and much more sophisticated compared to its garish neighbors. You captured it perfectly!
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Old Posted Apr 17, 2020, 6:01 PM
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Originally Posted by LouisianaRush View Post
I would never travel to the middle east outside of Turkey and Israel

well that seems rather arbitrary.

saudi arabia, qatar, bahrain, uae and oman seem pretty safe to me to visit.

what they dont seem is very interesting. at least in the modern parts of the big cities (i’m sure the old town sectors and countryside are another story though). muscat here seems the best choice of those.

now yemen. thats a place that has always fascinated me. apparently its truly the wild west there unfortunately. good luck getting from sana’a to see shibam and back without getting robbed or kidnapped. or so they say.
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Old Posted Apr 18, 2020, 11:30 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BnaBreaker View Post
Nice photos! I have a close friend who is originally from Muscat, and he always speaks very fondly of the place. I hope I get the chance to visit someday!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nightsky View Post
Nice photos, white and beautiful! I wonder why they chosed not to built skyscrapers like in Dubai and other nearby cities in the region.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisianaRush View Post
I would never travel to the middle east outside of Turkey and Israel and unfortunately this is the one place that I am bummed about I have always thought Muscat was beautiful and much more sophisticated compared to its garish neighbors. You captured it perfectly!
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrnyc View Post
well that seems rather arbitrary.

saudi arabia, qatar, bahrain, uae and oman seem pretty safe to me to visit.

what they dont seem is very interesting. at least in the modern parts of the big cities (i’m sure the old town sectors and countryside are another story though). muscat here seems the best choice of those.

now yemen. thats a place that has always fascinated me. apparently its truly the wild west there unfortunately. good luck getting from sana’a to see shibam and back without getting robbed or kidnapped. or so they say.
Thanks for your comments. There isn't much about Oman on here so I hoped you enjoyed them. I've more coming from my road trip out of Muscat.

Oman's leaders modernized infrastructure over a generation, and the locals are greatly respectful of what the late Sultan Qaboos has done. They adopted a much more traditional approach compared to its neighbours, refusing to change into a Disneyland of vice or a gold-infested paradise. That actually was the reason why I wanted to visit. There was plenty of natural beauty, traditional life, and a less crowded tourist scene. Yet I came in from Dubai so could still get some modern architecture therapy along the way.

Oman is quite off the radar to Asian tourists, but I was surprised there were a lot of European road trippers here, plus the cruise ship crowd in Muscat. I guess the country's special riches have already been discovered.

Yemen is also on my radar as well, but with the war continue to rage, I don't think much of its world heritage will be left at the end of all this. Seeing how long it has taken Egypt to recover from the revolution, I don't think Yemen will open up any time soon.
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  #12  
Old Posted Apr 20, 2020, 1:03 PM
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Originally Posted by mrnyc View Post
well that seems rather arbitrary.

saudi arabia, qatar, bahrain, uae and oman seem pretty safe to me to visit.
If you are gay they are extremely dangerous, but I don't want to hijack this amazing thread. I think hkskyline did an incredible job shooting a gorgeous place!
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Old Posted Apr 26, 2020, 2:27 PM
jtown,man jtown,man is offline
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Awesome pictures!

I spend two weeks in Oman, in a tiny town near the Yemen border. I'll never forget eating lunch with some Omani firefighters who we were working with. These guys brought in a huge plate(like huge) full of meat, rice, and veggies. We simply ate with our hands, all of us, from the same plate. The Omani firefighters, knowing how Americans love our meat, kept finding them and flinging them our way lol It was a moment that is hard to put into words but really meant a lot and I will forever love Omani people based on that experience and others I had with the locals.
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Old Posted May 12, 2020, 6:22 PM
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Wow, can't wait to go there myself. I hear the people are so welcoming to visitors.

Thanks for the photos.
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