Day 22 – Thursday 4 January 2018

An early wakeup, we had the curtains wide open last night so that we could enjoy the beautiful views from our bed.  We awoke at dawn, to a cloudy morning in paradise.  The wind had picked up, the tide had come in & our view looked totally different from our balcony this morning from yesterday.  We had breakfast outside near the pool, people were already swimming & doing some laps.

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque was our first visit.  The Grand Mosque is only a 10 minute drive from our hotel & first impressions are that it is truly grand, the gardens are absolutely beautiful & the mosque is huge, the minaret towers stand tall & the golden prayer hall dome is stunning, this is a very large uniquely beautiful mosque.  It used to have the world record of having the largest single carpet & largest chandelier until the Emirate’s people outdid them in Abu Dhabi.  We were overawed by Abu Dhabi’s Grand Mosque’s chandelier & dome but Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is even more beautiful.  The chandelier is a very impressive centrepiece of the main prayer hall, it is 14 metres tall & weighs 8.5 tonnes with 600,000 Swarovski crystals.  There are not enough superlatives to describe this mosque, it is truly stunning & the photos do not do it any justice at all, the architecture, design, geometric symmetry, patterns, tiles are all magnificent.  The mosque closes to visitors at 11am, we could have spent a lot more time marvelling at this beautiful building.

We drive next to the old original port district of Mutrah & stop firstly at the waterside Kalbuh Park & admire the old watchtowers sitting atop craggy hilltops, the giant monument of a large white incense burner also holds our attention.  We drive back towards the port & stop at Riyam Park & climb up to the old watchtower on the peninsular, this has a couple of old cannons on display inside the turret & offers great views over the harbour.  There is a large cruise ship in port, the Celebrity Constellation & as we drive further into the main port area there are tourists flooding off the ship everywhere, wandering over the roads & causing traffic problems.  We stop to have a look at the Bait Al Baranda Museum, it is small & in an old colonial style building, it is very dark inside & difficult to read the words on the displays.  The museum provides a history of Muscat from primitive times up until today, Muscat was an important trading port over many centuries.  The dimness of the interior of this museum is annoying instead of being a pleasurable experience.

Our next point of interest is the Sultan Qaboos Al Alam Palace, this is sited overlooking another small port & the entrance to the palace is very impressive.  The parking is almost impossible or getting too near to the palace from what we could see, it certainly is a beautiful place.  The whole area around the palace is surrounded by beautiful looking government & other buildings & the whole area is very neat & tidy with beautifully tended gardens throughout.  Muscat is a big beautiful interesting city, the short time we are spending here we really enjoyed it.

The boys had enough of sightseeing so we all decided to spend the rest of the afternoon lazing on the beach (Ron & Tereza) while Charles & Austin had a great time playing in the waves, Monica & Jackson walked at the edge of the water collecting shells etc.  Austin built a wonderful sand castle which after it was well documented by photographs he enjoyed jumping all over – as the tide would wash it away anyway.  We watched another beautiful sunset from the pool bar area where we had some drinks & light meal.  A great game of UNO finished our day off nicely – for some of us, Ron & Charles enjoyed yesterday the English pub – beer & combo food selection that today at 8 pm they went down for some more son-in-law & father-in-law bonding.  There is live music down by the pool which is very enjoyable to listen to through the open balcony door.  Another great day.