My first impression of Muscat was elegance and luminosity. The sultan has decreed a particular colour palette for all buildings in the city, and so everywhere is white or cream or peach or sand. It was very hot and humid which I had to get used to as well as the air-conditioning when inside.
The trip down was fairly uneventful. I got a good laugh, when what I thought were my flight socks (to prevent deep vein thrombosis on long-haul flights) turned out to be my Marlies Dekkers knee-highs. Oh well. So great to see Viki again - 3 years since last time, but that ceases to matter when we get together.
Next morning we went for a looong brunch with lots of food and talking, at a very nice hotel complex near Muscat called Shangri-La. The afternoon was spent in the pool with the rest of the family (she has a boy 2 years and a girl 4 years, the latter came very sweetly to wake me up on Friday morning, because she just couldn't wait anymore for me to get up). They live in a compound with a residents' pool, which was great, given the heat. The Saturday was spent relaxing, doing a bit of shopping and just hanging out - I was enjoying getting to spend some time with the wee ones as well.
On Sunday, which counts as Tuesday in Oman, we went first to visit the Grand Mosque, which was a truly great experience. I could've happily spent a few hours just absorbing all the colours and patterns and carvings and mosaics, but we had to leave to pick up kids. We had to cover up with headscarves, long sleeves and long trousers, and were invited to join a group of women on their guided tour - otherwise we would've just wandered about on our own. They were lovely and asked us back to the visitor's center after the tour for coffee and dates.
The mens' hall has the second-largest chandelier in the world, meant to resemble a gathering of minarets. It reminded me of a city in the clouds alright and the dome surrounding it was just mesmerising. There are pictures on Facebook, but here is a close-up of the dome and part of the chandelier.
In the afternoon we went off again, to go see Nakhal Fort, which is about an hour from Muscat. There are forts like this all over Oman, but the location for Nakhal Fort is just stunning, right by the Hajar Mountains, and with palm plantations all around. Most of the rooms are left as they would've been when the fort was in active use - the kitchen, the jail, the womens', mens' and children's rooms. There were no other visitors but us, so we were really enjoying having the whole place to ourselves - the advantage to going on a weekday, I guess. Afterwards we went to see a nearby hot spring, taking small windy roads through village and palm plantations, sometimes passing ruins old and new by the side of the road. By the river, where the spring joins it, you could sit down and let little fishies get at the dead skin on your feet. I didn't do that, because I was jittery about creepy-crawlies, and didn't want to get caught with my feet in water and so not be able to make a quick getaway. Viki did soak her feet for a while though (I later submitted to the same type of fish at the Sink Hole, but I didn't like them nibbling at me). We had a lovely dinner on our return to Muscat - walking around in a zillion degrees heat and seeing impressive stuff does take it out of you.
The next day, Viki was working in the morning, and I spent a very leisurely morning by the pool with a stack of magazines. I had never really spent that much time just laying by a pool before, so it felt like a very luxurious thing to do. On Tuesday we had appointments at Viki's favourite spa for massages, which I had been looking forward to nearly from the time I booked my flights. Afterwards I felt like cooked spaghetti - just pour me into bed now please.....
On Wednesday we went to have a look at the old part of Muscat, which includes the city landmark at the mouth a the harbour, a giant white incense burner. We saw the sultan's wee yacht. And a heron. Love herons :) Then we went to the souk (local market) for some shopping - pashminas and lanterns for my balcony. They had so many pretty ones with coloured glass and stuff, and thankfully they all made it home in one piece.
On Thursday Viki, her husband Rune and me went to Wadi Shab, which is about an-hour-and-a-half from Muscat. A wadi is a riverbed, which is dry some of the time, but which is prone to sudden flooding, when rain water comes down from the mountains. There are a great many wadis in Oman, and we'd crossed a good few in all sizes on our travels up until that point. But none as beautiful as Wadi Shab, I am so happy I got to see it :)
As luck would have it, Wadi Shab on this day was playing host to the Red Bull World Championships in cliff-diving, where brave men were plunging 27m to a deep turquoise pool. There were a lot of people, who found places to sit both high and low. It was very hot, and soon moved from our first location to somewhere on the other side of the water, so that we'd get more shade later on. Turned out to be a good move. You really get to appreciate shade and water in this place, and respect the heat. The diving itself was interesting, the amount of control and courage it must've taken. We left before it was finished - we'd spent at least 2 hours there, before it even got started, and we were getting enough of the heat. On our way back we stopped at the Sink Hole for a quick swim, which was just divine after getting so hot and sticky in Wadi Shab. The lake is said to be bottomless, and the water is the most divine jewel-like green colour. We had a change of clothes in the car (we went into the water fully dressed), and then made our way back to Muscat for my last dinner. I was leaving at 4.30 in the morning, so said goodbye to everyone before heading to bed - Viki had sorted out transportation for me.
The week had it all - I got to see some amazing things, I got to spend lots of time with Viki, and have fun with her and her family and then there were times when we just chilled out watching movies or something. Perfect :) I'll be back!
