Muscat, Oman

Saturday April 26th and we are docking in Muscat, Oman.  Both of us were up early so I worked on the blog and then we headed up to the pool.  But the pool was not opened so we left and dressed for breakfast.  It seems the same man who helps throw the lines when we dock is the same man who opens the pool.  So he was busy.  We did see him and he said he was sorry.  So no swimming this morning.

This is the dock which we are docking at.  It looks great but nothing inside.

The landscape is wonderful.  And there is this fort inside the mountains so it is hidden from the enemy.

More views from the ship.

More views of the harbor.

This is the Sultans private yacht.  It is beautiful.

Our tour was "Splendors of Muscat".  Our first stop was at the Mutrah Souq.  This is a market with tons of stuff for sale.  I did buy a white shirt and a scarf for me.  We had one hour here so Bob and I walked through the market and onto the streets of Muscat.

When we walked about the town, we came across this mosque.

And  this is the traffic we found outside the souq.  A souq is a market which sells everything.

This is for Glenna.  Do you remember this?

And the outside of the souq.

Next we traveled to the Sultan's Palace.  Here we just were able to view it from the outside.  But the place was spotless.  So clean.

This is the outside of the Presidential Palace.  The Sultan does not live here.  But this is where he works when he is in the area.

The area is wonderful and all the flowers are in bloom.

Then we were off to the Zawawi Mosque.  Again, we were not able to go inside.  But our guide did demonstrate how they have to wash before prayers.  And the pray 5 times a day.

The outside of the Mosque.

Our guide taught us how to wash.  They wash everyday before the prayers and they pray 5 times a day.

The streets of Oman.

Our last stop was at the Bait Adam Museum.  This was a waste of time.  But they did serve good dates.

This is the outside to the Museum.  What a waste of time.

Our guide taught us how to put on a turban.

Back to the ship and lunch in Compass Rose.  By now it was getting on so no good nap.

At 3:30pm they had tea and trivia for the 100+ days passengers.  It seems that tomorrow will be exactly 100 days since the beginning of the cruise.  Except we did not get on in Aukland.  So for four of us, it was not 100 days.  And we did not win trivia.

Tonight we are taking Olga (waitress) to dinner in Compass Rose.  She is so excited.  She is from the Ukraine.

A will post pictures of our dinner later.  Olga was so pleased to be invited.  She is a sweetheart.