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I began my second day in Muscat with a long dawn walk along the Mutrah waterfront, this time to the east in the direction of the Sultan’s palace. Along the way I passed the remains of old 17th century Portuguese forts, imposingly perched on the cliff tops. These have survived for much longer than the 140 years that the Portuguese themselves managed to hang on as rulers of Muscat before being driven out. From the Sultan’s palace I took a taxi to the incredible Grand Mosque, a gift to the nation from Sultan Qaboos to mark the 30th year of his reign. It’s impressive enough from the outside with its pleasing geometry, intricate wall mosaics, and gleaming white marble, but wait until you go inside; ‘exquisite’ doesn’t begin to describe it. For tourist visiting hours, a temporary blue carpet is laid out on the floor; this, and the instruction not to touch anything, protects the place from being sullied by the unfaithful. The actual mosque floor carpet is enormous, the largest Persian carpet in the world. 70 metres long by 60 metres wide, it took 600 women four years to weave!
Once back in Mutrah I ambled down to the waterfront fish market where there was still plenty of the day’s catch left to be admired and bought. Lacking a stove, I merely looked, but nearby there was an Omani fish griller. I chose a whole small snapper, and thirty minutes later I was presented with a delicious hot fish, caked in a mix of Arabian spices and chopped onion, served with fragrant rice and a side salad. It was all excellent. Along with a packet of Omani dates from the adjacent fruiterer, I had the day’s food sorted. Last stop before the 1 to 4 pm Omani siesta, that I wisely observed, was the worthwhile museum Bait Al-Baranda that describes the turbulent history of Oman and the port of Muscat. Then it was time to hotfoot it back to my hotel before the sun, now high in the sky, really began to bite.
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