Modern Muscat is a long, neat rectangle stretching along the coast, traversed by a tidy highway lined with palms and ornate lamp posts. Nothing here looks to be more than 20 years old, though it's mostly low-rise buildings in traditional architecture and pale shades. Grander buildings tend to be government ministries, as this is the capital.
Not far from the Grand Mosque is the Sultan's other monumental architectural contribution from this century: the opera house. The English-educated ruler is a fan of opera and classical music, so has built this classically-European style of entertainment venue. Architecturally, however, it's in traditional Arabic style, all pristine white marble and decorative flourishes.They offer tours here, but we'd spent so much time at the mosque we had to move quickly, thus simply took a peek at the lovely entry hall and the grand foyer beyond. Everything we saw was rich with the same pattern and detail we'd seen earlier, but without the jaw-dropping colour.
From there it's a 15-minute drive to the old town, entered through a monumental gate that spans the motorway.
Old Muscat is shaped a bit like a butterfly's wing: two flat valleys stretching back from the sheltered harbour that connects them, all ringed with high hills. It's obvious to see why people settled here. It's a defensive dream. The high hills are still dotted with old watch towers, which are now mostly decorative. (Though some do provide a heritage-friendly screen for mobile phone masts.) And while the architecture here is similar to what you see in the new town, it's obvious that this is the much more venerable source.
Shop 'til you drop
It's no surprise that, as the capital of a people whose prosperity rested on being a hub of maritime trade, some of the most fascinating things to see here are the markets.
Everyone heads to the main souk, which is a warren of covered lanes stretching back from a main entrance on the harbour. (If you're lucky, you'll catch a glimpse of the Sultan's yacht at anchor before you dive in.) The first thing that hits you is an exotic funk of frankincense. This ancient substance … the sweet smelling resin of a tree that grows in just a few places ... is both a major product of Oman and an essential part of the culture here. In addition to being burned in homes and public spaces as a sign of honour and welcome, it's used in cooking and medicine. And it's the thing to buy here. We paid approximately £10 for an amount that would cost us more than £80 in the UK. Of course, the problem for us with the stuff is that it immediately triggers the desire to mutter a Hail Mary; we literally had to fight not to instinctively cross ourselves when we walked through the frankincense-scented lobby of our hotel. I suspect we'll give most of our haul to our priest for a deeply topical Christmas present.
Men's clothing shops sell the basic white dishdasha robes, to be augmented with either an embroidered cap or a turban. (Omani men wear a wonderful variety of these, in many shades and colours.) The black abaya is the everyday anchor of the women's stores, but that's just a launch pad for a wonderful array of silks and sequins. There are many tribes in Oman and all have different variations on clothing; around Muscat traditional women's dress is leggings with a matching tunic, in jewelled tones with embroidered and sequinned details. Prices indicate this is clearly formal wear! And, of course, in a country where it's traditional for women to cover their heads, the souk is a treasure trove of scarves and fine quality pashminas. One area is nothing but gold vendors, windows filled with everything from modern designs to the traditional wedding headdresses and Koran cases Omani brides have been wearing for centuries.
wander down. Most of the lanes are covered to spare you from the gruelling heat and sun, much with decorated wooden beams or old pointed arches. Occasionally, these narrow tracks spill out into crossroads covered by fancifully decorated domes. Negotiating is, of course, the norm, and half the fun of shopping here. I found the shopkeepers less aggressive than my one other souk experience, in Tunisia, and the shops as much for locals as for the tourist trade. Of course, that might have had as much to do with having Yousuf at my back.
For an entirely local experience, Yousuf took us to the fish market. An open-sided, roofed pavilion filled with tiled platforms, fishermen come here daily to spread their wares. The hills behind town might be arid desert fit for few animals, but the sea is rich and thickly populated. Tuna is dominant here, in several varieties and many sizes. I think of it as a very large fish from which you slice thick fillets … a common sight in Italian markets. But here they have smaller varieties that would feed just a few people.
From palace to model village
These markets are in Mutrah, the Western side of that butterfly's wing and site of the commercial harbour. Continue up the coast, past some impossibly green parks created by the miracle of artificial watering systems, and an outrageous giant incense burner upon a hill that's the iconic monument of Muscat town, and you enter into the second valley branching off the harbour. This one is more residential than commercial, and dominated by the Sultan's palace. Mosques, military buildings and offices surround it, much of the complex hemmed in by 16th century defensive walls.
Surprisingly, the palace itself is modern. It's perhaps the only one of Sultan Qaboos' architectural statements I didn't like. Flat-roofed, dominated by bright blue and yellow lotus-shaped columns, it lacks the elegance and dignity of the Mosque and the Opera House. There's a new government building under construction at the end of the ceremonial drive facing the palace; it will be fascinating how this brings the architectural scene together.
Tucked away in this district … and worth the effort to get here … is the small but fascinating Bait al Zubair museum. Just eight galleries off a central hall tell the story of the country, its history, tribes and traditions. This started as a private collection and the building was the owner's home, and it's suitably quirky. I particularly enjoyed the sections on men's and women's dress, that showed the differences in costume from tribe to tribe, and the room that used costumed dummies to demonstrate the opulence of a traditional wedding. My husband, unsurprisingly, was more intrigued by the weapons collection and the scale models of the country's major forts. Maps, family trees and portraits of the Sultan and his ancestors helped Yousuf sketch out the country's history for us, and lay some foundations for our adventure into the mountains the next day. There's an outside section that displays a traditional fishing boat and village house, and has a "model village" of forts, houses and castles in a desert landscape cut through with rivers and dotted with oases.
We packed the Mosque, and all of this, into a long morning. We could have spent more time at each site, and there was clearly more to see. We could not, however, have done any more in one day. It is gruellingly hot and humid here. Over 90F/32C, with moist air that will cover you with a sheen of perspiration without any exertion on your part. Which means your energy for sightseeing is going to be limited. You could easily spend three or four days in Muscat, touring in the mornings and recovering by the pool in the afternoons. I would, certainly, be delighted to go back.
We arranged our trip with Turquoise Holidays in the UK; our local coordinators and guides in Oman were Gulf Ventures.
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