Sunday, April 21, 2024

Monday, April 22, 2024

Muscat, Oman 🇴🇲

Muscat is a large beautiful city wedged between rugged mountains and the Gulf of Oman. The ocean provides plentiful bounty for the fishing industry, and the vast deserts extending toward Saudi Arabia provide the riches from oil and gas that yield free education, modern highways and freeways, sun-bleached white buildings (no skyscrapers) and impressive architectural structures, as well as apparent quality of lives for its nearly five million Omanis. The Sultanate of Oman has been rated the fourth most secure country in the world, doesn’t harbor terrorists, and is one of the richest countries. It shows.

Imposing and emblematic of Islamic architecture, the Grand Mosque can accomodate 20,000 worshippers including 750 women in a private prayer hall. Throughout our visit we saw few women and those were clan head to toe in black.

The sultan’s royal yacht remains docked in the scenic harbor. It’s good to be Sultan!

The cap is handmade, took his sister months to embroider the design.

Onboard a Azamara White Night party — the ship crew parades the flags of all the countries represented by the crew and guests.