COLOURFULWORLD

Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Sultanate of Oman - Day 2

Joining Tom for his "signs" meme.

Saturday 4th January - After breakfast, we took a taxi to the Old Muscat area where the Sultan's ceremonial palace - Qasr al-Alam Palace - stands opposite the National Museum.

The palace was commissioned by Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who died in January 2020, was erected between the two 16th century Portuguese forts of Al Mirani and Al Jalali and completed in 1972. It has a unique facade of blue and gold columns and even though the grounds are off-limits, the public can take photos near the gates. The surrounding gardens are beautifully manicured and the palace is in a beautiful setting between the mountains and the sea.

One of the forts above the Sultan's palace

Karina and Jose in front of the ornate blue and gold gate

Across the extensive roundabout is the National Museum of Oman. The very modern museum was established in 2013, and showcases the nation's heritage from the earliest human settlement in the Oman Peninsula about 2 million years ago to the present day.

National Museum of Oman

We loved our visit, the museum had a lot of interesting exhibits, it was a great cultural experience.

Wooden carved doors

An illuminated maquette of the area where the Palace and Museum are located

Maquettes a few of forts around Oman

In 1998 a shipwreck was discovered off the coast of Oman, which is believed to be the "Esmeralda", a ship from Vasco da Gama's second voyage to India (year 1502/3).

The excavation of the shipwreck took place between 2013 and 2015 and over 2800 artifacts were found at the wreck site included coins, navigational instruments, etc, which helped determine the nationality and date of the wreckage.

Cruzados (gold coins) issued by King Dom Manuel I, minted in Lisbon c.900-907

and a bronze Sodré Astrolabe, c.1496/1500 the oldest known astrolabe in the world. It measures 17,5cm in diameter and features the Portuguese royal coat of arms (armillary sphere), a personal emblem of the King of Portugal. Astrolabes were used to measure the altitude of the sun and stars in order to determine geographical latitude.

Cruzados (coins), bronze bell and astrolabe

Model of a Portuguese Caravel (1,1mt) made by Carlos Montalvao - a replica of the "Berrio" from Vasco da Gama's first fleet to India, which sailed from Lisbon on the 8th July 1497 and returned on 10th July 1499 with the news of the discovery of the India Route. This caravele was among the first European ships encountered by Omani merchants in East Africa.

A bronze Falconet cannon from Macau (1052/3), made by Manuel Tavares Bocarro, richly decorated with acanthus leaves on the muzzle and barrel and handles designed to resemble Chinese style lions. The words "Viva el rei dom Joao 4" (Long live King John IV) are inscribed on the breech of the cannon.

Antique gold ornaments and 2 old Bibles

The frankincense tree (Boswellia sacra) is a tree native to the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen) and Somalia in Africa. It produces a resinous dried sap, that when harvested can be used for incense, essential oils and perfume - quite popular in Oman.

After our visit we decided to enjoy a slow walk along the corniche, until we reached the Souq (market) about 4km away.

But first we stopped at a small eatery - Karak Baba Jan - where we sat outside. The owner/cook wasn't too well versed in English, but we managed to order a few snacks. We had ordered a salad too and we saw him run across the road to the mini-market to buy lettuce. Later someone from the supermarket left a frozen chicken on the verandah (probably ordered before).

When it came to pay, he only accepted cash, but Karina only had big notes and he had no change, so off he goes again across the road to get change...

Another Western couple only had a card to pay with, and they eventually offered to pay in American dollars which the proprietor accepted.

Anyway we had a few giggles there.

The small restaurant where we stopped for lunch

Home-made chicken nuggets, chicken wraps, mint and lime juice

From the restaurant: view of Al-Mirani fort rebuilt by the Portuguese in 1587

We carried our walk in the corniche to the Muttrah area, past the Muscat Gate. There is a small free Museum located here on the fortress walls on Al Saidiya street, which we didn't visit. (with exhibits about Muscat's ancient wells, souqs, mosques, harbours and forts).

A nice mosque near the old gate

Along the corniche appeared a strange structure - Riyam Censer - built on top of Riyam Park hill, this gigantic incense burner was built to celebrate Oman's 20th National day in 1990.

Along the way we also found lots of marble statues with sea animals

The sun was setting and we were nearing the heart of the Muttrah (sea port and commercial centre of Muscat).

A huge yacht - Al Said - in the Sultan Qaboos Port was indicated to us as belonging to the Sultan of Oman. In 2008 when it was finished it was the second largest in the world!

Sultan's yacht

The Muttrah Fort came into view. An historic fort on the hills overlooking the harbour. We visited it another day.

Muttrah fort

We entered the souq (market) just for a quick look around and to buy some fridge magnets. Just like in Qatar, it was clean and we didn't get hassled to buy anything.

Muttrah's souq is the oldest marketplace in Oman.

After our visit we caught a taxi to the hotel, so we could put on warmer clothes to go out again, this time to visit the Muscat Flower Festival.

A funny sign in a shop outside the souq : Take the shop (rent me)

I had read somewhere about the Muscat Flower Festival, at Qurum Natural Park, and I'm glad we visited this exhibition as it was beautiful, with flowers, food, entertainment and drone shows. It runs for a month from about the end of December to the end of January. The taxi driver dropped us by the main gate and we joined the short queue to buy the entry tickets.