As I told you, I got 4 friends from Doha visiting Oman. They arrived to Muscat and I planned to take them around on the whole day. The girls, (C & B) stayed at my place and the boys ( M & D) stayed at a couchsurfing family.
Me and the girls woke up early morning and went to the fish market in Mattrah. I missed that place alot because I remember when I was young, dad would always take us there to buy fresh fish.
The fish market functions in the early mornings because the fishermen go to the sea right after the fajr (dawn) prayers and by 7:30am, they will be back to shore with their catch. Everyone from around Muscat comes to this fish market to buy fresh fish. There are two sections in the fish market: a section to sell the fish and the other section to clean and cut the fish after its bought. I really like this system as it is very efficient and quick.
After the fish market, We went back to get the boys from the house at which they stayed.
Our next stop was the Grand Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Al-Azaiba area. This mosque was at one time the largest in the Gulf (after the Masjid al Haram in Makkah) and is still one of the largest Mosques in the Middle East region.
You can click the link to read more about it however I will tell you that the carpet is so huge that it was woven on site and it is one complete piece. It cost more than 5 million Omani riyals
(around 13 million USD). Here are some pictures of this majestic Masjid which is one of my favorites around the world.
After the Grand Sultan Qaboos Mosque, we did a short road trip tour around Muscat in the car. We drove by the sand dunes in Al-Khuwair area, the malls in Al-Qurum Area and than went to the Old Muscat City.
The Old Muscat City has many historical sites that you have to visit if you come to Oman. We started the tour by going to the Qasr Al Alam Palace, Or the residence of the Sultan (president) of Oman.
Our next stop was to an Omani research facility that focused on the Omani Fishery. It had a huge Aquarium that had fish native to Oman. I had never been to this place and I advice everyone to go there. It makes you proud to be Omani.
After we took several pictures of the fish and the sea turtles, We went back home for lunch. Mom insisted that we have lunch with them at home. We rested for a while before we continued on our schedule for the rest of the day.
We headed out to the bandar Al Jissa Resort. This resort has 3 hotels that range from 5 to 7 stars. Its a very lavish and amazing place to be at. We went in and took a walk around one of the hotels. The beach is amazing and they even have a lazy river!.
My friends didnt want to leave until they finished the game of chess they had started on the big chess board!
Our next stop was the corniche. We chilled around there for a few minutes before we went into the Mattrah Souq. This souq is very touristy and has silver and gold gifts like jewelery and swords.
My friends wanted to get some souvenirs and gifts for their families and friends. They went on that quest while I chilled and helped them bargain for some of the things they wanted.
By the time we were done, it was sunset. We watched the sunset over the corniche which is a view that you must not miss. Sorry, no pictures of that.
After sitting by the corniche water fountains for about an hour and talking about random topics,we moved on and went to see the Sultan's Palace again at night, since the view is a lot much better.
We ended the night with an amazing BBQ with the family that the guys had stayed with. It was an interesting chat.
This is all about my trip around Muscat. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
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