Muscat is the largest city and capital of Sultanate of Oman. The summers are extremely hot here. It was a mixed experience for me in Oman. Met some real good people.
Day trips to long locations were the highlight here. Roads are extremely good. I thought of renting car for my trip (as internet says Indian driving license is allowed to drive in Oman), but the hotel manager stopped me from doing so as Oman have right side driving (In India we drive on left side) and it requires International driving permit to rent a car. So be aware of it.
I use ‘OTaxi’ app to book Taxis in Muscat. For me it was reliable every single time though i see negative reviews in google. 90% of the time Drivers speak nice. Some choose not to 🙂 Every ride costs minimum 1 OMR. Even a less than KM travel i had to pay that. But in the same time even from ‘Al Azaiba’ to ‘Airport’ it costs 2.1 OMR only. so i think the app is reasonable. Same like India, i noticed whenever i booked a Taxi on OTaxi and wait, the nearby taxi drivers come to me and bully me for not choosing to hire them directly. But if i ask taxi drivers directly, they ask 3 OMR for the same rides that costs 1 OMR with OTaxi app.
Bus transportation is being handled by ‘Mwasalat’. Buses are air conditioned and also maintained in good condition. But bus travel will be a nightmare if you do not speak Arabic and do not know how to tell destination name to driver to get ticket. First few times i struggled, but eventually i understand costing and location names so it becomes easier. I noticed tourists struggled with bus driver. so be aware of it. Bus drivers are 90% not friendly in my experience.
They employed Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis in all the places so wherever i go it feels like i do shop in India. Too many Malayali hotel’s and some of them had taste even better than it taste in kerala itself 😀
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque was commendably impressive. It is opened for Tourists from 8 – 11 AM only. You will find Islamic scholars comes to you and give details and information regarding the Mosque and Islam. They had Information centre also there in the mosque. I had a long conversation with Islamic scholars on some topics. In the end they gave me 3 free books as gift for participating.
Wadi Shab was very good place to visit especially summers. The hike was tough given the extreme hot conditions during summer. But at the end it feels heaven to jump into those waters after such long hike. So many ‘Wadi’ (Water valley) i noticed during travels. But 99% of them are dried up as the temperature was too hot in summers.
Bimmah Sinkhole was a commendable attraction. A park was made around it so it was a relaxing place in mid of hot desert area.
Muttrah Souq (market) was one the best location to shop as i find a lot of things were cheaper compare to other places. so i packed all my souvenirs from here 😀
