Muscat… we meet again.

And so soon.

Are you sick of reading about Oman yet?

Way back when I thought I’d be spending National Day in Beirut and not Oman, I awoke with a marvelous idea! Sarah and I should go to Muscat together!

I proposed my plan: We spend a couple days in Muscat before I fly out to Jordan. This way, I’d have another adventure to fill my time and Sarah would get to take a trip (her husband didn’t get vacation time).

Turns out… we ended up in and around Muscat for National Day, and Sarah’s husband did get vacation time (which allowed them to take a super fun trip to Thailand). After the facts changed, I was a little less excited about our three days in Oman’s capital (but still super stoked to spend time with Sarah). What can you do?

We arrived at our hotel after a crazy taxi ride. Ok. I’ve been in some pretty wild taxis… zipping here and there, speeding like whoa… this was completely different. He may have been sleeping. He may have been drunk. Who knows. He also may have been rotating between driving on the turtles and driving right smack in the middle of two lanes. Sarah and I tried to hold a conversation but mostly looked at each other incredulously laughing.

After eating a falafel across the street and chatting with an Egyptian man about how Kuwaitis are actually Jew-Arabs because they love money so much (he talked, we scowled), we decided that two nice girls really shouldn’t be out on the street at midnight. Good night, Muscat.

The next morning we ventured out to hit all the major tourist sites. Took about an hour. No really. If you come to Muscat, bring your 4×4. There’s not too much to do for pedestrian travelers.

Our first stop was the souk. Inside vendors sell everything from pashmina scarves, to incense and spices. The ceiling and stained glass were especially enchanting. Having seen most of these items on offer other places, we didn’t indulge.

Instead we took a pleasant walk along the Corniche…

…and ordered delicious milkshakes.

Having checked another major attraction off the list, we visited the fish market. Gross. Gross. Double gross. We arrived a bit late in the day as far as fish selling goes so the stockpiles were fairly low. I didn’t take any photos but I did nearly slip and fall on the slimy fishy floor. I cannot imagine.

At this point we had visited 3 of the city’s major attractions and deserved a nap. I didn’t realize how tired I was until waking up hours later just in time for dinner. Day 1: finished.

xo, jill