Recently I visited Muscat, Oman...

Sunrise from my room... 1.

When I travel, because the client is paying, I usually arrive the night before and spend the required days in the client’s offices and then fly home. I rarely, at least until lately, get the opportunity to see a little of the surrounds and it’s even more unusual for me to be there on a non-working day such as Sunday or Public Holiday. Therefore I would not usually have any pics or stories about my trip.

This time however, I was in Oman on a Saturday, which is actually Thursday. By that I mean, Friday in Oman is prayer day and is therefore equivalent to our Sunday, a day of no work which makes Thursday a day of no work as well. I was to be working in my client’s empty office on the Thursday, so I decided not to go in until the afternoon and do some sightseeing in the morning.

I had one place on my agenda, the Grand Mosque. Its official name is Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. I recommend that you go here and read about it because it’s quite a fantastic building. You’ll also see better pictures than mine.


Sunrise from my room... 2.


But before we look at my pictures of the Mosque, I’d like to tell you about Mohammed… no not the prophet, the cab driver… I know, everyone and their son is called Mohammed over there and I have no idea how they figure out who has just had their name called when in a waiting room, but that’s not for us to worry about, this guy was a gem.

In Oman, as with many places I’ve been to, they don’t have meters in their cabs, and so one must negotiate the price. However, over my last three or so visits to Oman, I have found that the cabbies are quite decent and honest, and above all else, consistent with their fares and they don’t try to rip you off. Perhaps, because they’re all called Mohammed, I should thank Allah for that. Anyway, having the cab go where you want it to and negotiating the price in English can be a bit of a hit and miss process.

That is, unless you have your own Mohammed.

I found Mohammed on one of my first cab trips after arriving. He has a late model cab that’s clean, neat and tidy, he has a reasonable command of English and he has a wonderful habit of making himself ‘your’ cab driver and insists that you phone him direct when you need a cab. He would take me to the office in the morning and then ask what time I wanted to go back to the hotel and to phone him when I was ready. But he wouldn’t take the fare at that point. The other end of the day, after I call and wait maybe 10 minutes, he would pick me up and take me to my hotel. But he wouldn’t take his fare at that point if I wanted him to come back later to take me somewhere else and back again, it was only after the day was done that I paid him.


Sunrise from my room... 3.


When I went to visit the Mosque, Mohammed said he would wait for me. I suggested that I could be over an hour but he just answered with “One, two hours… that’s okay, I wait”. After two and a half leisurely hours of wondering around the Mosque and its surrounds, I walked back to the car park and there was Mohammed waiting… under a tree… in the shade… in 45 degree heat. He and the cab were parked a fair way off in the shade, he jumped up and started the car’s engine and by the time I got to the car the aircon had done a wonderful job of cooling the car down.
The real test for him was when I had to leave for the airport at 3:30am. I even offered to ring him at 3:00 to wake him up but he said it would not be necessary. Well the next morning I had just finalised my check-out and was pointing out to the receptionist that, amongst the row of clocks displaying current time for various cities, the clock for Sydney was out by one hour, (hey I’m anal… I notice these things) when spot on 3:30 I heard Mohammed standing behind me saying “Good morning”.

So if you go to Muscat be sure to look up Mohammed... and tell him I sent you.


And now for the Mosque...

The ground isn't wet... it's highly polished
marble.


Looking out to the surrounds.


One of the long walkways around the building.


And off to the side...


...one of the ablutions rooms.


Shall we step inside?


The centre of the centrepiece...



...panning the camera out...



...to reveal this incredible hand made
chandelier.



Various internal images...



























And of course...
... me ol mate Mohammed.



Cheers.