November 20, 2011
Driving from the pier in Muscat we drove by the giant incense burner in the world. We then drove along the Batinah Coast which is very pretty. We arrived at our first stop Nakhal Fort, perched on a 200-foot high hilltop with spectacular views. We saw the ladies’ sitting room, the prison, the split level terraces, and courtyards. We then visited the Nakhal Springs, a tranquil and picturesque area framed by majestic mountains. On the way to our lunch at the Grand Hyatt, we drove through Nakhal Village. After lunch we drove by the Al Zawawi Mosque, unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to go inside, but the outside looks amazing.
We then headed to the exquisite Al Alam Palace which overlooks Muscat Bay. We didn’t see the inside of the Palace but the grounds were awesome.
One interesting thing our tour guide told us about was that you get a fine if your car isn’t clean.
The second to last stop on today’s tour was Bait Al Zubair, a private museum that has collections of Omani items such as weaponry, jewelry, clothing, books, photographs, paintings and old maps. We spent some time speaking to the owner of the museum who was very nice.
The last stop on our tour was a shopping stop at the colorful Muttrah Souq. We purchased frankincense, incense, and an Omani dagger.
Follow us on our journey the next and last stop on this trip is Dubai, UAE for two days.
