Tuesday, February 14, 2017

La La Land of Excess and Land of Frankincense: Part III

Land of Frankincense: Part II

Wednesday, 1 February 2017

Early start today. We left the apartment just before 08:00 and walked up to the main road to catch a cab. We had barely stopped when a car pulled up and asked where we were going. Apprehensive, we told them we were going to to Mwasalat bus stop and the bloke inside offered to give us a ride. I was uneasy and asked how much he expected for the ride. He assured us he wanted to help and showed a file, saying he was an engineer. We looked at each other then decided to trust him. We just hoped he wouldn’t turn out to be like the man in Petra who demanded us to pay him.

He drove to the taxi stand near the souks and asked the cabbies there before driving off. We would have been happy had he dropped us there but he drove on and finally I recognised some landmarks and told CT that we were on the right track. We made small talk and he mentioned that he was actually an Egyptian who had lived in Oman for the past 15 years. He dropped us off and we got down after thanking him profusely. We then made our way to the Mwasalat office and bought tickets to Muscat. The fare was OMR1.8 for each of us.

The bus came along and we boarded it after loading our bags. The journey took almost two hours. At Ruwi, we changed buses for the red city bus no. 4. Unfortunately, it didn’t pass Mutrah High Street so we got down a stop before the Mutrah Souk stop and walked to our hotel. We walked for about 35 minutes in the hot sun dragging our bags behind us. Well, the journey wouldn’t have taken as long if I had not needed to stop every now and then to check we were on the right path. We finally reached Mutrah Hotel and checked in (check-in and check-out times are 12:00). A Bangladeshi worker who used to work in Malaysia showed us to our room. I was disappointed when I saw our room. It was spacious but the furniture looked like it came straight out of the 1970s. The wifi connection was also unreliable that first day. I ventured out around 13:30 to check out the neighbourhood. There was a SPAR supermarket and Muscat Bakery (it has a branch in Nizwa and in fact I bought the previous day’s lunch from the outlet in Nizwa) just diagonally across the street so I went over to buy a 6-litre bottle of water from SPAR and some buns from the bakery before returning back to my room.

We left at 15:30 and walked down Mutrah High Street. We decided to take some back alleys until we emerged out at Al Mina Street. We walked on until we saw the direction for BaitAl Baranda (no, there is no Tourist Information Centre in either Bahla, Nizwa, Mutrah or Muscat, at least none that we could find!). The house has many exhibits on the archaeological and maritime history of Oman and Muscat. Entrance fee was OMR1. We spent about an hour there before heading out.

We then walked along the waterfront or The Corniche. The sun was getting down so it wasn’t too hot and there was the light breeze that made the walk very pleasurable. We enjoyed people-watching, bird-watching and even spent a brief while watching some foreign workers catching fish without the use of any fishing rod. We walked all the way until we almost reached Riyam Park. There were some benches and we sat down for a while before turning back. We went to the Mutrah Souk but we were also starting to feel hungry so we decided to return the next day or on Friday.

We decided to try out some fish biryani (the ticket man at Bahla Fort told us that Omani eat a lot of fish) for dinner from a restaurant across the street from our hotel. I think it’s called Amazon Restaurant and it has a lot of customers because we saw a lot of people who drove by to pick up their orders which they placed by phone calls earlier. It was a good thing we bought only one portion because it was a huge portion and yes, it was very good! The portion was so big that we managed to save some for the next day’s lunch.

Thursday, 2 February 2017

We had a lot of places to cover today so we had another early start. We went for breakfast just after 07:00 – it was adequate, Alhamdulillah – before walking to the fish souk. Yes, you read that right, the fish souk. We had to go through a covered market selling vegetables to get to the fish market. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of any fishy smell there and we spent some time enjoying the atmosphere before leaving. A new fish souk is being constructed next to the covered small market.

We waited 15 minutes for the bus no. 4 to Palace Al Alam. The fare was 200 Bz if you travel within one zone. The Palace is the ceremonial palace for Sultan Qaboos. We couldn’t enter the palace grounds but we could walk outside the palace perimeter.

We then walked around until we stumbled upon Bait Al Zubair Museum, funded by its founders, the Zubair family. The museum houses the family’s vast collection of Omani artefacts and consists of a number of buildings. We first went to Bait Al Bagh which is the main museum building and houses exhibits of Oman’s architectural heritage. There are also galleries on the ground floor that exhibit excellent examples of khanjar (Omani dagger), male and female attire, traditional swords and firearms, antique jewellery, musical instruments and even a wedding display. On the first floor is a stamp collection and also some coin collection. There are also other buildings, one housing an art gallery and the other, a café. In the garden is a miniature example of falaj, the irrigation system in Oman, and miniature forts. The entrance was an eye-watering OMR2.

After that, we walked to Omani French Museum, a museum located in the former residence of the French Consul. It provides a snapshot of mostly 19th Century colonial life in Muscat. I didn’t enjoy it as much. The lady who manned the reception (first time we met a lady receptionist) was excited when we told her we were from Malaysia and said she had been to KL just last year.

We left and sat in the garden, eating the biryani leftover. I then went to ask the lady at the reception if there was a prayer room and she said no. Nevertheless, I used the bathroom and performed ablutions. We walked back to Al Alam Palace and I decided to perform prayers outside a mosque.

After that, we walked back to the bus stop and waited 15 minutes for the bus. I asked the driver if it was possible to take the bus to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and he said yes. A helpful female passenger told us we would need to change buses at Ruwi station. No problem, we thought. So we rode the bus all the way to Ruwi bus station and at the station, I asked the bus no. 1 driver if his route cover the Grand Mosque. He said yes so we boarded. We had to pay 300 Bz fare as it was in another zone. I then asked if the bus would pass the RoyalOpera House and he said yes. Great! So it was possible after all to travel on your own without going on the Big Bus Tours to explore Muscat. We did it the ‘backpacking way’. Heh.
  
As we were approaching the Royal Opera House, the driver asked if we wanted to get down. I thought quickly and said we would stop on our way back so we continued on. The Grand Mosque is in the Madinat As Sultan Qaboos district and about 25 minutes away from Ruwi. The driver told us the stop so we got down and walked to the overhead bridge to cross over. It was a bit of a walk to the Grand Mosque. The Grand Mosque is open to non-Muslims only at certain times. We told the guards that we were Muslims and they allowed us in but told us to go to the ladies’ side only. On the way, I saw some ladies peering in the men’s section (the much larger section) so we joined in. We stayed probably all of five minutes as the call for Asar prayers came on not long after we were there. We then made our way to the ladies’ section before checking out the garden. I had already performed Zuhur and Asar Jamak prayers, otherwise I would have joined in too.

We walked back to a bus stop on the same side of the mosque and waited for the bus to the Royal Opera House. He told us where to get down and man, on hindsight, we should have just got down earlier and visited the Royal Opera House before taking another bus to the Grand Mosque. As it turned out, we had to walk back to the overhead bridge to cross over the highway and then walk to the Royal Opera House. Two buses passed by and we still hadn’t reached the Royal Opera House and as the bus frequency at that time of day was still every 15 minutes, it meant we took more than 30 minutes (or about 2 km!) to get to the Royal Opera House from the bus stop. We entered the grounds and took pictures of the exterior (we were not allowed inside) before checking out the Opera Galleria.

We trudged back and took a shortcut to cross the road – instead of walking all the way to the overhead bridge which we had used before, we went down into a dry river (drain?) and ran in the dark tunnel to the other side, just like the foreign workers. Haha! We reached the bus stop and checked the schedule: the bus was due in 4 minutes. Had we gone all the way to the overhead bridge to cross over the highway, we would’ve missed the bus.

We went down at Ruwi station, changed for bus no. 4 and got down at Murtah Souk. We browsed the souk and bought some dates (it’s kinda expected of me to buy dates for dad) before heading back to the hotel. Tonight we decided to try another restaurant and bought one Shely fish biryani to go. The portion was huge again but the rice was better at the first restaurant although this restaurant provided us with some gravy which was delicious. I also ordered some prawn soup which turned out very differently from the photo on the menu.

We had walked for more than 30 km today, yes, you read that right, more than 30 km (!) and with the biryani dinner, had no problems at all falling asleep.

Friday, 3 February 2017

It was an overcast start to the day and I was surprised to find the ground was wet when I stepped out before breakfast. We decided to have a late breakfast today as we weren’t planning to go out this morning. All museums are closed on Fridays (hence why we did the whirlwind tour of Muscat the day before) and the souk would only open from 15:00. We checked out at noon and sat at the lobby. I then went to pray at the corridor of the fourth floor (hotel looked like it was part Indian-owned and I doubt it had a prayer room). We then had leftover biryani before walking down to the souk after 15:00 and the waterfront where we waited for bus no. 4 to LuLu Hypermarket. Yes, it’s the same LuLu that has a supermarket at Capital Square in KL.

CT wanted to buy some souvenirs and managed to get some at LuLu at better prices than at the souk. We then went to the supermarket where I bought some buns before taking the bus back to the souk. At the souk, we bought some perfume oils to bring home. We probably spent an hour there checking out the different scents and haggling! This despite having visited the shop on our first evening in Mutrah! I was happy that I managed to buy perfume oils which cost less than the tacky made-in-China souvenirs.

We then walked back to the hotel and placed an order for chicken biryani at Amazon Restaurant before crossing over to the hotel to collect our bags. The owner had told us that the taxi fare to Ruwi station was 300 Bz (per person as it turned out) so after dinner, we stood to wait for taxies and of course where was one when you needed it? One came and asked for OMR6 (you gotta be kidding me mister) and another came and asked for OMR2. We bargained it down of course and the driver agreed. A man jumped in and sat in front, apparently another passenger. So in a way, that helped us because if he paid 300 Bz, why should we be asked to pay more (granted we did have some bags in the boot)? A taxi all the way to the airport would cost OMR10 at least. Definitely a no-no.

At Ruwi bus station, we saw a couple of no. 1 buses but we decided to head to a money changer first to sell off our OMR for USD. Thankfully the transaction didn’t take long. We managed to board the third no. 1 bus and got seats. All the buses were full that evening for some reason. The wind was very strong the whole day today and made the day seem cold.

It took 35 minutes to reach the airport stop and we got down and wrestled with our bags against the strong wind to the terminal building. We went to change and freshen up first, then I had to go to a mosque outside for prayers (again, the wind!) before rejoining CT. I must say that Muscat International Airport is woefully inadequate in providing seats for the travellers and those sending them off. We finally went in with the hope that we would get seats inside. Well, there were only 16 seats inside. 16 for all of us travellers waiting to check in our bags! We managed to get two vacant seats somehow and sat down to wait for the IndiGo check-in counters to open.

I got up to check the relevant counters and was surprised to find they were already opened. We finally joined the long queue. When our turn came, the man behind the counter proved less competent that his peers. He kept having to refer to his colleagues and acted as if he had never seen anyone checking in their bags, collecting them and checking them in again for the next flight. We finally got our boarding passes and went to the boarding area for another long wait.

Saturday, 4 February 2017

We finally boarded the bus to the plane and I fell asleep almost immediately. When I next opened my eyes, we were landing at Cochin. In Cochin, we went through the same routine as before. One thing though: make sure you get a bag tag for every hand carry bag you have. I was given only one and was told to get another one for my backpack. Not my fault when I was given only one at the counter! I was so angry that I stuffed my backpack into my Longchamp tote and carried on.

We boarded the plane (got seats close to the rear of the plane). No cushion and no blanket this time – do you only provide them for evening flights, Malindo?! We landed at KLIA at 17:30 and the bags took a while to come out.


If I ever had the opportunity and rezeki to visit Oman again, I would love to go to the Bimmah sinkhole, Wadi Shab and maybe Musandam. I tried fitting Musandam into our trip; unfortunately, we were pressed for time and there is only one ferry going and one returning in a week. You could fly there of course but we didn’t really consider that. Or you could go by land via UAE but be subject to another UAE exit fee and Omani visa fee on arrival. Oman is a beautiful country and still relatively unexplored.