Au Revoir, Oman

Sunday  Oct. 5

We awoke to another beautiful day on the GOO!  But, alas, we leave at noon. I was up at 7, put on my bathing suit and went to walk on the beach to do some beach combing. Very few guests up and about!  However, MANY workers were out preparing the beach, the pools, the lounges and the patio areas!  The temp was 82 but felt like 91 according to the weather channel.  At 8, I met Peter at the outdoor Al Waha lounge for cappuccino served by our new friend Rina from Nepal.

The Mirisolas were at the breakfast buffet about 9. I went for my last cruise down the Lazy River before breakfast. This, the Lazy River, is definitely my favorite activity here at Shangri-la!  If I had the $$$, I'd build one in my back yard and spend a lot of time floating in it!!
Back at breakfast, we all ate heartily since we weren't sure about lunch.

At 11:45 we reconvened in the lobby, ready to depart. One problem!!  We had hired a van and driver for the afternoon....valet had no record of it!!!  Situation soon rectified and off we went toward Muscat in 2 cabs.

Oman is a beautiful, scrubbed, friendly country. The sultan who took over in 1970 started significant changes including education reforms and beautification because he knew that their oil and therefore their resources would diminish. Before 1970 there were 3 schools in all of Oman. Now the literacy rate if 86%!

Our drivers drove us into Muscat and we were quite impressed. We saw the sultan's palace and his magnificent yacht as well as some well maintained Portuguese fortifications dating from the mid 16th century when Oman was occupied by the Portuguese, beautiful landscaping with trees and shrubs and, again, ornate street lights.  We stopped at the
Bait al Bair,  a museum of Omani culture including elaborate exhibits of weapons, the home, clothing and jewelry, stamps, instruments and manuscripts. Outside there were an authentic Omani guest house, a miniature Omani village and many ornately painted wooden goats of different species.

After a stop at the Muscat Souq where we bargained and subsequently made some purchases, we made a Starbuck's stop for refreshment. Our last stop before the airport was at the Opera House.  It's a magnificent building that cost 100 million rial to build
and contains the "best restaurant in Muscat" according to our driver. We never did get to see the Grand Mosque since it is Eid and is not open much to the public. However we did learn that it took 6 years to build and that it took 600 women 4 years to weave a circular carpet inside the mosque on which
6000 men can pray.

The rest of the day was taken up with the airport, passport control, visas, eating at DQ, flying back to Bahrain, taking cabs back to Mirisolas , unpacking and retiring for the night!