Grand Mosque

When I visited Jerusalem's Dome of the Rock in 1998, I thought it was the most beautiful building I had ever seen, both inside and out.  While the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat can't compete in terms of historical and spiritual significance, it is a remarkably beautiful place.

 

Women have to cover their hair and bodies down to the ankle to enter the mosque courtyards.  It was a quiet, beautiful morning and reminded us of walking around Temple Square in SLC.  

 

 

Each corridor displayed niches of a different style.  

Below:  Hijaz, Ottoman, Arabian, Mamluk, Indian, Mesopotamian

 

Ablution fountains (above and below) for ritual washing before prayer

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Near the entrance of the main prayer room.  

Every direction we looked we were surrounded by beauty.  

 

Main prayer room.  The enormous chandelier was shaped like a collection of minarets (towers that broadcast the call to prayer)

Left:  Library of Korans inside the women's prayer hall 

Right:  David's female students are constantly adjusting their headscarves, so he knew exactly how to arrange mine for me.  

 

Jabrin Fort

Built by Imam Sultan bin Saif Al Ya'arubi in 1670 as a strong hold and residence.  This is probably the most beautiful of the forts we have visited in Oman, with it's elaborate carvings and decorations.  Plus, it's the first and only place we've visited where we managed to get a decent family picture!  (keep scrolling) 

 

David met some Omani and Irani men up here, and of course they wanted pictures of Claire.

 

Left - Living Room (Majlis)                              Right - Jail

 

Ethan doesn't know what guns are, but he's seen a couple dozen cannons in his life!

 

Mosque

  

 Library

 

 Bath

   

Couldn't resist some bathroom humor

 

I'd love one of these at the foot of my bed!

 

Left- Date storage room                                   Right- Goat skin container

 

  Look!  Three out of four people smiling at the camera!  It doesn't get much better than that.  Thank you, German tourists. 

Bat Tombs

Bat Tombs

These beehive-shaped tombs date to the third millennium BC (5000 years old!) and comprise one of four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Oman.  There was a team of archeologists excavating when we arrived.  

 

Bat Tombs on the lower ridge with Jebel Mischt in the background.

Sur & Sea Turtles

The first week of March, we drove 3hrs south to the traditional dhow shipyards of Sur.  After 7 months of living in Oman, we knew we could walk right into the shipyard and no one would think anything of it.   

At 9pm we arrived at Ras al-Jinz, an important turtle nesting site where 20,000 green turtles return each year to lay eggs on the beach where they were hatched.  Our Omani tour guide led our group of 20 adults and children on a dark, 10-minute walk to the beach.  We saw turtles laying and burying eggs, a mother turtle returning to the ocean, and just-hatched baby turtles making their way out to sea by the light of the moon.  This was a unique and beautiful experience.  We were not allowed to take photos, but the picture below (from wikimedia) depicts a similar tour on the same beach: 

 

One of Ethan's favorite pretend play routines is to crawl into my bed like a buried sea turtle egg.  When he hatches, he crawls off the bed and "swims" across the tile floor on his stomach, trying to reach the sea before the large crabs on the beach get him.  It's pretty fun.

These ruins at Qalhat reminded me of field trips in and around Jerusalem (where David and I met in 1998). Apparently, Marco Polo visited this place in the 14th century.  The first photo shows the tomb of Bibi Maryam:

On the way home, we stopped by Wadi Bani Khalid, which he heard is amazingly beautiful.  We were hot and tired, and when one of Ethan's new, locally-made sandals fell apart walking through some water, we decided to cut our hike short.  Here we are picnicking next to a falaj (irrigation system).

Wadi Bani Auf

In late February we went "wadi bashing" with some friends.  A wadi is a river bed that is dry part of the year.  I suppose that "bashing" is what 4WD vehicles do on unpaved roads.  Anyhow, we've seen a lot of beautiful wadis and mountains here in Oman, and I continue to be amazed!

 

Mountain man (David)

  

Mountain goats

 

School building--Talk about rural!

 

Just when I think we've left civilization, I discover that we are at a major junction for several small villages.

 

Ethan hiking through Snake Canyon.  Some areas were steeper than expected!

 

The texture of this rock was sooo cool.  I thought it looked like someone took a giant icecream scoop to the canyon walls.

  

Sharing the road with goats--makes me laugh every time!

 

The local mosque.  Claire knows a mosque when she sees one, and points them out wherever we go.

  

Lunch break - Ethan & friend

 

Graveyard - graves are marked with standing rocks

   

Beautiful mountain village of Bilad Seet

 

Village street

  

Carport 

  

Soccer field with a view!  From Oman to Jerusalem, we have found middle easterners playing soccer in unlikely places. 

 

View from the top

We drove down the other side of the mountain into Nizwa.  After stopping for shawarmas at a place across from the Nizwa Fort, we headed home to Muscat.  A perfect day trip.