I have been going around Muscat, strange as it may seem, on whatever little public transport exists here. Taxis are now considered safe modes of travelling for short distances, and the orange and white cabbies also readily converse in broken English and Hindi,dependnig on their perception of your nationalilty.
So this evening, it was Mutrah, or the Old Muscat Corniche – which was completely destroyed by Muscat’s own tropical cyclone – Gonu, in 2008 and has now been built anew. Since this was the place where we lived since I can remember, and before we shifted to Darsait, I have an attachment toward the place. Also, ‘corniche’ is usually the term for sea coast, which is not a beach. The one in Muscat is so much more longer and brilliant than the Dubai one, it has lesser people around, you can actually hear the waves; and they have tried to keep it as close to nature as possible. There are also, huge blocks of granite strewn alongside the coastline in certain areas, where the seas are rough (much like those you would find along Marine Drive, Mumbai). This is also the place you would be dropped to, to shop if you came to Oman as a tourist. It houses the infamous ‘Mutrah Souq’, which is the one stop destination for one the largest gold and silver souqs, souvenir outlets, abaya and dish-dasha shops (the black robe worn by women, and the white ones by men, respectively), oudh shops – for perfumes and frankincense, exclusive Persian carpet stores, and also, hot dog and shawarma mini-restros within walking distances. The whole feeling is very Arabic, the entrance is a massive Islamic architecture symbolic gateway, with the essential colourful stained glass works and verses from the Holy Quran inlayed into the brick work. There are alleys within alleys, and no directions, so best go with someone who already knows the place, because the shopkeepers are mostly Malayalis or Omanis – both do not have an array of foreign languages, especially English in their kitties. Hence, best not to ask for directions!
I wanted pictures of the port and Corniche at sunset, and Mum wanted to visit her favourite silver and gem stone outlet, hence we mutually agreed to go. However, I found several interesting things at this shop – owned by a Kashmiri man, who immediately assumed that I work for a channel, at the sight of my DSLR, and shot out ‘Kaun sa channel?’. It took me quite a while for me to explain that I was photographing as a hobby, and honestly, when asked about what I do, I did not even think of explaining Public Relations, as a career. I was so sure he would be absolutely confused. That happens to be one of the problems of my profession – no one out of it seems to know about it. Returning to the point,there were several nice things at this shop, and I got myself a pair of silver and garnet earrings, and a brilliant emerald studded pendant (Yes, I am still on my green craziness, remember the green jhola in the last post?); got some nice pictures also, but now as many as I would like, so there will be another trip soon!
Spoke to Baba, who is now at Guanzhong, China. He says it is raining continuously and the temperature is 8 Degree celcius, and my father does not enjoy precipitation of any sort; especially when it is already cold. Although, he’s having a great time at the Canton Fair. It is beer,a four star hotel, all kind of non vegetarian food, and solid surface material: Baba claims this could just be heaven!
This was also the first time I travelled in a taxi in Muscat. And I always thought that there was nothing I had not done here. Now that I am on a Tourism Oman! spree, may as well try everything =D
PS: For some reason, blogger won’t let me upload any images, hence, the posts are purely text! The pictures shall follow soon.