The Muscat port in Oman is not very busy. It can only handle 2 cruise boats at a time; this is the Costa boat that docked after our boat. The Costa boat carries 4947 passengers and 1253 crew while our smaller Azamara boat only handles 700 passengers (though on this trip we learned that there were ~100 vacant cabins).
The Sultan of Oman has 2 large yachts, similar in size to small cruise boats like the Flora which we took on the Galapagos trip. We were told that the sultan preferred to sail to Europe in these boats.
Our first day in Oman took us to historic forts and souks in Nizwa which is located east of Muscat (a 2hr drive on a modern highway). The eastern tribes were unified by Sultan Qaboos bin Said (who passed away 2 weeks after our visit) when it became a country in 1970. Shown below is a corner of Fort Nizwa which has been renovated for tourism.
A portion of a working farm is located in the fort. Here a local is fetching water from a well.
Scenes from the souk (market) in Nizwa. Pictures of Sultan Qaboos are everywhere.
Colorful spices. What can't be captured are the fragrant odors.
A large spatula and pan used for mixing spices. The pan itself resembled a large flat wok. I liked the texture and pattern of the metal surfaces.
The second day in Oman took us to the Grand Mosque where there are striking buildings and elegant chandaliers. To my eye, Islamic architecture is more esthetic than European churches.
