Da Muscat-eer. Review on Muscat

Heaven On Earth... Why? You will soon realise.

The Governate of Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

For me, Muscat was not just another tourist destination. It was my HOME for almost Seven years. I spent all my youth in a country that is known the world over for it's peace and calm, cleanliness and serenity.

I know whole of Oman inside out, so I think I am worthy of writing a review on this heaven of a place.

Oman is very deep in tradition. Sultan Qaboos the current Sultan of Oman, had imprisoned his father and taken over the throne on 26th November 1970. This is celebrated as the Renaissance Day in Oman. Lucky for me I saw Seven such celebrations. Oman as a whole stretches from North East to South West to more than around 1500 kms. This is also around the Distance from Muscat to Salalah [the hill station of Oman as we call it]. Oman has many local nationalities from different races:

1. Arab Bedouin [Badou]

   
   




2. Baluchi's from Baluchistan, Pakistan

   
   




3. Zanzibari [from Zanzibar, Africa]

   
   




4. The Badou's were original arabs who roamed the deserts in Oman many years ago. They are still considered the original nationals of Oman.

   
   




5. The Baluchi's landed in Oman more than 100 years ago when the then rulers had employed these fierce fighters to fight wars for them. Later they were offered national status in Oman for their commitment to the country. Be careful of this BREED. They are pukka cons.

   
   




6. The Zanzibari's are originally from Zanzibar [a small island on the East coast of Africa, in the Indian Ocean]. The Sultan's family is also from Zanzibar. Oman was controlled by Sultan Qaboos' grandfather from Zanzibar. But later they shifted to Oman and made Muscat their capital.

   
   

Oman was originally called Muscat wa' Oman [Muscat and Oman]

Muscat is the capital of Oman. As soon as you get down at the Seeb International Airport at Muscat, you will be greeted by the local Baluchi and Badou [Bedouin-Arab] taxi drivers. They all know Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, English and some speak Malayam and Tamil too !! Though not very fluently. When you come out of the airport area, you will be amazed by the cleanliness of the streets. It is one of the cleanest cities in the World, just after Singapore.

As soon as you pass from Seeb area and go towards the town area, you will find Ghala. Ghala is where I worked and lived for all the time. Ghala is a HUGE industrial estate covering an almost 5kms radius. Here you will find all the bangali, punjabi, gujrati, tamil, malayali and pakistani bhai log all eating together and dancing together. In Ghala we have a small HOLIDAY INN hotel. It is cheap and best to stay in. Ghala is no place for families to roam in. It is a bit crime prone too, though compared to INDIA, as good as nil. In Ghala, we also have Sultan Qaboos Hospital, where I was a regular. All the nurses there know me well. hehe!!

Further from Ghala is Al Khuwair. Al Khuwair, is a little better locality where you will find some high rise buildings. High rise means... a 5-7 Storey. I was a resident for a month in one of the tallest buildings there ''ICE SKATING RINK Building''. Very famous cause Sneha Ullal was a member of Ice Skating once. Ask any Indian about Al Khuwair and he will start directing you from Ghasitaram restaurant in Al Khuwair. All Indian bachelors and families come there for their daily meals. Omanis just take parcels and zip off. But you wont believe it. You still get a Punjabi UNLIMITED Thali there for just 0.700 baiza [80-85 Rupees]. Just next to it is a Gujju joint ''SOHA Restaurant''. There too you will get the same thali for 0.650 Baiza. They both have tough competition. It never stops really. Just opposite these Indian joints on the other side of the road is Ministry Street. Ministry of Electricity & Water [MEW], Director General of Project Management [DGPM] and many more. All white and chocolate brown in color. Dont be surprised all government buildings in Oman are choco color. Even some hospitals.

Then there is Qurum and Qurum Beach Road [Jawahrat Al Shatti]. Qurum is the posh area of Muscat. Like Pali hill is in Bombay. Dont even think of peeking in the villas here. You will faint, if you are visiting a Gulf country for the first time. Everything is Gold plated there. From Main Gate to Door Knob, From Tiles to Chandeliers, From WC's to Wash Basin taps. Here only the ministers and big VVIP's stay. The entire stretch is monitored by Live CCTV cameras. So Be Careful!! Along the Qurum Beach Road though it is more lively and beautiful. Both for the eyes and soul. There is about a km stretch of road that gets hijacked by youngsters in Porsche's, Mercs and BMW's and the footpaths are occupied by joggers and walkers. The beach is taken over by families on rugs with barbecues lighting all along the beach. This place is best visited on Thursday and Friday night only.

Further ahead towards town is Wattayah. My frequent hangout point. WHY?? Cause it houses all the car showrooms. From Daihatsu to Toyota to BMW to Ford to Volkswagen to Suzuki, you name it and you find it. I used to spend at least an hour gazing at every showroom. All the showrooms are in a single row, except for HONDA which is on the other side of the road, standing alone. hehe!!

Now comes the town, Ruwi and Muttrah. Ruwi is an Indian shopper's paradise. Clothes from 1-5 rials and electronics from 5-20 rials. So if you have just a 50000 INR ka budget, you can visit Ruwi and find all the chor bazar ka maal here.

Then there is Muscat city where you can find the Sultan's Palace. This palace is worth seeing if you visit Muscat.

This is all I can write about. Happy Muscat-ing.