Muscat, Oman

My second business trip to the Middle East within 2 months. We were invited to a conference also to have some follow-up meetings with the partners we met in Tehran in January. It was an even shorter trip this time so there was very little time for sightseeing. The only attraction I managed to see was the Great Mosque, for which I had to get up at 4am German time to be able to get back before the conference started. But it was really worth it.

Once again, I was overwhelmed by the friendliness and hospitality of the people we met – very similar to our trip to Tehran in January. Hassan, an Omani business man I met by chance at lunch, made sure the hotel staff bring me some Halwa, a typical local dessert – very tasty, to try because they served mostly only Western foods at the hotel. He also took a few of us on a nice drive along the coast outside the city and introduced us to some “nature wonder”. We were surprised as we made a stop in the middle of the road in the middle of nowhere with not much to be seen. As he put the car into neutral gear, magically, the car started rolling up-hill, no joking!, as if there were some kind of force pulling it forward on the ascending road. I’d heard about similar things about some force of gravity from the earth beneath us, but seeing it in real life was really funny. We then tried again with laying a bottle of water on the street and same thing happened (see the video below). Guess mother nature always has some surprises in play for us.

During the conference, we stayed in the Al Bustan hotel which was a spectacle in its own right: the grand foyer, Swarowsky chandeliers, 3 infinity pool, palm garden, and endless beach. Hence it’s no surprise to find out it is owned by the Sultan himself and he does pay his visit to his president suite every now and then.

oman-1 — This is what you see when you enter the hotel

oman-2 — Close-up of the fountain in the middle of the hotel’s foyer

oman-3 — The hotel’s infinity pool at night

oman-4 — The hotel at night looks better than at day time

oman-10 — The Muscat city administration building at night

oman-9 — A “Fisherboat Memorial” in front of the city’s admin building

Getting up so early in the morning to visit the Grand Sultan Taboos Mosque was definitely worth it. It opens for non-muslim visitors only from 8-11am. I was lucky to be there by 8am because the place got very crowded as I left around 8.45. Having been there before everyone else gave me the opportunity to fully immerse in its peacefulness and tranquility that made the whole experience even more unique.