So you know I hate pictures without people in them, but today we drove around and explored the area by car, so this is all I could get. Unlike Egypt, you have to have a car to get around here. It’s basically a city connected by highways so that rules out a lot of walking tours.
I know nothing about any of these places/buildings, but they are different than anything we have in America and gives you a good feel for the style of architecture here, so there you go.
Near the souk (marketplace). I didn’t take any photos in the souk because since we’ll be here for a year, I’ll have lots of other opportunities to take pictures there. (Hello Egypt, have you met my friend irony?)
A cruise ship next to a special kind of boat that Josh told me the name of, but now I forget. Not really important except you can rent them. I’m sure we will and then I will take lots of pictures and tell you what they are really called.
The mountains/hills here are just like what we have in 29 Palms. Josh and I agree that Muscat feels a lot like old town Palm Springs. It’s more exotic than Egypt, but it feels more familiar. We were driving around and aside from the domed structures and the sultanesque flair to the buildings (most windows have an Aladdin-like shape), we could be in America. Except the roads here are better and most of the cars are nicer.
This Omani is stylin’ in the pinked out car with the Pink Panther hanging from the rear view mirror. We saw crazy things like this all the time in Egypt, but this is the first non-conformist I’ve seen in Muscat. Most people drive neutral colored BMWs or other luxury cars. There’s also a fair share of mid-range cars, but all cars are in good shape. There’s no “beater culture” here.
Finally, a people picture! It was 85 and humid, but breezy. Perfect weather. We ate lunch across the street from here at a place called Gulf Fast Food (or something like that). We had chicken tikka (spicy chicken), kabob, and schwarma (meat/tomato/cucumber/lettuce with a white sauce wrapped in flatbread). Lunch cost about $15 including 5 waters.
As I was sitting there it reminded me of when we ate lunch on the street in Egypt (yes, I know, everything reminds me of Egypt or is different than Egypt — I’ll get over it soon. I’m getting sick of it myself). Anyway, as I’m eating, I hear meowing. Seriously. I’ve seen exactly one cat in the three days we’ve been here so I think, “Aw, the kids are remembering the time in Egypt when we ate lunch and the cat scared me” until I see this scrawny creature come running out from under the table. Then Caleb got all excited and started freaking out and wanting me to take a picture of the cat and there we are . . . back in Egypt. And once again I’m the crazy lady taking pictures of stray cats. Here you go.
At least it’s not another boring picture of a building . . .