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This morning, (June 3rd) we sailed into Mina Qaboos, the port of Muscat, Oman. We entered the harbour which is "guarded by" two 16th century forts - all that remains of Albuquerque's ambitions to control the waters of the Indian Ocean. We'd visited this port last year so these early images seemed 'familiar' to us. Images out of the fabled, "Alibaba and the Forty Thieves" filled our minds again as we surveyed the view before us.

We docked at about 8am and even then because it was the height of summer the air was warm and throughout the day we found ourselves in temperatures which ranged between 30C and 45C. In contrast winter temperatures range from 17C to 25C and are much more comfortable but today we dressed and hydrated ready for the summer onslaught.

On our port side we could see the absolute monarch's official residence: the Al Alam Palace which is an impressive blend of both modern and contemporary Islamic architecture.

A little bit of Muscat's history:

Muscat is the capital of Oman, one of the fabled ports of the Near East and a legendary trading centre connecting Europe and Asia as far back as the 1st century AD when Roman merchants, Indian traders and even Buddhist monks met, mingled and traded in the city's streets. Archaeological excavations have uncovered pottery from the early cities of the Indus River Valley digs outside the Muscat city.

Muscat has a colourful and turbulent history due to its strategic location and importance as a commercial port. A long line of foreign interlopers have staked their claim to the city and its' riches over the centuries.

During the West's Middle Ages the Iraqi Caliphate (ruler) of Baghdad exerted control over Oman for 2 centuries until 1508 when the Portuguese, Alfonse de Albuquerque, (don' t you just love his name) took possession of Muscat and became the dominant power over the entire Indian Ocean and Muscat for the next 151 years. In 1659 the Ottoman Turks took possession of Oman but they were driven out in 1741 by Ahmed bin Said of Yemen who liberation Oman from foreign domination. He consolidated the sultanate of Oman in 1744 and founded the present Royal line. Since this period the Al Said dynasty has ruled over Muscat and Oman. In 1970, Sultan Qaboos bin Said ascended to the Sultanate, and began an ambitious program of revitalisation of Muscat and Oman. Tourism has been part of this revitalisation.

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Today, Muscat looks like a city out of Arabian nights with traditional Arab dhows cruising beside modern liners and merchant cargo ships. There is also a fascinating mix of ancient and modern buildings. Whilst Arabic is the official language of Muscat, English, Urdu, Nepali, Baluchi and several Indian dialects are spoken here because Muscat is a multi-cultural country because many foreign workers are employed in various mining industries, building projects, domestic, commercial, transport and hospitality industries. Foreigners can never gain citizenship and they are paid less than citizens from Muscat who are employed in the same jobs but for many foreign workers the conditions in Muscat are much better than their home countries and they are able to send money home to support their families and provide an opportunity for their children's education and for them to rise above the poverty line.

Muscat's skyline is dominated by wide mountain ranges, tall domed mosques with sky bound intricate minarets, modern apartment buildings and date palm plantations. Camel trails have been replaced with modern highways which link Muscat with the vast stark and barren Arabia Desert, its rocky mountain ranges, isolated and scattered seasonal wades, hidden oases and new towns.

Through Cruise Critic we'd booked a private tour with a local guide. There were 36 in our group and we travelled in convoy, in air-conditioned 4-wheel drive vehicles with a driver-guide and 4 passengers. We left the waterfront about 8.30am and headed along the modern highway towards the high mountain ranges. Each time we entered a new town we passed through impressive archway edifices. The highways are very modern with electronic signage, speed cameras and in some areas overpasses and bridges over dry desert watercourses. Dry as they appear our driver assured us that beneath the desert soils, water courses flow through ancient stone layers and through channels that engineers have built to supply water for homes and small town green areas. Whilst oases areas have natural under water supplies, newer settlements rely upon rubber hosing trails to deliver water to small garden plots and small parklands.

Since our visit last year many of the highways and bridges have been extended and new booming towns have been completed "almost overnight". Some buildings like the blue domed roof one in the photograph (in this section on our Muscat blog), are very modern and energy efficient. Solar energy is being adopted at a fast rate since the sun is ever present in this middle-eastern country. Older settlements still rely upon electricity that is oil generated because Oman has enormous oil supplies. Most homes, office buildings, apartments and shops and businesses now rely upon air-conditioning to make living in such a hot country so much more comfortable. On our drive we saw no women or children in the towns but this may be due to the fact that Oman which is a strict Islamic country is observing the holy month of Ramadan which means that all Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and observe fixed hours of prayer throughout the day.

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Many people live in the city today but out in the desert permanent homes have replaced the carpeted-tents around wades where once camel traders gathered.

Whilst the desert and surrounding mountain ranges are dry and 'treeless' we often passed small oasis-type settlements where small irrigation channels carrying water from underwater streams deep beneath the parched, rocky and sandy desert floor, provide the much needed water for the small market gardens of these settlements. These settlements flourish with banana, date palm and home vegetables. Each tree or plant has a rubber hose drip-line attached to it and the once barren soil is now productive and small goat herds can be seen resting under the shade of the tress.

In a few of the larger towns that we passed through we were surprise to see the "golden arches" resplendent on the hot haze desert horizon. (we now know how to spell McDonalds in Arabic)

The further we drove towards the high distant mountain ranges the more we noticed the varying colours of the dry rocky hillsides and mountain passes. The colours of the rocks ranging from golden browns to greenish blues and shades of black indicated the presence of rich ore deposits, laid down thousands of years ago when these mountains were formed. We passed several side road leading up to mining areas and at one point we were amazed at the raw deposits of a mining area alongside our highway. The colours of the mined ore deposits were astonishingly bright as they glistened in the heavy glare and heat of the mid-morning sun. Our driver said it was 39⁰C and it was only 10.am. Some of the ore mined in Muscat include copper asbestos, marble, diamonds, gold and limestone. These are exported all over the world along with the rich supplies of oil which make up 95% of Oman's export market.

Many workers from third-world countries work long hours in the mining of minerals and the building and maintenance of the expanding residential towns and highways.

We passed workers returning to their shanty towns on foot around about 11 am. Many had worked through the night and were returning for a siesta in their air-conditioned cabins which are located as near to their worksites as possible. Our driver assured us that conditions have improved for these non-nationals in that whilst their wages are low, their accommodation is free and they have medical insurance and are able to provide for their families back home.

Our driver, Mohammed was about 32 years of age with a swollen jaw due to a severely infected tooth. Throughout the day he kept patting his jaw to relieve the pain as he said it was forbidden to swallow water during Ramadan and so he had not taken his antibiotics. Ken reminded him that the Koran states that there are provisions for the sick and elderly who may partake of water in times of need but Mohammed said he didn't want to risk it.

We felt sorry for him and he said he was counting the hours to sunset so that he could get some relief. At one point during the drive he handed us bottles of water and we felt for him. As he handed out the water bottles, Mohammed also instructed us that we were not to be seen drinking by passengers in passing cars and especially when we driving through towns.

We waited until we were out on the open highway before raising the bottles to our lips but we could not persuade Mohammed to take his antibiotics with even a sip of water.

Later in the drive, Mohammed produced a cardboard lunchbox for each of us. We had to eat it surreptitiously within the car so that others didn't see us eating. The ship had warned passengers not to be seen eating in public as Muscat has strict laws at this time of the year. Last year we'd had a leisurely lunch at a seaside restaurant as it was not Ramadan so we were a little disappointed at a rather dry butter-less goat cheese sandwich, a moist-less slice of cake and dry croissant. However a banana and an apple and a small bottle of guava juice added the much needed moisture our bodies craved in the ever increasing temperatures of this day.

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Around about 2 hours into our excursion we stopped at a large market town called Nizwa where an ancient walled Souq (pronounced 'sook' meaning a market place) has operated for many years. Outside the market entrance, several trucks loads of goats were waiting to be auctioned at the sale yards in preparation for celebrations at the end of Ramadan in 2 days time (we will be in Dubai by then). Some of the sheep were unusual in that they had white bodies and totally black necks and heads which gave the appearance of a black head mask. They must be a Muscat breed of sheep as we'd never seen this type before. They looked very healthy and well cared for as they munched nonchalantly on their fodder sling in the back of the truck. As we stepped out of the car the incredible wave of heat hit us, so we were glad that we'd consumed a good amount of water. The heat from the roadway and the heat glare from the walls of the Souq buildings, was overwhelming. Our glasses fogged up immediately with the sudden change of air from a comfortable air-condition vehicle to outside temperature of 44⁰C. We stumbled across the road and into one of a cooler date souq where we were offered all types of dates. The flavours ranged from regular dates to caramel, cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric and others. They were very satisfying but we ended up buying half a gram bright red saffron for $6 which is a bargain as just a few strands of saffron at Coles costs $3 back home. Matthew and I will have fun experimenting with saffron recipes in the future. We wander through the souq alleyways and covered corridors stopping to admire traditional silver trinkets and all the time that we browsed the strong sweet aromas of frankincense and other spices, filled the warm air around us and added to the atmosphere of this ancient middle-eastern country.

We wandered into the food souq area where we saw hoards of men haggling for the best price for their wares of spicy prepared goat, chicken and lentil curries. They too smelt 'wonderful'. We also saw of large barrels of freshly ground spices, sun-dried lemons and capsicum and fresh home grown vegetables. We wondered why there were not huge supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables on display and were told that this was how prices were kept at a premium because when the market is 'flooded' with huge supplies of produce the prices drop. Smart businessmen here! One thing that was obvious was that we never saw one female the whole time we explored the souq shops. Our guide told us that the men do all the purchasing and haggling at the souq and their wives do the cooking within their homes.

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The souq market is quite extensive with many outdoor courtyards filled with a myriad of cly water jars and pots of various designs. Some large water urns also included modern attachments of metal taps and spouts, whilst others included traditional water ladles and cleverly hand-crafted camel-stoppers which keep the water covered and cool.

We also saw several traditional tailor shops where Omani clothing and leather thongs are produced and sold. Oman as a strict Muslim country insists that locals and visitors respect the dress code customs where women are not to show any exposed skin from head to toe

(visitors do not have to cover their faces ) Some Aussies did wear short sleeves and ¾ pants but this was not showing respect. Oman men always wear long white robes and a turban or cap so most of our Aussie men wore long trousers.

We also saw jewellery souqs where an amazing display of silver and gold rings, brooches, trinkets and necklaces were on display. Many rings were encrusted with precious gems like rubies, diamonds, pearls and emeralds but their prices were 'out of this world', though 'real purchasers' are meant to haggle for lower prices because this is the expected sporting behaviour of purchasing. Not many of us felt inclined or competent to bargain but we enjoyed browsing and admiring the wares. In my case I have no need of any more jewellery so I was content to watch others engage in the process. We were also surprised to see many antique dagger and rifle souqs where huge displays of traditional Arabian weapons were on display. Whilst bullet belts loaded with ammunition were also being sold, we were told that the rifles are really only for trophy displays and sport. In the past these weapons were used by raiding hoards of camel riders, who once roamed the vast desert regions seeking to 'gain' wealth by devious means or to avenge tribal interlopers. Shepherds also used rifles and knives to protect their sheep and goats herds. Today many of the knives, daggers and swords fetch high prices as they are highly prized as collector items.

After about an hour wandering through the souqs we headed back to the cool air-conditioned 4 wheel drive vehicles to continue our trip high up into the mountainous regions around Nizwa.

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The road up to the top of the mountains was well designed and was only opened last year. We had many zig-zag bends but the incline though steep (hence the 4 wheel drive vehicles) was a smooth climb for us. We rose nearly 2000 metres in half an hour and the views of the valleys and colourful rocky ridges were beautiful. When we finally stopped for a vista of the valley below we were pleasantly surprised to find that the temperatures atop the mountain range was a mere 25⁰C and so bearable after 45⁰C at one stage throughout the day.

We spent some time enjoying the fresh air and the views.

Looking at the valley and mountain terrains it was easy to see veins of ore, tilted landscapes where mountainside had folded upon themselves in the formation of this mountain topography. This area would be a rock masons or gem seekers delight to explore.

Some of the mountainside had been tiered to create small market garden plots and several water holes and caves could be seen from our vantage point. The clear blue water seems to have been stored in manmade 'pools' and we assumed that its source would have come from underground springs from higher up in the mountains. Oman gets very little rain so water is precious.

After a group photo we piled back into our vehicles and headed down thr 'race-trac-designed' mountain pass. Motorbike riders would love to travel this, well engineered roadway with its many 's-bends'.

We found it exhilarating, especially when our driver frequently drove with his knees 'guiding the steering wheel whilst he adjusted his head gear or checked his swollen jaw in the mirror. Ken was in the front seat and found it a little unnerving and the three passengers in the back are thankful that our trip was safely negotiated. We arrived back in Muscat after passing through several towns with their welcoming archway exits and entrances, modern residential buildings and skylines of mosques and minarets. Yes we had had a wonderful trip through a city that still oozes much of the middle-eastern mystic perfumes, architecture and cultural heritage and influence we'd read about in the stories from "Arabian nights".

As we sail out along the coast of Oman we passed the official residence of Sultan Qaboos imposing blue and gold palace overlooking the waters of Muscat Bay. The rays of the setting sun enhanced the sparkling 22 carat gold trimmings around the palace window arches and we sailed towards the horizon as night fell.