When we woke up, our host, Farooq, was already at work. We lazed around his apartment, ate his cereal, had lunch nearby, and finally decided to head out. Our first destination was the Mutrah Souq. It’s supposedly very lively and next to a waterfront walk that we were encouraged by the Loney Bible to visit. Our taxi dropped us off at the Souq and asked for 6 Omani Riali. A quick note about taxis in Oman. Only Omanis may be taxi drivers. This means that competition is effectively snuffed out. Also, taxis don’t have meters. They just charge you whatever they want. Combined with the Riali conversion rate (1 Riali = $2.60), riding taxis can become an unclear and expensive experience.

When we arrived at the Souq, we discovered that it was closed. Like many institutions in the Arab world, the high afternoon is a dead time. People are inside, resting, and basically avoiding the weather. Since we were dumb tourists, we decided to go on our waterfront walk during the hottest part of the day.

Waterfront

Oman has a very large collection of well-preserved forts (see above). Along our walk we saw no fewer than four. Not all were open to the public, but they were still impressive. Those that were open offered nice views and cannons.

Cindy from a fort

At the end of the waterfront is Old Muscat. There’s a city wall, a gate in the city wall, and some winding streets and pretty little white buildings. Also in Old Muscat is a real life Sultan’s Palace. Oman is a Sultanate, meaning its leader is a Sultan. His palace, therefore, is a Sultan’s Palace.

Narrow Muscat streets

Sultan’s Palace

We took a taxi back to the Souq to see it in action. Sure enough, at 6 PM people were around and going about their business. The Souq would be open until midnight we were told, in Arab fashion.

Souq

Another taxi took us back to Farooq’s, and his price went from 8 to 20 to 7. Forget this, we need a car. Farooq concurred. We went with him to a cafe and met up with some of his friends. We had dinner, chatted, and smoked shisha. One of his friends, Arnold, was giddy because he bought a new PS4 with FIFA 16. Never one to turn down video games, we went back to Farooq’s where everyone else fell asleep and I stayed up to play with Arnold. Yes, we came all the way to Oman so I can play video games.