Muscat , like all the parts of Oman that we saw, was unexpectedly fantastic. Sadly we only had one day to enjoy Muscat. One day isn't much but we both agreed this was much better than Dubai as a tourist destination and a place we could probably quite happily live in for a while. Unlike most of the other countries that we have been through, Oman has architecture that is unique to it's area. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are Western cities, built in a few decades on the Arabian peninsular where as Muscat feels like it has come from the land it sits on. Most South East Asian countries either have simplistic structures with no real architectural form or the architecture is borrowed from their prior colonial masters. Omans is unique to Oman and that is almost a first. Pictured here is the royal palace which, as you can see, is quite a modern affair whilst still staying true to it's roots.

Oman is a rocky place and Muscat is no exception. These pictures are taken from the ground around the palace. They are ancient fortifications made of mud. As no one can live on such such a mountain they remain completely original and untouched and are found on hills around the city.

There is a Mosque in Muscat and it looked spectacular. On this trip we have really come to admire modern mosques and we had heard wonderful things about this one. Sadly, oh so sadly, it was closed to visitors for the rest of the day so these few pictures of the front door are all I have :(

A few images of the drive back to Dubai through the civilised and orderly roads that wind around and through the mountains of Northern Oman. At the bottom you can see some of the dunes we encountered once we were back in the UAE. I must apologise for the poor quality of the pictures, it is the result of taking them from a moving car. On the bottom right hand picture you can see a grey line running underneath the wavy dunes. This is actually the top of the concrete crash barrier that separates the two halves of the dual carriage way. Underneath it is red dirt that has blown across the road and built up against the crash barrier. The sand has risen to such a hight that only a few centimetres of the barrier remain visible.