Oman

One of the problems with traveling is that you meet people who have traveled more than you, or to different places than you, and you learn about even MORE places that you need to travel and see and there's just not enough time or money! Figuring this is probably my last year in Kuwait and wanting to see more of the region before I leave it, I booked a trip to Oman for the end of July/first of August. I went with my friend Melodie. She went to Oman for spring break but spent much of the time outside of Muscat so we decided to really just focus on Muscat.
EVERYONE I've ever talked to that's been to Oman loves it. I really was a very nice place and very different from Kuwait. There were mountains all over which were beautiful, even though they're just rocky and bare. The people were friendly and everything just seemed prettier. It was pretty hot and humid when we went so I wouldn't recommend end of July, but we had a very nice time.
We decided to get this 48 hours pass for the Big Bus Tour of Muscat. Basically it's a big bus that travels in a loop around Muscat (and other cities that have Big Bus tours) stopping at a few of the highlights. You can get off at any stop and get back on the next bus, but the next bus doesn't come for 2 hours, which was a little too long for most of the stops that we stopped at. Still, it worked out great for us.
First we just rode the whole loop and looked for the places we thought we would want to spend some time at. Then we just hopped off at those places over the next couple days. Places we stopped on our Big Bus tour- Al Qurum- there's a little park with a big pond there. We also ate at this interesting restaurant called The Jungle. We tried camel there. I didn't like it- at all. The next day we stopped at the Royal Opera house which was really beautiful. We were able to have a little tour inside as well and it's a pretty amazing space. We stopped at the Parliament building which is HUGE and beautiful. It's kinda off by itself, tucked into the mountain with a beautiful view of the Sea of Oman. Not allowed inside, but could take pictures of the area around. There was a quick photo stop at the marina.
We stopped at Al Alam Palace. You can't go inside but you can walk around outside and get pictures. We also spent some time at Mutrah Suq. Going to the Suq (shopping area) is basically a must for all cities. We bought abayas at the suq, something we have been intending to do for awhile but needed to do to visit the mosque the next day.
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is not part of the Big Bus tours so we arranged to go to it with a very nice taxi driver we met. He took us there and then to the Bait Az-Zubair Museum, which was ok but nothing special.
Overall we had a great time and Oman is beautiful. I would love to go back and see more of the country. Everyone there kept saying that we should visit Salalah and how beautiful it is. Next time inshallah.

Even the airport was cute. 

cool chairs in our hotel lobby, but if I remember correctly, they weren't very comfy.

Walking around the neighborhood a lot of houses had stained glass- this one was very interesting, made to look like a woman wearing a niqab

The bus stop area where we waited for the Big Bus Tour. 

The marina. 

Our Big Bus. 

The Jungle restaurant. 

That little piece off to the side by itself- that was the camel- yuck! 

I liked these glasses, kinda the same curve as horns. 

Very nice park with grass! and play structures! 

The Royal Opera House. 

These were glass instruments- so cool!

and check out that glass clarinet! 

The stage was HUGE!

All the details, down to little violins on the seats. 

This doesn't show it very well, but I thought the layers of rock on the mountains was interesting. 

Clock tower in the central business area. 

Dates on a date palm at the Parliament. People were pulling over and just going and getting some dates off the trees. 

Parliament.

The National Museum of Oman- right across from the Palace.
It was closed by the time we got there so we didn't get to see it.  

The Palace- I love the 70s vibe. 

Forts near the Palace. 

Riyam Monument, a giant incense burner. 

The suq

Kinda wishing I had bought one of these really cool locks. 

One of the gates to the old part of Muscat

The grand mosque

This woman was texting 

The second largest carpet in the world supposedly. 

This thing was HUGE!

The little black things under that are people- that gives you a better idea of the size. 

Quran with Allah highlighted in red. 

Right in the middle, near the arch windows, you can see a guy walking.
He was cleaning the outside of the mosque- that's how big it is. 

Tight roads. 

A little miniature set thing at the museum.