Highways in Muscat, Oman

At about 4.50 p.m. I suddenly remembered that the Taxi Driver would be waiting for us. So I asked her to get ready, which she already was. It took me just a minute two get ready…

The taxi driver was an elderly man originally from Pakistan but had been living there for more than 40 years. He was a very fatherly looking driver who knew Muscat like the palm of his hand. He greeted us very warmly and told us that we were in good hands. We asked him to show the city and if we stay further more in Muscat then we would go to see different places. I also asked him that he should call in my room from the from desk every morning if we were still in Muscat.

I really liked the driver. He thought that we were newlywed couple and I did not tell him that we were not. I also noticed that she did not object either. So the driver told us that we should go to see the downtown area. He told us that he was going towards Mutrah Souk. It was the oldest market in Oman with hundreds of tiny stores carrying all sorts of treasures such as ornate silver daggers, Bedouin jewelry, frankincense, herbs, spices, honey, perfume, carpets and clothing

The beautiful Muttrah Souq

We started to go through the nearby highway. The highway was specious. Smooth. Clean and jam free. People were driving very fast, passing us with their brand new German cars like BMW, Mercedes and Audi…I remembered the ever jammed New York City. It felt driving on the upstate highways compare to driving in New York City.

Beautiful handi craft items in the Muttrah Souk

We reached the Muttrah Souk market within 20 minutes. It was the oldest market in Muscat. The place was huge and was full of people. I was worried that we might get lost but the driver told us to wait for him. He joined us after parking the taxi. The driver helped us moving through the old stores. Some of the stores were air conditioned and some were outside stores. The area was so huge that it would take a whole day to see the whole area.

I tried to buy her some small gifts but she told me that she did not want to buy anything as that might brought questions in her husband’s mind. I thought that she was a farfetched person. That’s how men are. They never think what will happen in the future. But she bought a little gift for me and I could not say no to her.

It was very hot outside so we became very tired within an hour so after about an hour we asked the taxi driver to drop us off in the hotel. He drove us back. It was only 7.30 in the evening. The driver asked us to go to the Al Mirani Street which is like the belt Park Way of New York City. It was parallel with the Gulf of Oman…we drove around that area for about half an hour and by 8 p.m. we were already back in the hotel.

We went for dinner. I already took a voucher to pay for the dinner in the hotel. We had some Mishkak, skewered meat grilled on charcoal and Omani bread called. The Rukhal bread was a thin, round bread originally baked over a fire made from palm leaves. It is eaten at any meal, typically served with Omani honey for breakfast or crumbled over curry for dinner. We finished our dinner with some ice cream. I was looking at her …her eyes sparkled when she saw ice cream.