It was hotter today, at about 29°C.
We got up early today, at about 07:20. We seem to be going to bed earlier and earlier, which causes us to rise earlier and earlier with each passing day.
We took advantage of the early hour and grabbed some breakfast before heading down into the town of Sohar to see the fish market. It turned out to be a mostly indoor market and Sarah felt nervous at the idea of going inside, as there were no tourists to be seen anywhere and seemingly only men were involved in the busy trade.
Nevertheless, I led us into the building and we were greeted by the sight of fish of every shape and size. Traders were bustling back and forth, many of them holding a bunch of fish on a cord in each hand. Other traders cut slices of large fish for eager buyers, whilst others headed outside and down to the simple boats at the water’s edge to fetch more wares.
Outside, other traders were selling fish from the back of their vehicles. The prices must have been good, because people were clamouring to get a piece of the action.
After watching some crabs scuttling across the rocks down by the boat launch, we left and went to the Sohar Fort Museum, where we learned something about the history of the town.
Our final stop in Sohar was at the handicraft market, where we purchased some incense and charcoal.
After that, we grabbed a spot of lunch (shawarma for me; hummus for Sarah) and then headed off in the direction of the Omani capital, Muscat. There were some beautiful mosques along the route, but it was otherwise a boring drive. The road is almost completely straight and totally flat. It was absolutely made for cruise control, but our hire car unfortunately lacks this feature.
It was about 250 km to Muscat. Eloïse slept for the entire journey, which was great, but we’d timed our departure with this in mind.
Just outside of Muscat, I stopped to put petrol in the car. Looking at the receipt, I see that I put in 65 litres at a cost of OMR 7.800 (rials). At today’s exchange rate, that cost us €15.39. Back in The Netherlands, the same amount of petrol would have cost us around €95 – 100.
Both petrol and vehicles are very cheap in this part of the world. Given the abundance of oil in the region, that’s hardly surprising, I suppose, but it still seems bizarre when one is confronted with it in person. Cars have virtually no tax on them in the UAE and it’s probably the same situation in Oman. It’s a driver’s paradise, if you don’t mind the congestion (in Dubai, that is; Oman doesn’t seem to suffer from the same problems [yet]).
Our next stop was Muscat, where we visited the local LuLu hypermarket to stock up on nuts, water, chocolate (for Sarah) and fruit. What a great supermarket that is, by the way. I was sorely tempted to purchase large quantities of dates, but managed to restrain myself.
We then drove to our hotel, the Muscat Intercontinental, which is a beautiful place (on the inside, at least; the outside isn’t very impressive). We didn’t have enough time to go and explore Muscat this afternoon, so we went down to the swimming pool and paddled around with Eloïse, who had a great time walking up and down the steps of the pool and splashing around in the water.
Dinner, too, was taken at the hotel. We’ll go out and explore Muscat properly tomorrow. We’re scheduled to be here for four nights, so that ought to give us ample time to get through the things that interest us.