Muttrah and Souq in Muscat

For our stay in Muscat we found a nice hotel in Mutrah. It was a good location since it was a short walk to the famous Mutrah Souq (where we got some cool stuff on a great deals!) and we had a lot of local restaurants and grocery stores nearby. We could eat quickly and cheaply and not spend all of our time (or souvenir money!) on eating.

 

We also thought it was a neat location since it wasn't "touristy." We felt like we were in the heart of a real neighborhood and seeing real life. Here is the view from our window.

 

 

Just a few minutes from where we stayed, this is the entrance to the Mutrah Souq.

 

 View of the port from the Souq entrance. On the right you can see a turret built by the Portuguese when they invaded the area in the 1500s.

Beautiful mosque near the souq. I learned that the turquoise colors are indicative of Persian influence. This is my favorite color, and it was all over the place in Muscat!  Muscat was also under Persian rule for a time.

 Beautiful Turkish lamps on sale in the Souq. I guess as a crossroads of main trade routes, all sorts of things would have been bought and sold in this souq. Today the items range from Indian to Turkish and of course they have t-shirts too.

 

 My handsome man trying on an Omani massur.

 



This was my special souvenir from the souq. It is a small-size replica of a traditional Omani door with decorative tiles. The guy made a mistake on his first price (and since we had been asking at other shops we knew he was offering us a first price 50% lower than the other guys). So we got this for steal!

Beautiful view of the corniche area near the Souq.