vango

Our tour also included a visit to the Royal Palace. The Sultan doesn't live there. It is for ceremonial purposes only. It has a long promenade leading up to a huge gate. Afixed on the gate are two large brass disks about 2 foot in diameter with the official crest which had two crossed swords and an L shaped knife called a khanjar.



We stopped at the state history museum full of ceremonial daggers and costumes. We were not permitted to photograph there. Outside there was a display of painted Ibex. They were art projects like those around the world. There were a dozen or so of these painted statues.




We didn't visit the one thing that dominated the skyline of the city. Noone talked about the observation tower at Al Riyam Park. It is meant to look like an incense burner or more specifically a Frankincense Burner or the Mabkhara. It is a very striking structure and one of the first things you see as you enter the harbor.

We are at sea today after spending Christmas Even in Muscat Oman.

Here we are at the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.


Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah

Van and Ron

Muscat is the capital of our second new country Oman, which is an absolute monarchy of Qaboos bin Said. It as been occupied by the Ottomans and the Portuguese. The country has one and a half million people and the principle business is trading and oil. They export dates and mother of pearl.



There is a lot of secrecy surrounding the Sultan who keeps his private life very private. He attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK when he was 20. He took control of the country from his father in a palace coup. He has had two wives from whom he is divorced and has no children. There is some speculation that he might be a homosexual but no real proof of him being a poof.