"Muscat, the warmest experience" Muscat by georeiser

The gulf countries are warm places, with the city of Muscat as the warmest place I have experienced. It was like a sauna stove, and not even the warmest month when I visited the city. Wait one month until June, the locals said. The location between the mountains and the sea makes it so hot.

Another thing I noticed about this city was all the cars. The Omanians loves their cars. And the roads are highlighted in the landscape. Wide streets with almost no sidewalks. And where are the crosswalks? One exception is the sea front promenade in Mutrah, which has a beautiful walking area with sculptural arts. Or else the city is pedestrian unfriendly.

Greater Muscat مسقط, with a population of 1 mill, consists of three large towns: Mutrah, Ruwi, Old Muscat and their suburbs divided from each other by low hills. (The beach at Al Qurm is a part of Ruwi).

If you don't have time to read the tips, use this as an advice. Most tourists stay in the Mutrah area of the city. This is in my opinion the most interesting place to stay in Muscat, with shopping at the souq, restaurants in the streets and the beautiful sea front promenade.

Forget about the other areas. It's nothing to do there, except for a daytrip to Al Qurm beach and Old Muscat. The museums and the amusement parks are eerie places with almost no people.
The people of Oman are friendly and gentle.

The pictures are taken with a GPS enabled camera. You can track the coordinates in f.ex Google Earth.

Al Alam Palace, Old Muscat, Oman

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Old Muscat is located at the southern end of Muscat. It is the administration area and houses majestic buildings and old forts. It's the cleanest place I have seen. A quiet and atmospheric area, but it's nothing to do here in the nights.

Al Qurm beach, Muscat, Oman

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The beach of Al Qurm is nice, but deserted. Forget about beach beds with sunshade, bars with refreshing drinks and water activites. Foreign workers from Pakistan are the only people on the beach. You don't see anything else than diplomatic residences and private houses with high fences along the seashore. You are actually trapped on the beach if you don't know where to exit (read more about this in the warning tips).

• Pros:Friendly people and great culture
• Cons:Hot temperature and cars everywhere