Muscat, Oman

We arrived in Muscat around noon. We had left the heat and humidity of India for the heat and dry of the desert state of Oman. Where India is green, Oman is the color of very dry dirt. It's drab in comparison but it's not boring. There is an organization here that India will never be able to pull off! It's also clean. I did not see any trash, even in the souk! The men are wearing starched white "dresses" and look like the heat is not bothering them. It was 41 degrees Celsius (about 110 F). That's righteous heat!

We took a freeway built in 2011, to the new mosque. The streets were clean. The traffic stayed in its lanes (unlike another Arab country, Egypt). The buildings alongside were all tidy and white. it reminded me of Ammon, Jordan which also had street after street of tidy white buildings. There's not a hint of green unless there is water. We are in the desert and there's not a lot of water. To show off, a few houses had fountains in front. There was also a municipal fountain display--bragging rights showing off the fact that there is water in the desert.

Muscat is built amid some young rocky-type mountains. They serve as a back drop for the city. They are young mountains geologically as they are very jagged. I asked our guide if he could tell me more about the make-up of the mountains, but alas he did not know! Something to google when I get home.