Our final day with the full group began with a visit to the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque.
As usual the grounds and structures are too large to capture in a single picture. Like the other Grand Mosques we visited, this one is relatively new -- completed in 2001. The sultan donated it to the country in honor of the 30th anniversary of his reign.
It is the only mosque in Oman open to non-Muslims.
The side entrance. Based on what I've seen online it gets really crowded later in the day, but we almost had it to ourselves.
This is the women's ablution fountain. Believers must perform a ceremonial washing before worship. It is a complicated procedure.
Many of the public restrooms that we visited on the road were associated with mosques and had ablution fountains included. They were not as elaborate as this one!
Gate into courtyard with central minaret.
Many mosques use recordings for the calls to prayer, but Sultan Qaboos stipulated that at this mosque an actual person had to make the call. He doesn't have to climb to the top of the minaret, at least. He is allowed to use the PA system.
The second-largest chandelier in the world. The largest was in Abu Dhabi.
Most of our travelers agreed that this one was prettier -- or at least more tasteful.
The mihrab was ornate with honeycomb decoration.
This style is more typical of Iran and Spain than of the Gulf region.
The intricate tilework and chandelier reflection highlight the Qu'ran inscription.
The carpet didn't have any visible linear design to help the faithful line up for prayer. We asked our guide about this and he said that they would be able to figure it out.
I felt that the wooden ceilings were much more appealing than those in some of the other over-the-top grand mosques that we visited.
The guide in this mosque took some time to proselytize.
During our travels we received free copies of the Qu'ran and a variety of pamphlets trying to "sell" Islam to the western tourists, if you will forgive my crass assessment. I did not read any of the pamphlets but Jim did and he found them pretty much on a par with "creationist" assertions.
Attempts to proselytize Muslims are illegal in Oman as well as the other Gulf States that we visited although in general religious freedom is respected. Reports of the other states is similar to the one at the link, which is specific to Oman. Qatar is perhaps the most restrictive state.
Omanis are associated with the Ibadi sect of Islam. It predates both Sunni and Shi'a, but is not as prevalent.
The number of expatriates in all the states leads to a diversity of religion. Christians and Jews, as Abrahamic faiths, enjoy some legal protections, which may or may not be respected in practice. Hindus and Buddhists are prominent among the southern Asian expats and are generally allowed freedom. Other faiths are required to register and receive approval; the approval process may be long.
Our next stop was the Omani Heritage Gallery. There we got a lecture about various traditional Omani crafts. This gentleman demonstrated his copper work.
They had many nice things for sale (of course) and I was tempted by a weaving, but time was short and they weren't efficient at the checkout. I find that many of the items are also for sale on their website, but it's hard to decide what would really be suitable online.
We had lunch at the Mumtaz Mahal restaurant. It had great views from every direction. Oh yeah, the food was good too.
The downside of traveling on a ship is that you eat on the ship. That's good if you're in the middle of nowhere, but not so good when you would like to sample the local cuisine.
Given the large expat population, Indian food pretty much qualifies as "local cuisine" here.
After lunch there was a choice: return to the ship & pack or visit two more museums. Jim & I opted to return to the ship since this was our last night and we would leave early the next morning. We heard they were wonderful museums.
After finishing packing I settled in to finish this jigsaw puzzle. At least three of us had worked steadily on it throughout the trip. We were SURE that there were pieces missing. There was certainly one piece that didn't belong.
Well, I didn't finish it, but someone did. About 10:30 I decided that I needed sleep more than a finished puzzle. The next morning at breakfast one of my co-puzzlers congratulated me and I had to demur. We guess that one of the staff finished it.
All the pieces were there including the extra.
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