Muscat is the capital, port city of Oman. It is wedged in the desert between mountains and ocean, and offers all your arid delights, from 16th-century Portuguese forts, to modern shopping malls and regal palaces. No one can seem to agree on the true origins of the word Muscat. Lonely Planet, forever romanticizing even the most unpalatable corners of the globe in true wanderlust fashion, says that the name means ‘safe anchorage.’ And this is indeed a very poetic way to describe a city in which the sea plays such an important role. Oman is even said to have been the
I had relatively few expectations flying into Oman. Usually I do some research into a new country first, and I had bought the Oman cultural guide book, but knowing that we were going to be at a Westernized resort for the majority of the time turned me into a lazy researcher, instead relying on the few bits of information we had gleaned from our friends. The rest I could figure out once we arrived. Fletch and I were flying to Oman to help out our friends Stefan and Tanja with their busy season at the dive resort where they were currently