ARABIAN SIGHTS

It has no skyscrapers. But Muscat is a city of grand buildings, a stunning seascape and oodles of old-world charm.

It has no skyscrapers. But Muscat is a city of grand buildings, a stunning seascape and oodles of old-world charm.

In muscat, unlike in most cities of the Middle East, wanderlust doesn8217;t have to die in the glitter of malls. Instead, in this city sandwiched between craggy mountains that dramatically rise from the horizon and the Arabian Sea, the restless traveller finds a slice of old-fashioned Arabia.

Fittingly, the capital of Oman is free of skyscrapers8212;thanks to a ban on high-rises8212;and the view of the sea from most hotels is stunning. I got my first view of the city from a height of 35,000 feet as my plane hovered over it. Cappuccino-coloured mountains against the green of the ocean. Magnificent.

The city consists of a cluster of districts strung together along the seafront. Muscat district, from which the city gets its name, includes the palace and government buildings. Muttrah is where you8217;ll find most tourists wandering off, lured by the corniche that encircles the bay. Ruwi, the traditional commercial centre of the city, is another popular spot.

It8217;s a fairly small city, so you don8217;t need to pack your days with frenetic sightseeing.

On day one, my first stop was the Grand Mosque. Though Muscat is one of the oldest cities in the Middle East, this mosque is not for the history-seeker. A little over 10 years ago, the ruler of Oman, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, commissioned the mosque after an international competition for the design. In 2001, the mosque was completed.

The Grand Mosque lives up to its name. Towering minarets, landscaped gardens and a white marble courtyard make for a stunning view. It can hold around 20,000 worshippers and had the largest hand-woven Persian carpet in the world till only recently The Shaikh Zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi now houses the largest carpet. It took 600 weavers four years to weave this carpet with an astounding 1,700 million knots.

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Muscat is also a bargain-hunter8217;s paradise. And if you want a good buy, head for the labyrinthine lanes of the Muttrah souk, where you can buy anything from frankincense to faux Rolex watches. Khanjars, the curved silver daggers, are a must-buy. They are similar to the jambiya a similar but larger dagger from Yemen. Globalisation has brought another contender8212;the Chinese khanjar.

Chunky silver is also popular here and a lot of it is from India. If you are from the southern part of India, especially Kerala, you8217;ll feel quite at home in this city. From the businessmen in the souk to a cashier in a mall, you8217;re bound to bump into a Malayalee. The trick is to make friends with the shopkeeper, speak in Hindi or Malayalam and spend enough time to sift through trays and trays of jewellery. I found an antique Omani pendant.

But if you flinch from haggling, don8217;t spend much. My bargaining skills honed at Colaba Causeway came to very good use and I managed to get a discount of at least five riyals on everything I bought.

Much of the city8217;s life revolves around the sea8212;evenings are spent watching the dhows in the Muttrah bay, old men smoke and the young chat as the sun slips into the waters.

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The premiere sport of the city, however, is spot-the-dolphin. We were taken out in a speedboat into the sea and much to our excitement, saw a dolphin8217;s fin. We were then quickly told to go up to the viewing deck and witness this rare opportunity to see 8220;not one, but two dolphins hunting in the wild.8221;

By the time we managed to climb up, they were both gone. The tour operator instead took us coral-watching and snorkeling. As we sailed back to the coast, we came face-to-face with the massive rock formations that soared out of the water. It8217;s a sight worth coming back for. copy;