Mosque Meanderings--City Mosques

Here is part 2 of my mosque pictures. These pictures will be mosques built on a much larger scale in Muscat, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.

Abu Dhabi

Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

Muscat

Mosque photographed in Muscat at night allows the stained glass to "show off".
During the day this mosque is pretty, but night is when it really shines.

This is the ablution area outside of the mosque above--where feet and hands may be
ceremoniously washed before entering the mosque.

I apologize for the construction wall in the front, but I was not allowed to go beyond this point, and there is no other vantage point from which to view the designs on this mosque.

Looking through the city gate of Mutrah ("old" Muscat)
at a mosque with the mountains in the background.

Mosque at the Mutrah souk (original port of Muscat)

Turkish mosque--architect style based
on Turkey's Blue Mosque

Grand Mosque of Muscat

This mosque is open for tourists, and it's so big that one picture can't show it all. It is a large complex consisting of separate prayer spaces for the men and the women. There are many gardens both inside and outside the exterior walls as well as multiple courtyards.

Outer courtyard

Side entrance gate 

Inner courtyard between men's and women's worship areas

View from ablution/classroom areas

Entrance to men's mosque

Interior of men's mosque

Side hallway of men's mosque

Mosaic tiles lining breezeways throughout the mosque--there 

are more designs than I could include in this blog!

Sample of wood carving inside the mosque

Dubai

 

This mosque is hard to photograph as it is on the main highway between Muscat and Dubai, but it is beautiful day or night.

These are just but a few of the architectural samples of mosques that you will find in Oman. You can't go too far without seeing one!

Mosque Meanderings--Country Mosques

As you might guess, there are lots and lots of mosques in Oman and in the Middle East. They are strategically placed throughout communities for convenient access. They are all decorated a little differently and come in varying sizes. Whether you are Muslim or not (and I'm not!), there is beauty in the construction and design on each mosque and minaret. I am sharing some of my favorites here--and have been collecting pictures of mosques for over a year. I hope you enjoy this picture "book" of mosques...

For this blog, I'm including mosques in the outer areas, small towns outside of Muscat and in the countryside around Oman.

I liked this mosque for its unusual design on the domes.

Notice the unique minaret shape

This is a "mini-mosque" set in a cluster of houses.

Again, I liked the minaret and the blue colors on this one.

This is in a little seaside town, and it looks to be more minaret than anything else.

This mosque is still under construction,
but the minaret is striking.

This is on the sea  as well. I thought the minaret was very unusually shaped.

Striking and vibrant colors were used on this one.

This was a sparsely populated stretch of sand alongside the road, but they had built this
peach-trimmed mosque that was quite large. Can you see the Gulf of Oman behind it?

This mosque is associated with a fort (see tower on right next to the flag.)
 Can I say that the minaret reminds me of a rocket?

This mosque sits among the houses of a mountain village up high in the Jabal Akhdar area.

This mosque sits among a cluster of roadside shops along the highway between Muscat and Sohar.
This is very common as it is important for prayer rooms to be available as close to the people as possible.

Built right up against the mountain

Built in one of the oldest areas of Muscat near the Mutrah souk

Located in the Wahiba Sands area, where we went desert camping.

Desert Camping--Omani Style!

While our family was here, we booked an overnight adventure at the Desert Resort Camp in the Wahiba Sands area of Oman. It is about 2 1/2 hours southwest of Muscat. I had driven through the desert, but never off road like we did just to get to the camp. Driving off road made the car slip and slide on the sand--like driving on ice. There is also a different feel in the car because the tires are not gripping an asphalt or cement surface.  It's a neat feeling.

Our camp--Desert Resort

The open-air ceiling bathroom. They were
actually quite clean and modern.

A peek inside. It was a little cool at night,
but you could see all the stars in the sky!

The inside of a tent. Yes, that is light peeking through the goat-hair blankets.
When I say camp, I mean camp! The sand on the floor was covered only with
overlapping mats.

The exterior of a tent. This was really rustic desert camping,
but it was a neat and unique experience! Can I say we got
really, really cold that night?

Unloading at the camp.

Camel Ride 

The first thing we did upon arriving at camp was prepare to go on a camel ride--yes, all of us, including the baby!

Up close view of one of our camels.

This camel was giving me a once-over!

Sultan, our guide for the ride. He was an expert camel handler.

Sultan asked for a picture holding Julieanne--he was so nice and careful of her the entire ride.

For some of the next few photos, I'd like to pretend that I had my camera set for sepia effects on purpose, but sadly, all the jostling from the top of a camel made me accidentally change the button on the top of my camera and most of my pics from up high on that camel came out in sepia! Oh well--at least it fits the theme of the desert!

Camels "kissing" while waiting for us to all mount up.

The entire family all set to go!

Taylor and Anne riding behind me--see Julieanne riding with Anne? She was strapped into a carrying pouch on Anne.

In the process of dismounting...

Happy baby!

 After the camel ride, we took a hike up the big sand dune behind the camp. It was quite a climb--like climbing in deep snow that kept sliding and made it hard to get a footing. We all finally made it--including me!--which was no small feat.

Dune Climbing

Family pic at the top!

Aunty and baby! Both happy to be there!

View of the camp from up high--see the camels being ridden in the distance?

Julieanne LOVED the sand!

In fact, she loved it so much she wanted to take HER turn to walk in it! She really liked it!

Sunset from the top of the dune--this picture does no justice to the expanse of sandy land in this scene.

A view of the complete camp. By the way, those tire tracks you see were made by the owner taking people on dune bashing excursions. It was while the kids and Don were going down this particular dune that I could hear the yelling, screaming and laughing from our tent below!

More sand walking...

Star Gazing

 Going down was much easier than going up!! But by the time we got down, it was getting dark and we were all tired and hungry. Here Don, Caity, and I laid down on the sand mat we brought and placed in front of our tent and let Julieanne climb all over us.

This is our "dining hall." The cushions are on the floor and the tables are low.
This is where we ate our meals. The carpets and cushions are typical Omani style.

Behind the dining hall is the campfire set up for the evening. Coffee and tea are served once the bonfire is lit.

Once the bonfire is lit, the generator for the camp is turned off and you need
your own lantern (provided by the camp) to light your path for the rest of the
night! Can I say it's been a long time since I've seen so many stars?
It was beautiful!

Breaking Camp

The next morning, Don and the kids went dune bashing with the owner/operator of the camp. I didn't get any pictures, but I could hear the yelling, laughing, and screaming (Caitlyn) as they rode up and down the dunes.  (see the note on the picture above) Julieanne and I entertained ourselves during their dune bashing experience by making up a new song: Oh, the goat went over the sand dune..... (borrowed from the "bear went over the mountain...")

Sand dunes surrounding the camp. It's hard to tell, but we saw a shepherd
guiding his goats over these dunes.

More goats as we left the camping area.

Camels were grazing in the off road area, and we caught a snapshot of this baby nursing from its mother.
Mama was very protective, to say the least. All we took was a picture!

 The small village where we exited the main highway to go to the camp had some old ruins in it. You can tell by the curve of the old wall that this was once quite a structure.

Looking through a door into the fort.

Note that the windows were fashioned with a decorative grill even then!

And that was the end of our desert camping experience. We had a great time--and if you are looking for an authentic Omani desert camping experience, I highly recommend Desert Resort Camp and Hammad, the owner/operator. We were very pleased with our experience and the friendliness of the entire staff!