Oman with Shangri-La

And suddenly we were standing there. In Suhar. On an empty airfield. Just us, a single plane and a very special light that will make us dream about for weeks. With a some of cheerful, dressed in white men we walked quite relaxed to the small house which represented the airport building of Sohar. It felt so nice – far away from the usual airport hectic.

But let’s start from the beginning.

Oman has been on the top of our bucket list for two years so we were super happy when Qatar Airways and the Shangri-La Hotel Group asked us to travel with them to Oman’s capital Muscat (with a short stopover in Doha.)
It was a cold, rainy November morning when we boarded the Qatar Airways aircraft to Dohar in Frankfurt. Qatar Airways is the state airline of Qatar. In the rankings of Skytrax Qatar Airways is always at the front, in 2017 it was voted best airline and best Business Class.
We got our own impression of the Business Class on our 6 hours flight to Doha. The Business Class is, actually, a First Class. Every passenger has an incredible amount of space – the seats with massage function can be made to beds – the food has nothing to do with airplane dishes but rather looks like from a fine restaurant and the service is like in a luxury hotel – no matter what you wanted the flight attendants fulfilled every wish.
Our stopover was in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Too bad that we spent there only one night, because the skyline with its many brightly illuminated skyscrapers is quite impressive. The Museum of Islamic Art offers a great view of the skyline, especially at night.
We stayed at the Shangri-La Hotel Doha located in a skyscraper which is part of the Doha’s skyline. Having stayed at the Shangri-La Taipei before we knew what to expect: luxury, opulent decor and hotel rooms larger than our apartment and with breathtaking views. That’s exactly how it was.
The next day started on the heliport on the roof of the hotel which has been converted to an event location. In addition to the wonderful 360° view you can feel the wind and the sun – a very special place.
Then it was already time to get back to the airport. After a short trip to the Business Lounge, one of the largest in the world, we boarded the plane to Suhar, a city in northern Oman, which has recently become a new destination of Qatar Airways.
From Suhar we drove to Muscat where we stayed at Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa.
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It lies on the coast where the Hajar mountains reach to the sea. Therefore, Muscat is actually made up of several cities, each located in a bay connected with each other by passes to a metropolitan area.
In Muscat we can especially recommend these three sights:

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

The Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque is one of the largest mosques in the world. It is divided into a prayer room for men which is very opulently equipped with the second largest prayer carpet and the second largest chandelier in the world, and one for women being almost not opulent at all. Visitors can visit the mosque for free from 8-11am. Women have to cover their hair, men have to wear long pants and shirts with (short) sleeves.

Royal Opera House Muscat

The Royal Opera House Muscat is one of the few opera houses in the Arab world. It’s style is inspired by the classical Omani buildings but inside it reminded us of a Venetian Palazzo. It is unbelievably impressive in its overall appearance and you can tell right away that the sultan payed almost $ 3 billion for his opera house.

Souq

The Souq (also written like this: Suq, Souk or Sook. It’s the Arabic name for the bazar) is located in one of the oldest parts of Muscat, in Matrah. It once was the largest port in the region (today cruise ships dock there). That’s the reason why the first commercial center has been established here. The souq still bears witness to that because here you can find everything – food and craft items, handicrafts and incense, souvenir shops and food stalls. In the beginning it is quite touristy but the further you go inside the more original it becomes.

The Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa is located approximately 20 minutes from Muscat in a bay with a sandy beach. The resort consists of two luxury hotels, the Al Waha made for families and the Al Bandar. Right next door is the Shangri-La Al Husn Resort & Spa which is once again more luxurious and exquisite. All 460 rooms and suites have direct views of the sea and are spacious with beautiful interior.
The resort has its own beach of fine sand and beautiful sea water. In addition to ample opportunities for relaxation there is also a water sports service. In addition, the resort also has two large pool areas which are connected by the highlight, the Lazy River. In the 500m long Lazy River you can let yourself drift by the artificial flow through the entire hotel area.
The hotel is next to a beach where turtles bury their eggs in January. When they hatch thousands of baby turtles crawl into the sea and come back later to lay eggs themselves. The hotel has its own Turte Ranger who knows all about the turtles and also organizes snorkeling tours. So we also had the chance to take pictures of turtles.
The Oman is unlike, for example, the United Arab Emirates not in the Persian Gulf but directly on the Indian Ocean. The water here is very different, fish and other sea creatures feel very well here – and so do dolphins. We went by boat to the open sea to watch dolphins.
In all three hotels there are 19 restaurants and bars where every guest can eat. From traditional Omani cuisine over Arabic and European to Asian and South American cuisine there is a lot of variety.
Our trip to Oman was a far too short trip to the world of 1001 night stories. The colors, the light, the sea, the food and the people who met us. We liked all this so much that we definitely want to come back soon to get to know even more about Oman.
Many thanks to Qatar Airways and Shangri-La Hotels for this pleasant and beautiful trip.