Muscat: Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque

Today was the first officlal day of the photography workshop.  The previous evening, after the eventful hike, was spent tending to the numerous cuts and bruises on my arms and applying various ointments and antiseptics to ensure infection would not take hold.  

Looking as if I had been self-harming for some years, I opted to wear a long sleeve shirt to avoid awkard questions, and so, despite some pain, I managed to get to sleep, awake at 5 am (or some such hour) and proceed to meet the rest of the group as if nothing was amiss.

Today we would be visiting the Grand Mosque In Muscat which is only open to non-Muslims before 11am, but to start the day we spent some time along the Corniche at sunrise; the plan was to photograph the fishermen returning with their catch, but due to rough seas, not many boats had gone out so fish were in short supply. Nonetheless, it was good to get the cameras out and get into the spirit of the trip and capture people out early.

And so on to the Grand Mosque, and very grand it is. Completed in 2001, after six years of construction, it has a contemporary Islamic style and can accommodate some 20,000 worshippers within its grounds which cover an area of 416,000 square metres. It was constructed to celebrate Sultan Qaboos' 30 year reign.

The outer courtyards are beautiful in their simplicity, with clean polished reflective surfaces - photographer's dream, really.