Eid Mubarak to all my friends and readers in the Muslim world!

In celebration of the Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, Peter and I went on a short trip to Qantab beach and village outside Muscat, Oman, yesterday.

Qantab is where a lot of expatriates and Omanis alike go during the holidays for boat rides, barbecues and picnics if they want something different from the usual Azaiba or Qurum beach sights in the city. There are also quite a number of local settlers in the village nearby, where a lot of residents source their livelihood from the small yet steady tourism industry.

The drive from the city took less than half an hour before we reach the hilly Qantab road, from which the famous Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa could also be reached.

The road to Qantab beach and village. Uphill all the way!

After a short spin through the village, where people were getting ready for the evening’s Eid festivities, we finally reached the popular Qantab beach.

The beach of Qantab, lined with small tour boats ferried by skilled Omani boatmen for touring visitors around the cove.

The golden, sandy hills surrounding Qantab beach.

Shi in Beach Mode! Tank top by Harley Davidson, pants by Nike, shoes by Speedo and sunglasses by M&S. Scarf a gift from a friend, all the way from Turkey.

After a short walk through the beach, we decided to go for a quick cove tour in one of the smaller boats ferried by the Omani boatmen. A quick deal with a gent named Abdullah cost six Omani Riyals for half an hour’s ride.

A very interesting small, cave-like opening has formed in the middle of the giant rock formation.

Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa, viewed from the open sea.

Our boat went past the private beach of Shangri-La and circled to the other end of the cove, where there were some more unique rock formations.

Rock formations looking gold and magnificent against the rolling blue-green waters.

Smaller cave-like openings have also formed in other rock formations.

A long, plateau-like rock structure, spread out for nearly a hundred meters.

When we reached the shore at the end of our boat ride, it was already high noon and the sun was quite painful on the skin. Even this did not deter me from taking more fun photos!

Shi on the beach, all smiles after the boat ride.

Shi and Peter pose for another picture against the sparkling shores of Qantab.

We spent another hour or two sitting under the big umbrella shades on the shore, going through an assortment of fruits, light junk-food snacks and cold drinks. Our Omani boatman had his generous share of choco-chunk cookies, Coca-Cola and grapes!

During the drive back to Muscat, we had another quick stop at one of the cliffside gazebo structures overlooking the coast.

View of a big wadi, or dry river, from the hilltop.

Shi and Peter perched like muscle-bound eagles on the cliffside railings overlooking the desert and the sea.

Shi and Peter by the hilltop highway.

After another quick but productive photo-op, we headed for Muscat and back home.

We both had reddish tans and loads of pictures from the trip, the latter I have uploaded to my Flickr account earlier today. Lots of cooling lotions would take care of the sunburnt skin, but I can definitely say that it was all worth the wonderful experience.

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