Nizwa fort main tower Oman

Oman: Day 3 (Part 2) – Nizwa Fort and Jabreen Castle

Date: 27th October, 2014

We began our tour for today by first visiting the Sultan Qaboos mosque before leaving Muscat.

Oman highway to Nizwa
Now we were cruising along the highway to our next destination: the town of Nizwa
Majjid driver Oman
This was our driver-slash-guide, Majid, who was pretty laid back and fun 🙂
Nizwa mountain highway Oman
Oman’s mountainous landscape is quite a sight
Highway to Nizwa Oman
In fact, by evening we would be even higher up the mountains
Nizwa fort road Oman
An hour later, we had reached Nizwa souq
Entrance to Nizwa souq Oman
I believe there is an fee of 500 baisa (₹82/$2.6/€1) to enter Nizwa Fort but Majid took care of that for us
Nizwa souq clay pots Oman
There is the souq part (souq = ‘market’ in Arabic)
Nizwa souq shops Oman
We headed straight towards the fort

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Grand Mosque interiors Muscat Oman

Oman: Day 3 (Part 1) – Sultan Qaboos mosque (Muscat’s Grand Mosque)

Date: 27th October, 2014

Today we were going to drive out of Muscat and head off into the desert mountains. But before leaving Muscat, our guide (a new one) took us to see the Sultan Qaboos mosque, a.k.a the Grand Mosque.

Driving to Grand Mosque Muscat
The Grand Mosque was a short drive from the Radisson Blu
Gardens Grand Mosque Muscat
There is no entry fee, but the mosque is only open to public from Saturday to Thursday
Ladies robes Grand Mosque Muscat
If you are a lady, you can only enter if you are covered from head to toe
Visitor guidelines Grand Mosque Muscat
The rules
Lawn Sultan Qaboos mosque Muscat
The lawn was really nice

Open area Grand Mosque Oman

Inside Sultan Qaboos mosque Muscat
We walked around a bit before going inside the main prayer hall

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Copper pot stills Amrut factory

Amrut Distilleries factory tour (with Vir Sanghvi)

Date: February 12, 2014

I was invited to visit the Amrut Distilleries factory on Mysore Road, just outside of Bangalore city. I was going to get to see the manufacturing process for making the famed Amrut whisky — with a special guest in tow. Noted journalist, writer and TV personality Vir Sanghvi was going to drop by the factory for a tour.

Amrut whisky display Bangalore
The award-winning Amrut whisky range
Barley peat for whisky
Barley to the left, peat to the right
Amrut distillery office awards display
We were waiting for Vir Sanghvi to arrive
Amrut awards Jagdale old photo
Gave me enough time to check out the awards and the history of the company Shri Radhakrishna Jagdale founded
Amrut distillery test lab Bangalore
This is the lab where they sample and test whiskies — Amrut’s own production batches and the competition
Jagdale gifting flowers to Vir Sanghvi
Vir Sanghvi had arrived, and so had the present chairman of Amrut Distilleries, Mr. Neelakanta Rao Jagdale. After a formal greeting, the Amrut team led us all to the factory.
Amrut factory tour with Vir Sanghvi
Senior VP Surrinder Kumar led the factory tour

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