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| Muscat Festival Official Logo |
February 2, 2012 - Muscat Festival has started a week ago (Tues, 26th of January), so my family and I along with our good friend Enrico visit Qurum Park to feel the rush of excitement along with other spectators for this once-in-a-year big fair. We know the major traffic jams around Qurum Park at the running of the festival and decided to go at early afternoon. But the traffic is still bad when we get there. We roam around the area looking for a good spot to park until the policemen direct us to a parking area near Marah Land Amusement Park.
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| at the commercial booth area |
As the cars are in queue, we notice from a distance a young Omani guy selling parking tickets. We are then in doubt as to how come they’re collecting fees where in fact parking in this place is totally free. Jesse goes out of the car line and wants to head out of the parking area. However, the guy catches our attention and argues that we have to move back and pay the fee. My husband, in his fit of disappointment, have a little argument but eventually we end up parking just near the entrance of the amusement park and we get it for free.
We go through the main gate and pay the festival fee (300 baizas for adults and 250 baizas for kids). As soon as we arrive in the small fountain area, we immediately see a lot of booths for commercial concerns such as Oman Air, Nawras, Omantel, Bank Muscat, Bank Dhofar, etc. I check the Ministry of Tourism booth and ask free Oman map and travel destination guide. I collected materials like this especially for our trips and escapades around the country.
