Accreditation Visit - Day 2

We were collected at our hotel at the appointed time and driven to the University. We were delivered to a different part of the campus, the Faculty of Computing and IT building. We toured the building viewing the computer labs and other facilities available to the students and teachers for delivering IT education.
The Faculty of Computing and IT at Sohar University

We had a very productive series of meetings today slightly varying the schedule to accommodate the students who were back on campus. It was remarkable how different the feeling on campus was from the day before now that there were students going about their education all around us.

After completing the formalities of the visit, the Sohar University driver took us to the Grand Mosque of Sultan Qaboos, where we were able to admire the mosque around the outside, but as we were not believers we were prohibited from visiting the prayer hall itself.

Side entrance to Grand Mosque
Grand Mosque Prayer Hall
Architectural detail of the Main Entrance

We were then driven around to the Fort, but it too was closed (after 4pm) so we could only view the outside, which, as it is a fort, is not heavily ornamented nor revealing of what’s inside. When driving from the mosque to the fort, we saw a truck carrying about half-a-dozen camels, who were all patiently sitting/kneeling in the back watching the world go by from the lorry’s bucket.
Camels in a truck
Side view of the Sohar Fort from the street
View of the Keep from the side of the Fort

The driver then returned us to the hotel by driving along the corniche, which looked very majestic though today quiet and a bit drab in the weather.

View North along the Corniche in Sohar

Tonight, we are being hosted at dinner by Sohar University, location as yet unknown.

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