Golden Tulip Seeb Muscat

... things (the Omanis,<br>and the Jordanians too, have an insatiable appetite for sweet pastries), two dishdashad<br>men sat not far from me and proceeded to cross their legs, first hitching up the lower<br>extremities, to reveal another loose layer of cloth with an embroidered border rather like a<br>petticoat. I sat for some time in the hope that they would show a bit more, but they failed to<br>do so, and I thought it would be a bit rude to ...

... it once, we'd be happy to take any visitors with a spirit of adventure back into the wadi. There are lots of other routes and detours to shorten the journey, and with planning we could incorporate camping en-route. Next step is to buy the trekking guide and get away from the roads. I might even read that one before setting off. p.s. If anyone is interested, I've plotted the route and added some photos on Google Earth. If you want the file, drop us an email or leave a comment.

... family and work (fleetingly) but my assumption being that others lives continue quite happily whilst we are away. and a quick check of emails once week is all that is needed to keep in touch, where as Geoff likes to check phone and mails regularly. We shall hopefully load up some photos whilst we stop over in Dubai, just to give you something a little more interesting than text. Next stop Muscat, tomorrow morning.

Today Saturday, is Oman's Monday. We spent a couple of hours early in the morning at the Grand Mosque of Oman. This is an immense mosque complex complete that was started being built in 1995 and took six years to finish. It is made from marble, sandstone, and wood. The four corner minarets are about 150 ft tall and the central minaret is even taller. The mosque is open to the public and when we arrived, there was a explanation being given about Islam, the mosque ...

Oman! what a place! Since we last wrote we have been doing a journey of 13 hours across desert in order to get to the north of Oman and the capital, Muscat. Muscat is an awesome capital which is situated in the mountains by the ocean. The sky has been completely cloud free until yesterday when it started raining (which happens once a year). We have spent about a week here and what have we been ...

... I asked Talal to stop for a photo of them sitting out on their mats in the shade. One giggled as he blew me a taboo kiss. Parking at the mouth of the Wadi and after sipping on hot Omani coffee and eating sweet sticky Omani dates, where were delicious, we set off in blistering heat across large peebles along the Wadi floor. A Wadi is where fresh water from the mountains runs down to meet The Gulf. It is lush area filled with ...

... road continued all the way to Muscat, about 4hrs away. I drove most of the way while Kym slept and it was rather boring - the road runs all the way down the coast, so you know it is there from seeing the map but there is never even a glimpse of beach or water. Much greener than Dubai, almost lush, and endless towns. The speed limit is 120kms/hr so you need to concentrate as that is actually about the minimum speed people travel, roads constantly come in from ...

... like it says on the cover of my passport!" getting really aggravated by now. "I go to the American University in Dubai," I added, just to throw a little extra weight around. "What are you doing here?" "Well, I'm waiting for the bus to Dubai." "Last bus left at nine or ten." "I know; I KNOW. I guess I'll just have to wait for the morning when more buses come. I don't know what else to do!" I do, however, know what the police could have ...

... system so it's out of the traditional backpackers itinerary. But the warm welcome you get from everyone makes the additional hassle of visiting Oman much worth it. It was great to see the locals wave me from across the street. They would often come over for a little chat and wanted to know everything about me. And there's no sitting alone at a table in a restaurant. Every time it happened, a local quickly came over and sat with me and got me tea before ordering me ...

... fine. Once we got back to my parents place, it felt like a leech had stolen all of my energy. I was tired, sleepy, hungry and just slow moving. I just woke up from like a 2 hour nap, and i still feel very tired. I can finally see how tropical climates are not as productive as colder climates, the HEAT IS A LEECH!! -Rob