Khatt Hotel Ras Al Khaimah

... has been refurbished and made into a very nice museum. Each room has been set up to see "what life was like", with a few additional displays of older official documents, common tools for markets and fishing, and items of clothing and jewelry. It even had a small library with a collection of books on Oman.

These were all housed in the outer structure; in the middle courtyard was a short tower that had a room showing videos, the ...

... was short, but the road wound around the base of the mountains -- very scenic. We made mental notes of where we'd like to stop for a picnic lunch on the way back.

We hit the only two sightseeing spots mentioned in our guidebook (Dubai Off-Road Explorer) on the road to Khasab. The first was at Bukha, which has two old forts; one close to the water, which looked like it had been refurbished ...

We passed through al-Kharj at night, reaching Haradh and the two-lane highway at sunrise. We stopped for sunrise prayers and to fill the gas tank, then headed off to the east and the rising sun. We stopped at so many rest areas trying to find an omlette paratha, but everywhere was still closed. The best we could do was a hole-in-the-wall place, where my husband got some qeema (Indian-style ground beef) that was literally swimming in oil (uhh, I ...

... travel agency, who provides you with a complete package (required), hotels and all. We didn't need any of that, as we were going to stay with relatives, but we still had to pay for the entire deal.

The application process can take several weeks; we had started over a month ago, before we left for the US. You submit initial paperwork to your travel agent, who then submits your application ...

... yet, but in sandals and armed with a torch, we had a look inside. Nice and posh with marble floors throughout and views of either the Arabian Gulf of the creek and the Hilton Beach Resort...which we'll be spending much of our time! We're both looking forward to starting there now and are much happier now we know what we're letting ourselves in for!

... water well you can imagine. Imagine only, as you cross a few well developed cities. No high rises, but a lot of concrete and still this impression of unreal place. But I had that in other places. Unlike in Dubai where the "out of the world" feeling comes from the wealth, here it arises rather from that perseverance of humans to build a place to live, against all odds, in a place that does not welcome them. The coast, at last. Dibba, a city ...

... and marshmallows toasted over the campfire...mmmmmmmmmm).
The next morning it was up at 6.30am to enjoy the sunrise over the mountains before decamping and heading to the port to meet Ahmed and the Dolphin Tours crew.

Ahmed has 3 Dhows and runs his own charter business. He was there right on time with supplies of new snorkels and fins, a crew of two smiling Omani's and a briefing sheet on the day's ...

... leave I quickly got up and waited for Felicio. Eventually, Felicio and I were able to sit down and enjoy our cold meals. A near by clan of 4 people who had watched me fail at my attempts to scan called me over and invited me to HAVE their table. Their kindness fell greatly upon my heart even though I was not able to procure my own table, I felt a sense of accomplishment. I felt I had deserved my meal and never before had KFC tasted so sweet.

... and bidet. So, glass everywhere, and yet privacy in each section, wood, and white porcelain tub/sinks. All have chrome fixtures. The bedroom has very modern (curved) dark wood cabinet holding mini-bar/plasma TV, and desk. End tables are of same wood. Beds have suede headboards. Minimalist approach. Only problem, dressing room in bathroom is also minimalist. Of course, after the palace, how could ...

... away from it. The plaza is huge, the floor of which is white marble (just as at the Pagoda yesterday). Inside, the Taj is relatively small, holding 3 coffins in the center. One takes off one's shoes to enter, but AK had given us foot covers to wear. Whatever is in other parts of the Taj, I don't know. Since I was worried about exacerbating my- sun poisoning, I left our group and Yogi, and did a quick run ...