Mercure Al Falaj Muscat

... International flights allow 30kg of check-in baggage. I had a suitcase, a box and Oli's guitar which added up to 38kg. Every kg over the limit costs 3500yen (aprox. $40CAD) so it would have been a small fortune, something I really can't afford. I say would have been, because in the end I only paid 10,000yen ($120CAD) because after taking out 3 pairs of shoes (which brought it down to 36kg, still too heavy!) and bursting into tears in front of the check-in girl they finally took pity on ...

... as we'd gone along but we hadn't noticed as we marveled at the spectacular scenery around us. As we sat there waiting for the JCB to finish the road we had to make a decision, carry on or go back. Looking at the rudimentary map in the guide book, it appeared we were a good ¾ of the way to the top so we decided to press on. Surely we'd broken the back of it and it couldn't get any worse? Besides, there was nowhere wide enough to turn around. A mile later it got worse ...

... relationship? No. We didn't have socks on. Huh? There was no mention of socks on the sign. I see fully covered women wearing sandals all the time on the street. Andy and Duncan had sandals on. I peered around the desk to reinforce my emerging (but clearly unadvisable) protest, hoping to see the 2 women wearing sandals but alas, they had on conservative black shoes (presumably with socks). We quickly and shamefully retreated back to the car, me feeling that my willingness to ...

Colin was due to restart his course tomorrow but he was asked to go today. I met next door - they have been here a couple of months I think. She said it was a process of slowly settling and found it quite tough at times. Her youngest daughter is beside herself with being here so that's contributed to the slow settling. I think it is best to do these things the younger the children are - this opportunity definitely ...

... staying here at Haffa House was also on my flight, although he must have taken a different bus as he was here before me. were commiserating on how astoundingly expensive the hotels here are. ~~~~~~~~ Now it's 2:46 and I've given up hope of falling back to sleep, so, after a shower, I ventured down to the lobby, where I have discovered... THE INTERWEBZ!!!!!11!!! but :-| they're having internet issues it seems... so, for now I'll just keep logging in Word Pad.

... corniche (waterfront). He was eager to converse with us although his English was at best patchy. During our conversation he managed to tell us that there is so much more to Oman than Muscat (maybe he sensed we had nothing to do), that his MP3 player, something he was very proud of, was full of Eminen and 50 Cent and that he was waiting for a nearby internet cafe to open, somewhere he goes on a regular basis to escape his parents. We ...

... traveled this road with our friends on our 3rd day in the country, but it was good to re-visit the ever-changing desert scenery. Part of the latest round of development in Dubai is to build "cities" which are areas where particular businesses are clumped together - internet city, media city, knowledge city, health city, sport city etc. Out in the desert, in the middle of nowhere and right near the gaol, we passed academic city - now there is an interesting ...

... over to show me his family's village, swerving to miss already flattened cats at the last possible second, constantly shifting, switching the music on and off, fidgeting, and regularly spraying perfume, we made it there by four in the morning. I hope you know about Cyclone Gonu by now. My friend Muhammad lived in this trailer which had been partially damaged by it, so that you had to climb up crumbling and partially submerged stairs to ...

... they love the Sultan, how they are not all very strict Muslims and therefore do not pray 5 times a day and even how much some of the really big fancy houses on a hill cost). Oh, last thing - Oman is very mountaineous - not the prettiest of mountains since they are all dry and rocky, but I had no idea. I thought it would just be a big desert - instead it has 3-4 climate areas and has the highest mountain in the Middle East that even gets snow sometimes! Who knew?

... buildings with uniquely Arab architecture. In fact, this is the first truly modern Arab looking city we have been to on this entire journey around North Africa and the Middle East. Dubai did not feel like a Arab city, and we didn't think the cities in Morocco or Egypt really passed the "modern" test. It actually feels like a suburb of some California city, like outside LA or something, except with a Muslim culture (everyone here is driving fancy cars - BMWs, Mercedes - and it is ...