Doh-rae-mi- Salalah-ti-DOH!!!

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Temp: 94F 32C

Distance travelled: 1122 nautical miles

A day at sea then Salalah before another 4 days at sea. As on our previous Arabian Gulf cruise a super quiz is going to be held during each of the 4 days we are continuously at sea. Roisin and I were quick to register. The team has to be between 4 and 8 persons so we signed Margaret and Jim up as well. They don't know it yet so if they're not up for it we may have to hold auditions!!

Roisin made it to her Tai Chi class. When we met up for breakfast, she was looking rosie cheeked! I didn't realising standing on one leg with arms stretched out in front then slowly shifting back on to 2 legs, one slightly in front of the other, bent at the knee whilst raising your arms then bringing them down to your side before exhaling could be so tiring!!!

Roisin also had time to fit in two sessions with Joe Magic. He holds the craft sessions during each sea day. These are proving more popular than the last cruise. There are at least 30 people learning how to decorate a fan or make costume jewellery out of wire and some beads. The first session involved crepe paper, some pipe cleaners and hey presto! Red roses and some other made up flower!!!

On the 1st cruise Roisin and I took an official excursion in Salalah. We visited Frankincense World. I thought this was going to be like Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi but I couldn't have been more wrong! No roller coasters. No simulators! Some trees and an explanation as to how Frankincense is made. I did learn that there are only 3 countries in the world where the Frankincense tree grows; Somalia, Yemen and here in Oman. We also visited the footprints of Allah, the mosque and no visit to any port in Arabia would not be complete with a visit to the local souk! From our last experience we knew that Salalah is about a 20 minute drive from the port so at the last moment we decided to try to book an excursion. Salalah is said to be a city of antiquity. The excursion we decided to book would take us to a ruined palace that reputedly belonged to the Queen of Sheba. We would also visit Jabal al Qamar, the resting place of the biblical prophet Job. He was known as 'Salalah Job' who should not be confused with his namesake (also a prophet) reputedly buried alongside the Pharaohs at Giza. Known as ‘Giza Job'!!

Unfortunately all tours for Salalah were completely sold out. This left us no option but to take the free shuttle bus to the port gate and check out the taxis. During our research prior to embarkation Roisin read that the taxis now have their own stand, ticket counter, washrooms, coffee shop and shaded waiting area offering passengers and crew of visiting vessels government controlled rates to ensure a fairness in pricing.

Salalah or as they say in Oman صلالة;‎ is the capital and seat of the governor or Wali. ‘Where's Wali?' I hear you say!! Wali is part of the southern Omani province of Dhofar.

Salalah is the second largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest city in the Dhofar Provence. Salalah is the birthplace of the Sultan Qaboos bin Said. Despite Salalah being his birthplace AND traditionally Sultans living in Salalah rather than in Muscat, Qaboos has bucked this trend, and has lived in Muscat since he ascended to the throne in 1970. He does, however, visit Salalah fairly regularly to meet with influential tribal and local leaders; it probably also gives him the opportunity to visit his mum!!

Qaboos is now in his 43^rd year as Sultan of Oman. In 2010, during the 40th anniversary of him taking the throne, he decided to spend his time in Salalah where the celebrations consisted of a massive parade. It lasted several hours and had an estimated 100,000 attendees. That's his own stupid fault. He should never have sent out an events request on Facebook!! Because as we all know, this leads to Twitter and before you know it, there are people turning up that you don't even know!!!

We arrived at the port gate of Salalah. The coffee shop was no more than a kiosk and the shaded area had enough seats for about 4 people. There was no ticket counter that I could see but a couple of men dressed in traditional Omani dish-dasher and wearing kumars were approaching passengers as they alighted from the shuttle buses. Their English was impeccable as I overheard them talking with a group of Australians from the ship. The taxis were lining up in eager anticipation. We spotted a sign board that, as we approached, saw it was a price guide to various destinations. Most of the destinations meant nothing except ‘downtown'. This was priced as 10 Omani Rial for 2 persons and 15 Omani Rial for 4 persons, one way!! There are approximately €2 = 1 Rial so a return trip downtown would cost €40!! It also mentioned on the board that these were MINIMUM charges so, as we listened to the negotiations, the 2 men who seemed to be orchestrating this legal scam started way above that rate. Although there was slight room for negotiations I overheard a 2 hour tour was still coming out at €200. That was their absolute bottom price. With the price of petrol in Oman at 20p/ltr, it is cheaper to hire a taxi in Central London!! Later on that evening we learned that Margaret and Jim shared a taxi with another couple which cost them an €80 round trip and, surprise, surprise, the taxi driver dropped them outside a souk!! Many travellers were getting straight back on the shuttle bus to the ship and, like us, decided to spend the day on board, soaking up the sun and good weather.

As we arrived back at the quay to reboard the Lirica, we bumped in to 3 of the Irish contingent who we first met during our life jacket muster station exercise.

"I wouldn't bother going to the port gate." I announced to the lady who was nearest to me, “It's pretty crap. The taxi drivers are just there to rip you off. There's not even free wi-fi or an air conditioned port building.”

“What did he say?” an elderly gentleman asked the lady I'd been speaking to

She summarised in one short sentence getting straight to the point: “He says it's shoite!!”

We spent a peaceful afternoon on deck which was broken by a loud hoot on the ships horn from the bridge. Roisin and I looked over the side of the ship. A tug boat was busy trying to push a small cargo ship in to a berth that wasn't obviously going to fit. The officer of the watch on the Lirica had seen the danger and was giving a warning blast. The message got through as the tug which then aided the cargo vessel out of the tight space and guided it to a berth further along the dock.

Bingo. A week in and until now, Roisin had managed to supress the urge to deal with this multilingual game but seeing it was the second gala night and there was still some time before he show (songs of broadway), she decided to give it a go. She let me pick her card (but not split on it for luck!!) and away we went. After the first 10 numbers, Roisin had only marked 2 from her card,

‘You've picked the wrong card, Chris', she said

‘No, I picked the right card it's just that they're calling the wrong numbers!!' I replied.

As more nymbers were called, Roisin picked up a head of steam. The €25,000 prize passed for a full house within 40 numbers. No one won €10,000 for a full house within the first 45 numbers so now with the impossible dreams out the way, it was a straight race to the finish line.

‘How are we doing?', I asked leaning over for a clearer view of Roisin's card

‘I only need 3!', she replied rather excitedly

“I – India: Zweiundzweisig, Vingt deux, Venti due, Twenty two” Now she needed 2 numbers: ‘B – Bologna Cinque, Funf….' 1 number. Dario, from the animation team was sitting next to me. “Wieviel?” he asked. I held up one finger. “Die nächste…' he started then changed to English, ‘the next one. You win'.

‘G58, C'mon G58', I chanted under my breath.

‘G – Genova: achtundfunfsig'

‘You win! you win!', I cried.

‘…Fifty eight…' the bingo caller continued

Not the €25,000 advertised but €80 euros is better than nothing. If she had won this yesterday, it could have paid for a return taxi fare in to Salalah!!

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Photos

Roisin after winning Bingo Bingo
Pictured with Dario and Simone of the MSC Lirica animation team