OMAN REVISITED

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Oman revisited.

On leaving Yemen I heard that a German UN worker and her parents had been kidnapped.
The Locals seemed to think that they would not be harmed as they were just being used as leverage by the tribesmen against the government.
I was quite pleased to be going away from all the smoke, it was beginning to affect my chest. Even at Sana'a airport I could not find a spot to avoid the smoke.
Arriving in Oman at 11pm I had reserved a room in a hotel in Seeb a town about 40 kms from Muscat. It was slightly more expensive than I had been paying and therefore was disappointed to find that there was a nightclub underneath and although my room was 3 floors up the noise affected the whole hotel. I went to ask them what time it finished and was told 3am.They said that they would turn it down but it did not happen.
When I went to go to bed in the lovely 6 ft bed I saw that the sheet had not been changed. I was already undressed and too tired to complain again and slept on the other side of the bed which seemed OK. When I told the superviser the next day he just feebly said sorry. I had a look around Seeb. It is bigger than I had imagined, I saw no other tourists which maybe explains why the people are so kind. Twice, taxi drivers took me to places and refused to take any money. When really they are usually the only people I have problems with.
There is a fish market and you could buy fresh fish nearby and they would cook it for you. I didn't do that as the fish were all too big. Instead I had some huge prawns in another restaurant on the sea front. The view was spoilt at the moment as they are building yet more corniche. It should be nice when finished.
It was good to check into Naseem Hotel at Mutrah Corniche in Muscat again. It is old but clean. The sheets are changed every day. I then made my way back to the business district of Ruwi to get my Kodak battery charged. I had not been able to use the camera at all in Yemen. The Indian man said that the next time I came we would have dinner together. So-that means that means that I had better be frugal with the use of the camera as I shan't be going back again.
While waiting I went to the Omar Kayyam restaurant again. The waiter remembered me from 2 weeks before and exactly what I had eaten and where I sat. So I had the same special mutton dish and he even reminded me that I had drunk lassi - plain, no sugar or salt. It is scary but nice.
The next day I was up early,even earlier than I had planned as woke at 4am and did not get back to sleep again. Maybe it was because I had bought some duty free red wine and of course had to finish it off the night before. I had arranged for the taxi to pick me up at 8am and had tried to telephone him to come earlier but there was no reply. I waited until 8 am and then took another taxi to the airport for the flight to Syria.

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