tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14500727980640552432024-03-13T07:54:41.425-07:00David's dribblingsDavid Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-78259533106708144662020-01-05T22:19:00.003-08:002020-01-05T22:19:29.562-08:00The retiring type<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After returning to Oman from the Safari holiday there was around 6 weeks to go from then til the end of my contract. People kept trying to get me to extend, but for me "it was time". 7 and a half years in Oman is a long time away from home and as I'm not getting any younger..............<br />
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The work was still interesting and the people good to work with, but I was tired and ready to move on. Retirement sounded real good.<br />
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Oman was a wonderful experience and a great place to live. Over the time there our horizons were expanded, we got to interact with a completely different culture and explore interesting countries. All in all the only regret would have been if we had not gone, so thanks to the various people that "bullied" me into making that big leap of faith/confidence. It turns out that I do seem to know my stuff, at least that's what a lot of Omani's, business people and international experts tell me.<br />
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The interim between returning and going was filled with selling things, farewells and getting the house ready to move. Those 6 weeks went pretty fast with things coming one on top of the other. We didn't really have time to do much in the way of anything other than preparing to leave, or in my case work.<br />
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With around a week to go the removalist company arrived and our remaining things were packed into a container for shipping to Australia. Quite the change from when we had arrived with nothing but our personal luggage! We did end up selling almost all of the things we wanted to, but sadly mostly for no-where near what we would have liked to get. It was particularly bittersweet watching our garden drive out the gate on a truck! At least we know it's gone somewhere that it will be well treated.<br />
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Just before the removalist arrived we took our cat (Scraps) to a young Omani couple that cared for him in preparation for his (first) move to Abu Dhabi where a friend is hosting him. He needs to stay there for around 6 months before coming to Australia. It's the rabies laws.<br />
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After the removalists had left we closed up the house and spent the last few days staying with some Brit friends (the Benfields) - back to nothing more than our personal luggage!<br />
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The final little while at work was also a bit of a whirl, finishing things off, handing things over, reassuring people that they would cope, etc. At the same time I was also spending a lot of time at the national radio station recording a series of short sessions on logistics and border management. Fun, fun, fun! And for my final day of work the whole team (20 strong)were flown to Salalah at the far end of the country for two days of team building at a rather swanky resort. A very nice farewell to work!<br />
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The guys from work didn't seem to want to let go of me just yet and my last morning in Oman was spent on a fishing boat, trawling for fish. Between four of us we caught a bunch of Tuna, such that my final dinner in Oman was barbequed tuna for the Hunts, the Benfields and their maid and driver!<br />
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As all things must, our time in Oman then came to an end and at 0400 the following morning we headed off for the airport and the next phase of life. It was a pretty standard trip to Australia, with the sole exception that I bought myself the retirement present of a drone on the way through Dubai.<br />
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In all the Oman adventure ran from 12 March 2012 to 30 September 2019.<br />
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On 1 October we flew into Brisbane and went to our son's place where I finally got to meet my granddaughter - Triana! As to what's happened since then in Australia, that's a whole other post to come............ In the mean time here are shots from Oman!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first sighting of Oman, late October 2011</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meet the camels</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muscat (Muttrah) from the water</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional dancers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contemplating a purchase at the souq</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruins in the mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Grand Mosque in Muscat</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main prayer hall inside the grand mosque</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marshalling dancers at Muscat Festival</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who knew there would be international cricket to watch - Oman vs the Netherlands</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Royal Oman Police, Mounted bagpipe band - although we met them we sadly never got to see a performance</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to Wadi Shab, - what adventures await?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Old style decorations in an abandoned village</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploring wadi</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional bull fighting</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Celebrating the after effects of rain</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruins in the mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many, many castles (Nakhal)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The iconic coffee pot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A proud Omani gentleman, who asked me to show the world what an Omani looks like</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse sports, in this case saluting the Royal presence (one of the Princes)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qTs6mcc2GZI/XhLL-AziUPI/AAAAAAAASgM/e0Sge8duPzcd4E0Zr08w-5-VIN1tcFcZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_8844.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qTs6mcc2GZI/XhLL-AziUPI/AAAAAAAASgM/e0Sge8duPzcd4E0Zr08w-5-VIN1tcFcZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG_8844.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desert that goes, and goes, and goes - it seems forever</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the spectacular mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0PIhSn1BPC0/XhLMCuAeHPI/AAAAAAAASgc/3D16F81cLs0KF224YoVPctQvvnppv2Y5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_8981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1063" data-original-width="1600" height="424" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0PIhSn1BPC0/XhLMCuAeHPI/AAAAAAAASgc/3D16F81cLs0KF224YoVPctQvvnppv2Y5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_8981.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joy of joys Wadi Bani Khalid</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FbS-01xDQLY/XhLMDlspvTI/AAAAAAAASgg/siHJ6uwAfhIJ4v0uNQv6aLyID3AQroVZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_9794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FbS-01xDQLY/XhLMDlspvTI/AAAAAAAASgg/siHJ6uwAfhIJ4v0uNQv6aLyID3AQroVZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/IMG_9794.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the wild coast of Masirah Island</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D5j-RZolfGY/XhLLrjnFp5I/AAAAAAAASfc/PDcJL6THszAGfz9jEzIj-LPdZlPqsAD7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20190921_161323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D5j-RZolfGY/XhLLrjnFp5I/AAAAAAAASfc/PDcJL6THszAGfz9jEzIj-LPdZlPqsAD7QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20190921_161323.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bye Bye garden</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HO4KCjRmsK8/XhLLrtuf6sI/AAAAAAAASfY/iEkRqouARY4-BQcgRQpM5yrSjo4ZQQOmQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20190924_145851.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HO4KCjRmsK8/XhLLrtuf6sI/AAAAAAAASfY/iEkRqouARY4-BQcgRQpM5yrSjo4ZQQOmQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_20190924_145851.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The house is packed</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_UiITb8h_0/XhLLudwvn4I/AAAAAAAASfk/ntoR7IzYevMbe_mm_3QG0Pa4x8nLX4LWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20190930_044626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q_UiITb8h_0/XhLLudwvn4I/AAAAAAAASfk/ntoR7IzYevMbe_mm_3QG0Pa4x8nLX4LWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/IMG_20190930_044626.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last view of Muscat - 30 Sep 2019</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-83653801537012675312019-08-22T02:00:00.001-07:002019-08-22T02:00:18.689-07:00On Safari part 2 - Animals Ahoy in the Masai Mara<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Assuming you've read part one - On the Monday morning we finally met up with Peter Ngugi, our guide for the Kenyan safari. He picked us up around 8 and we headed off from Naivasha for the Masai Mara via Narok.<br />
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Driving in Kenya is a relatively slow experience as most vehicles are limited to 80kph. It's fine and as per the Swahili language Akuna Matata! We made it to the Masai Mara without incident (well other than Katrina losing her glasses in Narok - which made night time difficult for her).<br />
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Peter's experience as a guide made the trip for us! Nothing like expertise to be in the right place at the right time. Late one afternoon when we were discussing whether to try for another animal sighting (which we did successfully) I said to Peter "It's been a long day for you, we could head back", his response was "It's ok, I'm watching animals, so I'm happy"<br />
His knowledge and experience came to the fore with sighting the Rhino, Leopard(s) and the lioness carrying its cub. African big 5 plus, plus - seen in one day! Nuff said - good man, good guide to have!<br />
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The rest of this is going to be very picture heavy and text lite - and yes we did get that close, 3 meters or less on occasion, but safe nonetheless as safari vehicles are not game, just something to be ignored!<br />
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Lions, big things, yep - with every appearance of nothing to fear:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Except we fear a herd of buffalo and move the baby to safety! Quick smart!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love this shot</td></tr>
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Leopards, not so big, solitary, but probably the most beautiful of the big cats:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mother and baby</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grandma</td></tr>
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Cheetah's, fast - certainly, but I kinda think they're the "punk rockers" of the big cats - got attitude, make trouble!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making the gazelle run - just coz I can</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-addD6x79kKA/XV5KHxTDvBI/AAAAAAAAP2o/HnOT4VvxEZQeAlAdY-ryMj5ttqkLmafqwCLcBGAs/s1600/20190820_205242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1600" height="151" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-addD6x79kKA/XV5KHxTDvBI/AAAAAAAAP2o/HnOT4VvxEZQeAlAdY-ryMj5ttqkLmafqwCLcBGAs/s320/20190820_205242.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Will these guys run?</td></tr>
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Cerval, not often seen, certainly the rarest animal we saw - elusive and the size of a house cat:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love the way this little guys extremeties just fade into the background</td></tr>
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Rhinoceros - reclusive and rare, this guy didn't hang round when he realised there were watchers:<br />
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Elephants large serene and majestic:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When muck slinging adds value!</td></tr>
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Hyena's get undeserved bad press, but I love the way they turn out in photo's:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cold belly helps digestion</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chasing off an interloper</td></tr>
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Vultures clean things up and their squabbles are amusing to watch:<br />
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Wildebeest come in multitudes:<br />
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Giraffes are everywhere, stately and gentle:<br />
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Yes those scenes you saw in the lion king of mixed herds are real:<br />
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And to finish off, let's play a little game of spot the big critter! It's surprising how little cover they need to disappear from view!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three lions in there</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-17952949694536095702019-08-21T08:58:00.001-07:002019-08-21T08:58:53.834-07:00On Safari - Part 1 - Getting to Kenya, Nairobi, Naivasha and Hell's Gate National Park<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
And yet again it's almost a year since I have done a Blog post - yay, slack me.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you pick the morning animal show at Sanctuary Farm</td></tr>
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Time in Oman is fast running down, and as I had promised myself an African Safari while working here it was rapidly becoming now or never! So immediately after returning to Oman in January I started planning. A colleague put me in touch with a guide he was related to by marriage and in no time flat Peter Ngugi and I were knee deep in plans.<br />
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I chose to go in August, so that I could be face to face with African animals for my 60th birthday! But of course in Kenya and the Masai Mara in particular that is high season because of the Wildebeest migration. So even though planning was underway in January things were rapidly filling up..................... But we did get sorted pretty fast.<br />
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With just under a month to go it was time to apply for visa's. So I jumped online, found Kenyan online visa service and applied - only it wasn't, it was a scam site. I realised this around a week after making application and paying. Sigh - strike 1.<br />
So I jumped online, found the actual Kenyan online visa site, created an account applied for visa's and waited, and waited, then just for varieties sake waited a little more. Eventually, I rang the Kenyan Embassy who said "when are you travelling?" Friday - OK if you haven't heard anything by Thursday morning come in here. - strike 2<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many many times great grandparent?</td></tr>
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So Thursday morning we went to the embassy, paid for visa's a third time, and had them in our passports within half an hour! Sigh - guess there's a message there! And of course, no sooner had we left the embassy than Katrina's visa arrived, there's still been no message about mine!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The great rift valley</td></tr>
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Friday lunchtime we duly arrived into Nairobi, thinking there would be time to do something in the afternoon, that was not to be as it took a while to clear the airport - and for the first time (other than in Australia) my bags got selected for a Customs examination! Kinda ironic. What got pinged was the bags we had packed to leave in the advertised airport luggage storage room, which does not actually exist, so we ended up lugging twice as much luggage as planned across Kenya. In the end after Friday afternoon peak hour traffic we got to the hotel (Four Points by Sheraton, Hurlingham) just in time for their happy hour on local craft beer! A win<br />
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Saturday we spent roaming around Nairobi with a hotel driver, Erastus who took us to the elephant orphanage (where they care for, raise and re-introduce to the wild, lost elephant calves), Giraffe conservancy (which includes the famous Giraffe Manor hotel - outrageously expensive, but sharing breakfast with Giraffes! - where you can pay for things and hand feed Giraffes) and the Nairobi museum.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waking up Hippo</td></tr>
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Have to say baby elephants are more than a bit cute and the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust lets you adopt an orphan - go on, you know you want to! They'll send you baby elephant pictures and stories, all for $50us a year! (I didn't tell Katrina but I adopted the elephant calf Enkesha)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Night time Hippo</td></tr>
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The Nairobi museum had a rather impressive collection of our distant ancestors and some sections on Kenyan history and wildlife. All rather interesting. I think the artist who had a gallery upstairs must have been a little amused, as at one point I wandered in, had a short conversation with him about his work and then said that I was looking for my wife (rather than a painting). He hadn't seen her and I wandered off. Some time later Katrina wandered in, to be greeted with "Madam, I think your husband is looking for you" "Was he wearing a hat?" "Yes" "Ahh, thanks"<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My try at Impressionist Kenyan morning</td></tr>
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Sunday Morning (my birthday) we set off up-country under the care of William who was standing in for Peter Ngugi, to Lake Naivasha and our next digs Sanctuary Farm where we stayed that night and again on Thursday night after our time right up-country. The trip from Nairobi included some spectacular vista's out over the Great Rift Valley (google it!) which is where we would be spending the rest of our stay.<br />
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After checking in and unpacking we booked in for an afternoon horse ride, through the conservancy area of the farm with Giraffe, impala, buffalo, zebra, gazelle, etc, etc About the only things missing were elephants and predators - but plenty of those were to come in the Masai Mara! I can highly recommend Sanctuary Farm and their horse ride!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cormorants a roosting</td></tr>
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Following the ride we made our way down to the lakeside (adjoining the grounds) and set off in search of the most dangerous animal in Africa - no not Lions, not crocodiles either, but Hippo's! Yes the humble hippo is apparently the cause of more deaths in Africa than any other animal.<br />
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What followed was a rather eventful boat-ride that included birds of many varieties, some fab scenery and Hippo's. There were a few family groups of Hippo's clustered close in-shore and a sprinkling of solitary ones. As we puttered slowly and silently along the lake we came across one solitary hippo that had been snoozing underwater and went unnoticed by our boat driver. All of a sudden the water about 2 meters/6 feet to the side of our boat exploded as the hippo woke up surfaced and turned 270 degrees to come after the boat - thankfully it didn't choose the shorter 90 degree turn, as by the time it had turned we were well out of harms reach thanks to a judicious application of the throttle! There may have been an adrenaline rush, I may have got some great up close and (too) personal hippo photos. And no Rufus, I did not need the camoflaging grace of brown pants!<br />
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By the time we got back ashore things were back to normal and it was time to go sit on the balcony at the farm house and watch the animals make their way down to the lake shore for the night. Following a rather nice, but early, dinner it was time for two travellers to head off for an early night. But no, we couldn't go - you see a hippo had chosen that time to come up from the lake and was slowly grazing its way between the farm house and the converted stables where we were staying. So we had to wait til the night guard/escort said it was safe to go.<br />
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If ever you do go to anywhere like this it is best to heed such advice. You see last year at a nearby resort, two Chinese tourists set off without calling a guard. On their way they came across a mother hippo and calf, which they decided to follow and observe. Sadly they strayed too close and the mother charged, trampling both, one was killed and the other badly injured and hospitalized. For such a big critter they are remarkably agile and can run faster than humans. Think freight train that accelerates and turns like a ferrari<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hells gate</td></tr>
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Anyhow the other attraction around Naivasha is Hells Gate National Park. This park is full of natural springs, sandstone gorges and amazing scenery. So amazing it's the setting for various movies, including Tomb Raider and the pride rock area from Lion King. It is the only National Park in Kenya that doesn't have Lions and Leopards in residence, so tourists are allowed to walk, cycle and rock climb at will. It is a stunning area with sandstone gorges and hot pools, all formed by volcanic activity and subsidence between two tectonic plates. The park boundaries include massive commercial flower farms (roses to the world) and thermal energy generation - around 2/3 of Kenyan power generation we were told. We had a great couple of hours clambering through there on our final day in Kenya, before heading off to Nairobi and a plane to France.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left behind</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Devil's Bedroom - follow the slanting light to Pride Rock, only 2 hours walk!</td></tr>
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Oh, I mentioned no lions. Not entirely true as a mature male and two lionesses were at large in the park when we were there. Not to worry our walking guide said, it's at the other side of the park and the rangers have chased them into some trees. Rather sensibly the rangers had not followed the lions into the trees, that way lies a mauling! Presumably by now the three lions have emerged from the trees to be darted and relocated.<br />
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Cheers<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-44278922740602032842018-10-12T03:56:00.002-07:002018-10-12T07:06:31.080-07:00Beach(es), skulls 'n' critters and crossing Paris by Train.....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As they are want to, the Eid al Adha festivities came along, two months after the end of Ramadan and the Eid Al Fitha celebrations. This year the three day public holiday dovetailed nicely into the mid-week, and the Government announced that the full week would therefore be public holidays. Woohoo, ticket to France booked for the Thursday afternoon and I was set for the break. I had originally thought of going to Tanzania for a short Safari - but apparently that's not something I'm allowed to do solo!<br />
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So on Thursday 16 August I went to work in the morning, left a little early to take the cat to his cat resort and spa for his week away and then off to the airport for an early afternoon flight to Paris. Unfortunately the Oman Air Paris flight gets in too late to catch a country train, meaning an overnight stay in Paris. What to do - well I transferred myself across to Montparnasse and hunkered down in a hotel for the night. Mind you, before calling it a night i did go out and find an open bar for an evening sit in summer and a beer or two.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catacomb contents</td></tr>
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I'd decided that Friday would be a good time to go and see the catacombs of Paris, being 1) local to Montparnasse and therefore 2) close to the Montparnasse Vaugrigard station where I would catch the express train to Flers. After a long and slow breakfast I set out on foot for the entrance to the catacombs, which just happened to be near the station I had arrived to the previous night, Denfert Rochereau (more on that station's utility later).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dizzy making entrance to the catacombs </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Street signs for the catacombs</td></tr>
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Having witnessed the queues at various Paris tourist monuments, I'd booked my ticket online which gave me a 2 hour window in which to join the express entry queue. I'd taken 11 - 1. Getting there a little early, I'd retreated across the road to a cafe for coffee to await the start time. It was rather pleasant to sit there, looking at the queue that stretched all the way around the small square, knowing that for me there was no queue!<br />
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So on and into the catacombs. The Paris catacombs were formed from the mines that were used to extract the limestone from which much of older Paris is built. You only have access to a limited amount of the tunnels though and diverging tunnels are blocked or gated off, to ensure you follow a set route. Much better than having lost souls roaming the streets below!<br />
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Mining in the catacombs began by the 12th century, as people sought lutetian limestone to build their houses from. A lot of the early mining was uncontrolled, with many mines unmapped and abandoned when the underground limestone seam they followed was exhausted. Over time as Paris expanded people built above the abandoned (and largely horizontal) mine shafts. Occasionally this led to building collapses and the need for rather expensive foundations on new buildings.<br />
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In 1774 a special department was created to map and administer these abandoned mines. Parts of the work involved connecting the mines and shoring them up to support the streets and buildings above. At the same time Paris's cemeteries were becoming overcrowded and occasional collapses were causing public health and public relations nightmares. For example a basement wall in a building next door to the les innocents cemetery collapsed, spilling the contents of a mass grave into said basement. What to do? Simple really, take a lot of the older bones from the cemeteries and put them somewhere else! How convenient, there's abandoned mines below the streets doing nothing.......<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to the Ossuary</td></tr>
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So in 1782 Police Lieutenant General Lenoir had a "voila" moment and combined two of the Police responsibilities of cemeteries and mines to create the Parisian Ossuary (that's a bone store to any uneducated plebs that didn't know!). It was all rather necessary as by then the main Parisian cemeteries were bulging from 600 plus years of the dead, not to mention they needed to make room for the shortly forthcoming victims of the French Revolution, which you may recall involved rather liberal application of the guillotine!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bone stacking 101</td></tr>
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Initially bones were simply moved underground to the ossuary area and stacked, but over time and under later inspectors general of the mines things were improved. The Ossuary entrance was created to respect the dead and the bones were neatly stacked, with skulls and long bones creating outside walls to hold the other bones in place. Memorial plaques were erected denoting the origins of the bones and when they were interred in the Ossuary.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bone stacking Masterclass</td></tr>
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It's an interesting and sobering place to visit now. Although it wasn't always the case as there are tales of parties and other events occurring in the Ossuary, including a concert played by a full orchestra with invited guests arriving from high society.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Believe it or not this was once a concert hall!</td></tr>
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So after all that excitement I took myself off to the train and Normandy. </div>
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Over the rest of the week I did a little work on the house, the operative word being little and relaxed. Included in the bill of fare was a visit to the Normandy landing beach of Omaha, and a later visit to a zoo.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking over Omaha beach and bunker</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bunker above Omaha Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spot the Bunkers?</td></tr>
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Omaha beach was quite interesting and is rather humbling. It is hard to understand what the people who landed on these beaches went through. Walking through the remnants of fortifications and the museums gives you a sense of perspective and respect. I went to two museums, the Musee D Day Omaha and the Musee Memorial d'Omaha Beach. Omaha was one of the five landing beaches and, with Utah beach comprised the American landings, the other three beaches Sword, Juno and Gold were landed by forces predominantly from the UK and Canada, supported by smaller forces from other allied countries.<br />
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I found the day rather interesting and again contemplative, there was however one jarring note - This was caused by a middle aged American wheeling his aged father around in a wheel chair. Said relative was a former member of the "Big One" (the First Infantry Division) and had been one of the men ashore on D-Day (1st wave, 2nd wave, something later - don't know, didn't hang round to find out). Now don't get me wrong, what happened that day was horrendous and anyone who was part of it deserves undying gratitude. What I found jarring was the way the middle aged American was accosting people and if identifying them as French or another European nation, demanding that they thank his father for his sacrifice (quote unquote). I felt particularly sorry for the young Italian guy he accosted. Not cool dude! His dad was wearing the requisite D-Day landing veteran museum pass and cap, so instantly recognisable for what he'd been part of.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Sherman recovery tank, showing signs of combat</td></tr>
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Apart from that and some quiet time in the French countryside, doing things like christening my new bicycle - and discovering how disgustingly unfit I am -buying some Normandy Gin (apple botanical) and visiting the local butter biscuit factory, I had time to visit Zoo de Jurques, surprisingly in Jurques.<br />
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Now I love this sort of stuff. Half the fun of doing touristy things in Normandy is discovering just which way "crazy computer lady" (the in-car GPS) will take me this time. It seems to treat going somewhere as an adventure and returning home as an exercise in getting it over and done with ASAP please! And for no discernible reason, routing to the same place never seems to be the same twice, although I s'pose it could be my "old timers" disease kicking in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hi there</td></tr>
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So for an enjoyable hour and a half I got to drive down 2nd and 3rd class country roads, lovely stuff. Green tunnels, tiny villages and hamlets with unexpected house, chateau and villa designs, spectacular panorama's over hills, forests and farmland! Much more interesting than a quick blast down a main road, where everything is sanitised and you're going too fast to appreciate the changing world around you.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gray wolf says "what's that in the stroller?"</td></tr>
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Eventually I got to Jurques (two blinks and you've missed it), and found the zoo. Funnily enough the turn off was directly from one of the main roads through Normandy and my later almost direct route home.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No idea what sort of bird this is, but it photographs well!</td></tr>
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Jurques is quite a nice smaller zoo, which I can thoroughly recommend as they've put a reasonable amount of thought into their habitats. Climbing animals have enclosures with suitable layouts and so-on. My favourites the snow leopards have a steep walled gully to play in, the mountain goats have what looks like the walls of a disused quarry and so-on. Even though it's not a large zoo, Jurques has a wide range of animals and for the first time I saw wolves - grey and white. After watching the white wolves get fed I can attest that "wolfing your food" is an apt description of how these wolves made their meals of 2 (extra large European size) chickens each disappear. All in all I had a good day roaming the zoo before heading out for home via the fast route.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seconds after receiving his chicken, White wolf begins to wonder where it's gone</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3dHqHVnWqa8/W8B0ebDtsVI/AAAAAAAANss/XOg-27qibEIpUhaCzbb9_0YWHT3SrsYHgCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_16410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3dHqHVnWqa8/W8B0ebDtsVI/AAAAAAAANss/XOg-27qibEIpUhaCzbb9_0YWHT3SrsYHgCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_16410.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What you lookin at HUH?</td></tr>
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And then all too soon my break in France was over and it was back to Paris and the plane for Muscat.<br />
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And that discovery about crossing Paris by Train. If you have to go between the Montparnasse area and Charles De Gaulle airport, everybody (including railway staff) says to take the airport line between CDG and Gare du Nord and the 4 line between Nord and Montparnasse. This takes a good two hours and involves a few hundred meters of manually humping your bags through tunnels with multiple sets of stairs, so EHHHH! WRONG ANSWER! The right answer is Denfert Rochereau - CDG and the 6 line between there and Montparnasse, which comes and goes from a platform right next to the MET entrance gates at Montparnasse. This route cuts out hundreds of meters of tromping and replaces multiple stair climbs with one. Nord is also at the middle of the 4 line and the airport train routes so if you get on there it's a struggle to get a seat. Denfert Rochereau is almost at the end of the line so plenty of available seating, and with but 2 stops between it and Montparnasse on the 6 line... It's just so much simpler and cuts at least half an hour off the cross city commute. Wish I'd known about this back in March!<br />
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And here's why I wish I'd known this in March - which you may have seen on Facebook...<br />
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<i><br /><br />"I have to chronicle this its a real comedy of errors. <br />So yesterday I left France. Rail from Normandy to Paris is the sensible decision right?<br />First train leaves on time. Gets to Rennes for my transfer couple of minutes late. No problem, except the station is a construction zone with limited and choked access points. I miss the connection by seconds.<br />Ok I’d left plenty of time. French rail tried to charge me to change booking I objected and won. Next train is over an hour later and a longer trip. No probs it would be tight but still ok. <br />Get on the train, backtrack past my point of origin and onwards. All going well til just short of Paris when the train slowed and they announced a safety issue. Add over 20 minutes. Tight is now looking like not possible.<br />Check with the guard, take the 4 train, taxi is slower, change at Noord.<br />Hare off through Montparnasse station, queue at the ticket machine, it faults and won’t issue tickets, watch see a machine issue, queue and get my ticket. What seems like an eternity later I’m on the train. Halfway through I notice a sign advising that both stations you can transfer to the airport line are undergoing maintenance and closed on the 4 line. At this point a nice Frenchman steps in and guides me through another station, to transfer success.<br /><br />By now I know I’ve missed checkin.<br /><br />Get to the first airport stop (I need the second) and they announce train teminating here. No further advice. Gah.<br />Look for helpful rail employee - none in sight. <br />Only option is to exit the station. Gate won’t read my ticket. Try another ok. Discover there’s an airport shuttle train, yay, miss it by seconds so have to wait a few more minutes.<br /><br />Finally get to the right terminal and of course the checkin gate is at the far end. As I get closer the OmanAir checkin area is looking awfully deserted, except for one guy, who looks at me, smiles and says “Mr Hunt, we’ve been waiting for you”. Bags checked, pass issued, priority through security, I made it.<br />I got to the checkin desk 45 minutes before departure! They are supposed to close at 90 before.<br /><br />Arrived into the brand new Muscat Airport (opened while I was away, lovely and efficient). <br />Didn’t even break stride in the baggage hall as my bag tumbled out the chute as I walked up.... Welcome home."</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Tickle my tummy? Pleeeease</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-64927642115603005472018-07-26T06:25:00.000-07:002018-07-26T10:30:59.582-07:00There be Niches<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting the Mosque</td></tr>
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One of the more spectacular tourism sites in Muscat is undoubtedly the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. The Sultan commissioned it in the nineties and it was finished and opened to the public in 2001. If you travel around Oman you will see Grand Mosques in cities of any size, these were all built by the Sultan, from this personal funds.<br />
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The Grand Mosques are all different and from what we have seen reflect something of the local architecture and or culture.<br />
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The one in Muscat is the largest and the grandest. It has many "features" such as the largest chandelier in the world, a main prayer hall that can accommodate over 6,600 worshippers and artistic touches reflecting a range of Islamic styles, along with a library and non-denominational Islamic study centre.<br />
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When we have visitors it is one of the places we highly recommend and usually take people to, as it is open to non-Muslims for 3 hours a day. Everything is kept in spic and span shape, by an army of maintenance workers, which makes me wonder if the great cathedrals of Europe were treated the same in their new-built glory.<br />
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As I've just bought myself a new tripod I decided that a fitting first serious use of it would be to visit the Grand Mosque and take photo's of the 96 decorative niches that adorn the cloisters on either side of the mosque (North and South). I am reasonable happy with the results, but will go back at some point to retake some to get a more consistent framing, but for a first attempt at something like this.... and it was hot - even in the shaded, breezy cloisters.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WWR197T-nfk/W1nICFkdCnI/AAAAAAAAM3k/9rKJy5LuSIYVxDMY17fiLn1GTrvbByQ-ACLcBGAs/s1600/201708%2BMosque%2BPanorama.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1600" height="330" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WWR197T-nfk/W1nICFkdCnI/AAAAAAAAM3k/9rKJy5LuSIYVxDMY17fiLn1GTrvbByQ-ACLcBGAs/s640/201708%2BMosque%2BPanorama.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Main Prayer Hall</td></tr>
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I haven't found anything that denotes a sequence of viewing, with the only reference listing the artistic styles, South and then North. But to me I always like to start with Oman at the "far" end of the North cloister and work my way from there to finish at the modern interpretations. Along the way much of the Islamic world is covered, along with some pre-Islamic styles, stretching from the Arabian Peninsula, up to Persia, across to Egypt and Spain.<br />
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So here's a link to my pdf of the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque niches (all 96 of them)<br />
<a href="https://1drv.ms/b/s!AoB9wjRkziP6gZw7rJEBBRkwlwuXfQ">https://1drv.ms/b/s!AoB9wjRkziP6gZw7rJEBBRkwlwuXfQ</a><br />
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Cheers<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-83601728471538926682018-03-24T14:04:00.004-07:002018-03-24T14:05:39.090-07:00Unemployed??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marechal Ney, one of Napoleon's heroes</td></tr>
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After 6 years I walked out of Oman Customs on 12 March, ending 35 years as a Customs Officer. The end! Well not quite, you see I had made it known that I would be finishing with Oman Customs and the Oman Government authority for logistics let me know that if I wanted to keep working......... In short we agreed to an 18 month extension, with me holding the title of lead Trade Facilitation. It's a whole of Government role that will keep me busy working with Government and trade. All good fun and challenging, with a change in focus.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Quq2ycpZQnI/WraejlUwmBI/AAAAAAAAL-I/oisfiNvg6w4vEJlUm_cckhpa-lPlM7klwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It may not be gold, but I got a retirement watch</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Quq2ycpZQnI/WraejlUwmBI/AAAAAAAAL-I/oisfiNvg6w4vEJlUm_cckhpa-lPlM7klwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_4483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Quq2ycpZQnI/WraejlUwmBI/AAAAAAAAL-I/oisfiNvg6w4vEJlUm_cckhpa-lPlM7klwCLcBGAs/s200/IMG_4483.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The certificate says thanks</td></tr>
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Katrina and I left Oman on the 13th for a break in France, I return to Oman shortly to take up the new role and Katrina will be a little later because of visa requirements. Fortuitously or not I start my new role on 1 April!<br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1IU-9Z5RaPY/WraSBiTPWtI/AAAAAAAAL9w/dqv_jyjZ2pkW9kStebcLWVqboI3HhPEJQCEwYBhgL/s1600/DRH_15450.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Queen Mathilde in Jardin Luxembourg</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When in Paris</td></tr>
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It's been a busy little while since we landed in France. Normally we would opt for a night flight to arrive in the morning and catch the train to Normandy, but this time it was the day flight, meaning evening arrival, all too late for the trains - so a night in Paris. We booked into a lovely little hotel in Montparnasse for the night. The Hotel Villa Modigliani, it's tucked back from the street, with an arched entrance to a courtyard. Nice and isolated an oasis of peace and quiet.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coffee with the Slushers in Paris</td></tr>
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On the first day of "retirement" we went out for a morning walk around Montparnasse, including a wander through Jardin Luxembourg, before meeting up for coffee with one of my international colleagues (Randy Slusher and his wife Julene) who happened to be in Paris on holidays. It was fortuitous to catch up with Randy as I hadn't been able to say my farewells to the Americans, because of their Government shutdown driven by their dis-functional government.<br />
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After that we caught the train to Normandy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-stQzDq8Y77w/WraRZs9y_SI/AAAAAAAAL9c/h1AsFnmCrpQdW_YoexJqQgnoTmRLbuKaACEwYBhgL/s1600/DRH_15492.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-stQzDq8Y77w/WraRZs9y_SI/AAAAAAAAL9c/h1AsFnmCrpQdW_YoexJqQgnoTmRLbuKaACEwYBhgL/s640/DRH_15492.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Normandy Flag</td></tr>
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Normandy in spring? Well kind of, it's been a long winter this year and in the first week there was even a day of snow! Fab, but it has been cold and most days have rained. Mind you trees are budding, primroses are blossoming everywhere and the farmers are disgorging huge tanks of watered winter manure on the fields - it's enough to make your eyes water as you pass through the miasma.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snow through the eyes of a Kangoo (the rental)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See snow</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Since arriving it's been rather busy. We've bought a car (a silver Renault Kangoo), stripped out a toilet in preparation for replacement hot water service, tiling and toilet fittings. Today has included demolishing the end wall in the downstairs bedroom. What we uncovered reveals that this room was once the kitchen. Interesting colour scheme........... Won't be staying like that. In reality we could have left that wall alone, but there was a curiosity about what lay below. Now there's some repair work to be done, but nothing major, thankfully. Or possibly some more excavation to uncover the rock wall as a feature wall for the master bedroom - possibilities.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That wall aint staying like that</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mmnO-An2Wtw/WraQHSbUIcI/AAAAAAAAL8o/nezdMO4yjJw3Uq96dTYbvYPG_vz37hw4wCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_4507.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mmnO-An2Wtw/WraQHSbUIcI/AAAAAAAAL8o/nezdMO4yjJw3Uq96dTYbvYPG_vz37hw4wCEwYBhgL/s320/IMG_4507.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Kangoo</td></tr>
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The original plan for this visit had been to tile the floor in the master bedroom. To that end, we bought some second hand (old, old, style french tiles) which we collected on day two. This saved hundreds of euros, but comes with the downside of having to clean them off before they can be used. Cleaning, then laying had been the plan. With everything else to do, apart from being stacked in the garage, they've not been touched. Mind you the guy that runs the local dechetterie (rubbish and recycling depot) is getting to know me and seems amused or impressed by the amount and variety of stuff coming out the back of the little rental Kangoo. Wood, plaster, tiles, foam insulation, carpet and underlay.... Sadly on my second trip today I got there to find the dechetterie was full and I had to take the Kangoo of stuff back with me. Sigh.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ii0I6D6USbA/WraQ7X7QJQI/AAAAAAAAL9M/8Dso7lqfpRgjJuT6v1jrYEyVV23cUPHpACEwYBhgL/s1600/DRH_15477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ii0I6D6USbA/WraQ7X7QJQI/AAAAAAAAL9M/8Dso7lqfpRgjJuT6v1jrYEyVV23cUPHpACEwYBhgL/s320/DRH_15477.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Caricature anyone?</td></tr>
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It's not all been work though. We did make a run across to Argentan for the Normandie Cultural Festival, which was a bit of fun. It was somewhat akin to an Australian agricultural show, except without the sideshows and in a much smaller space. The main focus was food! Artisanal food stuffs! Yummy foodstuffs.... We may, or may not have spent a bit of money. There were even some lace makers for Katrina to chat to. Center stage was held down by a cartoonist, happily doing caricatures for all and sundry. Some of his works and books were on display, I'm guessing that he's locally famous.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-siXR4FyKcVU/WraRP20DmlI/AAAAAAAAL9U/Mrw1ssWrEvkEmkNWXb9TknlG8jJBkcKnQCEwYBhgL/s1600/DRH_15486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-siXR4FyKcVU/WraRP20DmlI/AAAAAAAAL9U/Mrw1ssWrEvkEmkNWXb9TknlG8jJBkcKnQCEwYBhgL/s200/DRH_15486.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carve some for me please</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some Lace</td></tr>
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I have decided that this French country living and shopping is good stuff. Many of the villages have their weekly market day and you never know what you'll find. Tools, antiquities, fresh produce and artisanal foodstuffs. I am especially fond of the saucisse sandwiche, avec mouttarde - BBQ sausage, served in a chunk of baguette, with mustard, great stuff, now if I could find a nearby market for each day of the week......<br />
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Apart from that our only outing was a trip to Charleroi and back - on a matter of principal! Recently the rules changed and you can't board an international train with a knife in your suitcase. I discovered that the hard way in January when the rail police in Brussels x-rayed my bag and took my knife away - "no, no sir, you can't have a belt knife wrapped up in your locked suitcase!" Sigh "But you can have the carving knife and fork set wrapped up in your locked suitcase!" The belt knife blade is maybe 10cm, the carving knife a good 25cm, coming to a much sharper point. Anybody else detect some cognitive dissonance here? Anyway I have my knife back and the rail police feel satisfied that security theatre was upheld! I maintain that anybody who <b><u>wants</u></b> to work in security shouldn't be allowed to. Mind you I would have happily paid a small fee for railway staff to carry the knife for me to destination, like airlines do.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pre-dinner drinks</td></tr>
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We did at least get to have a very nice night out in Charleroi. For those that know us through the SCA you will understand the appropriateness of the Brasserie for pre-dinner drinks. After that we found a Brasserie La Manufacture Urbaine and had mirco-brew beers along with local and artisanal foods. Great stuff! It was a very hispterish place, but we couldn't care and the price was actually quite reasonable. Not sure if it was for us, but a lot of the music played was 70's and 80's vintage rock. I was rather amused that all the blokes in the brasserie (bar me and one other) hung around the bar and the women sat at the tables, mostly out of view of the bar.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hBYFnnM0WZ4/WraQWX4azuI/AAAAAAAAL8w/ZkE7f_-B6ZkVRXsmDJFEGKQDyNs1jaQ8QCEwYBhgL/s1600/IMG_4528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hBYFnnM0WZ4/WraQWX4azuI/AAAAAAAAL8w/ZkE7f_-B6ZkVRXsmDJFEGKQDyNs1jaQ8QCEwYBhgL/s320/IMG_4528.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmmm, which one first?</td></tr>
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And yesterday the Tour of Normandie came through the village. At 3:30 we duly traipsed off up the hill and stood around with the village residents, waiting for the race to come through, which it duly did, after what seemed every morotcycle Gendarme in Normandie. I've never been that close to a peloton before. And then they were gone, off towards the days stage finish at Bagnoles D'Orne - a rather picturesque spa/tourist town nearby. Only to be followed by another host of motorcycle Gendarmes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qSWw3XNIZuE/WraPRPXWncI/AAAAAAAAL8A/h2UFqER9YbANfiGyWRAG8Mme2uJ8fKcQQCEwYBhgL/s1600/DRH_15543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qSWw3XNIZuE/WraPRPXWncI/AAAAAAAAL8A/h2UFqER9YbANfiGyWRAG8Mme2uJ8fKcQQCEwYBhgL/s400/DRH_15543.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here comes the Peloton</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There goes the Peloton</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just a few Gendarmes</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-50322779757228282432017-12-27T05:44:00.001-08:002017-12-27T05:44:50.239-08:00Marvelous Musandam<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dolphins of Khasab</td></tr>
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Musandam Governorate is the Northernmost part of Oman and has been on our must see list almost from the time we arrived in the country and finally after almost 6 years we got there. Musandam borders the straits of Hormuz, which is the entrance to the Arabian gulf and so is one of the busiest waterways in the world. At their narrowest the straits are a bit over 30 kilometers wide, separating Oman and Iran. An awful lot of oil transits the straits, on its way to other parts of the world.<br />
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You can get to the capital of Musandam (Khasab) by road - through the UAE - or by ferry boat, at the more than reasonable cost of 64 Omani rials (About $200 Aus) for two return tickets, including the car. The trip takes about 3 hours in a fast ferry. I believe the boats are Australian made as well, which was a bonus.<br />
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So last Thursday we hit the road and went to the small port town of Shinas, 250 odd kms north of Muscat. For some reason the ferry service to Musandam goes from there. We arrived and found the ferry port with plenty of time to spare. So I went and queued to check in, with my pre-booked and paid tickets. Got to the front of the queue, the attendant checked my ticket then asked me to go sit, as she couldn't process it just then. So I went and sat and waited, and waited, until eventually Katrina came in to find out what was taking so long, as we were one of only a few un-boarded cars left on the wharf. Turns out there'd been a systems failure and pre-paid tickets wouldn't process. Sigh. After much throwing of hands in the air, many phone calls and so on we were eventually checked in and for good measure upgraded to business class. Excellent. The car was loaded and one hour before scheduled departure the boat set off, on a three hour cruise.............<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from Business class on the way home, we were headed for the gap.</td></tr>
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The business cabin was pretty good, small with decent seats in pairs, a much better prospect than the rather noisy and crowded economy of our planned fate. So we grabbed a pair of seats with a front row view and settled in for the trip. Much more relaxing than driving and having missed lunch we were quite pleased when a good sized plate of chicken and rice turned up, courtesy of the upgrade.<br />
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The coastal scenery in Oman is pretty amazing stuff! And then all too soon it was night and the second half of the trip was completed in the dark. So we missed "the first sight" of Khasab and instead had to make do with the sparkling lights of night time Khasab around the harbour as we came into dock. Pleasingly our hotel (the Atana Khasab) was about 1km along from the port. Sited nicely behind a rocky outcrop, providing the illusion of isolation, with stunning mountain and sea views.<br />
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One of the guys at work had given me a contact to call on arrival. So we did and in short order the rather accommodating Tariq showed up at the hotel to sort our itinerary out. Quite simple really, we wanted to do a dhow cruise, see the fort and buy a Musandam style walking cane from the local souq. No problem one phone call later, we're organised to go on a cruise with his friend Jasim.<br />
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At 9 the following morning Jasim came to our hotel, guided us to the dhow port and left us in the hands of his capable crew. The dhow was a fair size, one of many almost identical boats servicing the tourist industry. We settled in along with one Indian family and two French families intent on enjoying a day of nautical adventure.<br />
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The crew quickly got us underway and we joined a stream of boats making their way from the harbour into an adjacent fjord/sound/... (don't know the right word). Beautiful clear day, with vibrant blue skies, fresh air in abundance and temps in the low twenties! Bliss. All the more so for me as about two weeks ago I had tripped over a pouf in the dark and while trying to retain my balance kicked the coffee table with my bare foot - ouch, no rather *&#@# OUCH! (repeated many times). I'm pretty sure my little toe is broken. So a day of enforced (relative) inactivity is just what the doctor would order - if I went to see him.<br />
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First business of the outing was dolphin hunting. Luckily the crew knew just where to go and pretty soon we were floating around off a small cove, along with 4 or 5 other boats, looking and waiting for dolphins to put in an appearance. Didn't take very long before we were haring off in hot pursuit and then two dolphins came alongside our boat and spent the next minute or so surfing the bow wave and switching from side to side. You could almost have reached out and touched them. After a while, and many photo's, we cruised on down the water ways, only to return about 6 hours later on the way back to port for an encore performance.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rk8cvma9pBY/WkMyNmavEgI/AAAAAAAAJrY/sDh5uZFfJ1wYntKcCC5bCIznSefm10Y1ACLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14489.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rk8cvma9pBY/WkMyNmavEgI/AAAAAAAAJrY/sDh5uZFfJ1wYntKcCC5bCIznSefm10Y1ACLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14489.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Captain and Katrina</td></tr>
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I suspect the dolphins and the tour boat operators have a pretty firm agreement about this whole dolphin watching thing. You see there's this little cove and if the tour boats go there the dolphins oblige with a bit of a show. Tourists get to see dolphins, dolphins get to have fun showing off for the tourists, playing hide and seek and surfing bow waves. Works well for both sides, tour operators can pretty much guarantee dolphin sightings and the dolphins get unmolested run of 99% of the waters. When the dolphins don't want to be seen they are awfully inconspicuous. One moment nothing, the next - look over there as the dolphins entice boats into high speed (bow wave creating) chases. I've got a photo with what seems to be about 10 dolphins breaching the surface at the same time, mostly you saw just 2 or 3 together.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A gaggle of dolphin watchers</td></tr>
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The balance of the day was spent chugging around the inlet/sound/fjord/... marveling at the amazing scenery. Massive rock formations seemingly growing out of the waters, with all sorts of geological formations, leaving you in awe of the sheer power of nature. Most of the formations arise almost vertically from the water, meaning the separation from land to sea is a bit like a knife cut. Occasionally there is a gentle slope leading back from the water to a hillside and in these places inevitably there is a small village. However rather than cars the villagers had boats, there were no roads, nor was there any real prospect of roads, making cars redundant. And as there was no evidence of farming, these small villages would be reliant on fishing the bay/inlet/sound/fjord/...<br />
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A couple of times we dropped anchor and the French families jumped in for a quick dip. The Indians like us were clearly first timers and had not come wearing swimsuits - ah well next time........... Some time after 4 we made it back to the harbour and retreated to the hotel for a relaxation break, from relaxing on the estuary/bay/inlet/sound/fjord/....<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A variety of scenery</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Out captain abandoning somebody else's ship</td></tr>
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After dark we headed out to explore Khasab and find a souq. We looked here and there, cruised up down and around Khasab all to no avail. There was no sign of a traditional souq area, nor any shops catering to the tourist market - well we did see one, but as it wasn't open we eventually retreated to the hotel and an early night for Katrina. There were too many young children getting into the Christmas spirit around the poolside terrace area, so rather than braving that I went and had a first try at astral photography - and failed, wrong settings, wrong lens, too much light pollution........ Another day (well night really).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Khasab Castle entrance</td></tr>
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In the morning we checked out early and visited the grandly named Khasab castle. It's a little different from others in Oman and on the small side, having a square outer-wall, with rounded towers at each corner and a circular keep in the center of the courtyard. The courtyard is much larger in comparison to other similar forts and castles I have seen. Most of the space in each of the towers was taken up with living quarters, which had been made over to static display areas prepared by the women's society, showing elements of Omani history and tradition. Apart from the keep the courtyard also hosts a small collection of traditional fishing boats - made from date palm components and summer and winter houses.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Study time</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the summer house</td></tr>
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The summer house is made from palm stems, atop stone pillars, with lattice walls and palm frond floor and roof. All designed to let air flow through to counter summer heat. The winter house is called a lock house, it has stone walls and roof and is dug down into the ground. Lock houses are designed to be closed up and left with storage jars of supplies awaiting the residents return. In order to make it difficult for people to steal supplies, the underground part is dug and the jars are then put in place before the walls and roof are built. The storage jars are bigger than the door frame, meaning it is impossible to remove them without first dismantling the house. Clever.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The winter, lock house</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the lock house</td></tr>
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Usefully the fort has a small shop, selling a variety of tourist goods. It didn't look open, but as the door was unlocked I went on in anyway and a few minutes later an attendant magically appeared, so I ended up with a Musandam style walking stick. One of the accouterments of an Omani man's traditional garb is a walking stick. In most of the country they are made of light cane, with a crook at one end, useful for holding, or reversing to catch up a lead rope. Musandam sticks are made from heavier wood and the top end is a small decorated axe head. While they're not particularly comfortable as a walking cane I can see the utility.<br />
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As there were a couple of hours to go before boarding time, a last drive around Khasab was in order. On the off chance we went past the sole tourist shop and lo and behold there were two young Omani men in there. So we stopped and went in. They were setting up shop and not yet open for business, but as we were there they let us peruse their goods and purchase (another) walking stick (much nicer quality) and an open weave palm frond basket for Katrina. Fair chance we were their first ever customers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Head of the (nicer) Musandam style cane</td></tr>
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And then just like that it was time to go and board the ferry for the return trip. Thankfully Thursday's upgrade also covered the return leg, and as it was daytime we had three hours of spectacular coastal views to look forward to. A little after 4 we disembarked at Shinas and just after 7 were back home in Muscat after a fairly easy drive back.<br />
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So Musandam, a weekend well spent. A second visit would include another dhow trip and an extra day to explore the surrounds and try out the winding coastal/mountain roads.<br />
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(p.s. the only photo that was doctored in any way is the one of the dolphins, which I cropped and brightened a little. The rest are exactly as they came out of the camera)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A last look at some of the coastal scenery</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-84221226279142731952017-12-05T09:30:00.001-08:002017-12-05T21:42:20.975-08:00National Day and the Prophets birthday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jabreen Castle</td></tr>
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This weekend just gone was a 5 day weekend, two days for National Day celebrations (which was the 18th) and one day for the prophets birthday. Given that we are coming to the end of our time in Oman we decided to stay in-country and do some touring. Over the weekend we spent a lot of time looking up!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Qu'ran reader at the castle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Assorted pots</td></tr>
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After having Friday as a down day and preparing things we packed early Saturday morning and hit the road. First stop was Jabreen, a place we'd been meaning to visit but never quite got to. We would plan to combine it with a visit to Bahla, but every time we went to Bahla there was the fort, the souq and the potters - meaning that by the time we'd finished in Bahla it was too late to go to Jabreen.<br />
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And this time we hadn't actually planned to go there, took a wrong turn at Nizwa, saw a castle just off the highway and................. Lovely place Jabreen castle, a bit different from other one's we have seen, but like many in this part of Oman the chief was the local Imam. Jabreen ran to 3 levels with a fourth on top that hasn't been fully restored. It is well worth a visit as the ceiling decorations are quite stunning and some of the things scattered through the castle are quite interesting.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just one of the spectacular cielings</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Footwear</td></tr>
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So after around 2 hours we drove straight on through Bahla, out the other side and up into the Western Hajar Mountains. We were looking for a small village called Qiyut where there are some walks in to the Ras Al Mikhaybiyah (kind of a grand canyon). By the time we got to the end of the road, a little past Qiyut, lunch time (but not lunch) had well and truly come and gone. SO first things first we pulled up and lunched overlooking a deserted village and the canyon. Excellent views and absolute solitude. Must admit I was buzzing a little as the drive up was on some fabulous roads. Dirt roads, with climbs, dips and interesting corners. I had a hoot, Katrina may have been creating new indentations in the passenger side grab handle on the odd occasion.<br />
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Anyway after lunch we realised it was all too late for walking, so the next order of business was to find a camping spot. Hmm where to choose? Spoilt for choice really, we ended up finding an isolated place where we couldn't be seen from the road, but had a marvelous vista. Didn't take long to set the camp site up and get dinner barbequing.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_i5XNDI0N0/WibIA38WVcI/AAAAAAAAJHg/KOUW5zsXFzEjOmLhlXX5J1HzNz0cwLtKQCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w_i5XNDI0N0/WibIA38WVcI/AAAAAAAAJHg/KOUW5zsXFzEjOmLhlXX5J1HzNz0cwLtKQCLcBGAs/s200/DRH_14284.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch in the mountains</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dIW7LZijLsY/WibICkVhdDI/AAAAAAAAJHk/-DUbZfEAEJsV4rONQsMr0xwhcdn8j8cMwCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dIW7LZijLsY/WibICkVhdDI/AAAAAAAAJHk/-DUbZfEAEJsV4rONQsMr0xwhcdn8j8cMwCLcBGAs/s200/DRH_14296.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned village</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YUs4hhFVOsQ/WibH4P_bL0I/AAAAAAAAJHc/6tTSSqle9Y4qxjT489Nr9Jj68n5tIs2igCLcBGAs/s1600/camp%2Bpano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="370" data-original-width="1600" height="146" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YUs4hhFVOsQ/WibH4P_bL0I/AAAAAAAAJHc/6tTSSqle9Y4qxjT489Nr9Jj68n5tIs2igCLcBGAs/s640/camp%2Bpano.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panorama of a panoramic campsite</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zv4VjGSXKzA/WibHzVIuzEI/AAAAAAAAJHU/0PojSVVKTighd6lMCk9MD5U9YzTD48cqgCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zv4VjGSXKzA/WibHzVIuzEI/AAAAAAAAJHU/0PojSVVKTighd6lMCk9MD5U9YzTD48cqgCLcBGAs/s640/DRH_14331.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was a Super Moon!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0S-8IZjE-w/WibLKmCLlTI/AAAAAAAAJIY/uSykicgda6Iz5UCwCvbUVPUDgWIqoc9kQCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S0S-8IZjE-w/WibLKmCLlTI/AAAAAAAAJIY/uSykicgda6Iz5UCwCvbUVPUDgWIqoc9kQCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14345.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The honey shop complete with hives</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xwD1oPvSG1A/WibLLRRyzLI/AAAAAAAAJIc/rYnpSaLL6gIUL66jt4_KKzLPZeVhOzPtwCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xwD1oPvSG1A/WibLLRRyzLI/AAAAAAAAJIc/rYnpSaLL6gIUL66jt4_KKzLPZeVhOzPtwCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14355.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the tea shop</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkdrQNMijog/WibLOp9o_FI/AAAAAAAAJIg/fr6HOKKTmAEP3eJsrml2YkGvYtAijCAfACLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kkdrQNMijog/WibLOp9o_FI/AAAAAAAAJIg/fr6HOKKTmAEP3eJsrml2YkGvYtAijCAfACLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14364.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking up at some ruins in Abriyyin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Day 2 started slowly, coz well, those views. Anyway we packed and headed off to the village of Misfat Al Abriyyin. This little village is built into the side of the mountains, the main village is at least 400 years old and there is a 1500 year old Persian fort on the hilltop above the village. Rogan castle. Talk about picturesque! First stop there was the honey stall, overlooking the wadi, along which the village is built. All the farming is done on terraces built up and leveled out over centuries. All of this is fed by falaj's. We had a great time wandering the old village and exploring up the wadi. Unfortunately we were a bit too leg weary to make it to the castle ruins. By the time we'd finished in the village the choice was stop for lunch or get the skates on and head into the mountains again as we were heading towards Wadi Bani Awf.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PloTDwxGY0k/WibLkmphDwI/AAAAAAAAJIk/c8Umg5tWrqkljCvEfpDPiDDKqOcT8HPZQCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PloTDwxGY0k/WibLkmphDwI/AAAAAAAAJIk/c8Umg5tWrqkljCvEfpDPiDDKqOcT8HPZQCLcBGAs/s400/DRH_14365.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of the village</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m8ZAYQL-2I0/WibKHKc2WuI/AAAAAAAAJIM/No55WkHpA18OrkI_sS770aixAwXzT1NGQCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m8ZAYQL-2I0/WibKHKc2WuI/AAAAAAAAJIM/No55WkHpA18OrkI_sS770aixAwXzT1NGQCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14380.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Falaj at work delivering water</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zV4bOXmAQGk/WibMkqDxpGI/AAAAAAAAJI0/rwUcovPh3WkCaopRJrEZJZ4U_3s-fOJcgCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zV4bOXmAQGk/WibMkqDxpGI/AAAAAAAAJI0/rwUcovPh3WkCaopRJrEZJZ4U_3s-fOJcgCLcBGAs/s400/DRH_14395.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp 2 </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More great driving was en-train - Took a while to get to the jump off point. We've done this road before, just in the opposite direction. The start is an incredibly steep descent, which I did mostly in first gear. It took us around 2 hours to do the 12 kilometers to find a camp site. A few hundred meters into the descent a local Omani flagged us down and begged a lift. As the car was full of camping gear he was happy to jump on the running board. So he rode along for about a K as we followed some guy in an absolutely packed to the gills Hyundai Sportage. He had no business being there and he had to ride the brakes full time. The Omani guy had parked his ute on the first flatspot, so the guy in the Hyundai stopped there to let his brakes cool off.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s9IuPwhPkKg/WibJYmICxdI/AAAAAAAAJH4/76YxPgYC6Gw5v6Fhpt7dvTDou0eZ2aU6ACLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14412.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-s9IuPwhPkKg/WibJYmICxdI/AAAAAAAAJH4/76YxPgYC6Gw5v6Fhpt7dvTDou0eZ2aU6ACLcBGAs/s640/DRH_14412.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The morning after the night of rain</td></tr>
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We kept going and eventually found a campsite in the wadi adjoining the entrance to Snake Gully. As the entire afternoon had been accompanied by grey clouds all afternoon we camped on an abandoned farming terrace, with a 360 degree backdrop of magnificent mountains and immediately behind the campsite, was another abandoned village. Setting up camp took a little while, so it was getting close to dusk by the time things were set and dinner was on cooking. And then our "friend" in the Hyundai came through with a toot and a wave.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WKyQsGEUmrQ/WibJhxvvclI/AAAAAAAAJH8/55mSfzbH0WUwh4fmnDXZxdJlcwqxElycgCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WKyQsGEUmrQ/WibJhxvvclI/AAAAAAAAJH8/55mSfzbH0WUwh4fmnDXZxdJlcwqxElycgCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14421.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to snake gully</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAaF-tHVtWo/WibJXgqxTxI/AAAAAAAAJH0/TR8DKzx-K5s3V9V2mGNwg7LaJLh1Ah9pQCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14430.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UAaF-tHVtWo/WibJXgqxTxI/AAAAAAAAJH0/TR8DKzx-K5s3V9V2mGNwg7LaJLh1Ah9pQCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14430.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snake Gully</td></tr>
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No sooner had we set up than the clouds delivered - rain! The first we'd seen in Oman this year! It rained on and off throughout the night. But the morning dawned clear and dry and again slow. No rush, so what the hey.<br />
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After breakfast I wandered off and went into the start of Snake Gully. Being alone I went in for about 10 minutes and retreated before the going got tough. But wow, almost vertical rock walls, absolutely stunning.<br />
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Then it was time to pack down and head back to Muscat. We were home early afternoon having had a great time exploring more of Oman. The rest of Monday was spent dealing with the camping gear and then an early night. Old legs crap out a bit earlier than young ones!<br />
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Today (Tuesday) was the last day of the weekend, spent around the house with chores and shopping. But the weekend was rounded out with a dusk walk along the beach. Time for one last surprise as 5 wadi dogs decided that Katrina needed an escort along the beach. So they kept us company for a couple of kilometers. They were quite gentle and friendly, gambolling around with each other, racing off to check out this and that, splashing in the waves and coming back to check up on us and sniff hands, feet and legs. One by one they dropped away and in the end one last dog walked us to the gate. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ-RmjYoiLU/WibJj5e6foI/AAAAAAAAJIA/fzAW5vy_pBU78jaaksJ1jaCEHkBgiJnvgCLcBGAs/s1600/DRH_14456.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AZ-RmjYoiLU/WibJj5e6foI/AAAAAAAAJIA/fzAW5vy_pBU78jaaksJ1jaCEHkBgiJnvgCLcBGAs/s320/DRH_14456.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An escort of Wadi Dogs</td></tr>
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</div>
David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-64439739421985890762016-12-22T23:04:00.000-08:002016-12-22T23:04:00.082-08:002016 a final update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1hUtne2ECRw/WFzAxMiRe4I/AAAAAAAADWg/5iR6hv4crtIGZwsSoK4VW72FqNbdByLzwCLcB/s1600/DSCN0051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1hUtne2ECRw/WFzAxMiRe4I/AAAAAAAADWg/5iR6hv4crtIGZwsSoK4VW72FqNbdByLzwCLcB/s400/DSCN0051.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
Happy Christmas</h2>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
I’ve never tried to do a family and friends Christmas/New Years message
before, so here goes nothing. A lot of people we know consider 2016 to have been somewhat of an “Annus
Horibilis” and when you look at Brexit, Trump, the limping black comedy that is
the Australian Government and the deaths of loved celebrities there is some
point to this. But for us 2016 has had far more positives than negatives.</div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T0wxrVpuVHU/WFy_vvgE3FI/AAAAAAAADWE/pjOmvI5vXOsrFFjmhgz3klqIDz3mcy47gCLcB/s1600/DRH_10127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T0wxrVpuVHU/WFy_vvgE3FI/AAAAAAAADWE/pjOmvI5vXOsrFFjmhgz3klqIDz3mcy47gCLcB/s200/DRH_10127.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newly minted Doctor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7szutefJOSo/WFzAltqHEaI/AAAAAAAADWo/8fwSyHhUmgw2yXeFfzH3ZVKbrnAi0yr6gCEw/s1600/DRH_11861.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7szutefJOSo/WFzAltqHEaI/AAAAAAAADWo/8fwSyHhUmgw2yXeFfzH3ZVKbrnAi0yr6gCEw/s200/DRH_11861.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Newly married</td></tr>
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<br /><br /><br /><ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Katrina fulfilled her long held wish, completing her
PhD thesis and achieving the accolade of Doctor! There is a Doctor in the
house!!!!</li>
<li>Rufus and Georgie finally got around to tying the knot. Yay well done, at
last ! At a celebration that had a bit of something for everyone.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJThxYW4bec/WFzDnKi89JI/AAAAAAAADXc/j7Z6XNnaT_oNvIU1zlQxEKHZJjfTZYvpwCLcB/s1600/DRH_11897.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zJThxYW4bec/WFzDnKi89JI/AAAAAAAADXc/j7Z6XNnaT_oNvIU1zlQxEKHZJjfTZYvpwCLcB/s200/DRH_11897.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xNVDc86YC60/WFzAo7qE9uI/AAAAAAAADWc/1AelzRa8ewcQyk7U7vIMcMkyIqogdzpjQCLcB/s1600/DRH_11915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xNVDc86YC60/WFzAo7qE9uI/AAAAAAAADWc/1AelzRa8ewcQyk7U7vIMcMkyIqogdzpjQCLcB/s200/DRH_11915.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something else</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</li>
</ul>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eimcHwRyjHM/WFy_9BgM4AI/AAAAAAAADWM/Hji9ODg-HFw9rPbriQDS_WfC6Coqv2B1wCLcB/s1600/DRH_11998.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eimcHwRyjHM/WFy_9BgM4AI/AAAAAAAADWM/Hji9ODg-HFw9rPbriQDS_WfC6Coqv2B1wCLcB/s320/DRH_11998.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">even more </span>Something </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g0fo5nBw7mc/WFzA1rxJ5uI/AAAAAAAADWk/yYDes8LXJ7MzOLjy9wk86Ph899HEhiRjACLcB/s1600/DRH_11709.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g0fo5nBw7mc/WFzA1rxJ5uI/AAAAAAAADWk/yYDes8LXJ7MzOLjy9wk86Ph899HEhiRjACLcB/s200/DRH_11709.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With added furniture</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2XgsTbslq8/V1qLwDXiRoI/AAAAAAAADPM/9YjovRfgpvwX39eJr3iCgQpyYxwtRbwMQCPcB/s1600/IMG_6715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y2XgsTbslq8/V1qLwDXiRoI/AAAAAAAADPM/9YjovRfgpvwX39eJr3iCgQpyYxwtRbwMQCPcB/s200/IMG_6715.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With added lion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>BJ had a good year with changes on the work front and so-on.</li>
<li>David got to walk with Lions – yep real honest to
goodness LIONS! and </li>
<li>We finally own the house in France! Now with furniture and all………………………..</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-felsZ0HS8z8/WFzCiKx8GdI/AAAAAAAADXM/uNQacMKWgdI8NsuCtdy79SraGKdJfNT3ACLcB/s1600/IMG_3469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-felsZ0HS8z8/WFzCiKx8GdI/AAAAAAAADXM/uNQacMKWgdI8NsuCtdy79SraGKdJfNT3ACLcB/s320/IMG_3469.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Family portrait</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y45NipZFH9g/WFy_vkH0pDI/AAAAAAAADWI/6_4a-77FI9UKESmO4p5YHqv1IVvqX1sjgCLcB/s1600/DRH_10154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y45NipZFH9g/WFy_vkH0pDI/AAAAAAAADWI/6_4a-77FI9UKESmO4p5YHqv1IVvqX1sjgCLcB/s400/DRH_10154.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner with friends in Australia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
On the down side, Katrina’s knee has become rapidly worse and will have to be
replaced in March, we lost a good friend in Michelle Dean and we become
increasingly detached from Australia and our former life there. Our trips back
to Australia are bittersweet in that we don’t get to see everyone we want to and each year we come away having seen at least one person for the last time.</div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The whirlwind tour of 2016 was Oman, Australia, UK, France, Belgium, UAE,
Senegal and Ethiopia. There was a contract renewal back in March, which at its
end will mean 6 years in Oman. And that will be that. Barring unforseen
circumstances David will retire in early 2018, so if you want to come and visit
us in Oman you have just over a year. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Oman continues to endear itself to us, with its friendly people, stunning scenery and that you never know what is around the next corner. We are looking forward to seeing more of Oman in 2017.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yNntTsy84fc/WFzCKbtEInI/AAAAAAAADXE/ZZt58ZbW_LwLWad4Wr-jRZD4X9vuOd--wCLcB/s1600/DRH_11224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yNntTsy84fc/WFzCKbtEInI/AAAAAAAADXE/ZZt58ZbW_LwLWad4Wr-jRZD4X9vuOd--wCLcB/s200/DRH_11224.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Friendly Omani's</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3WJx6cMWQg0/WFzDyoK1_II/AAAAAAAADXg/JBF5QutBsaceXUWsSt0kWnMhFhFmgl8UgCLcB/s1600/IMG_3394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3WJx6cMWQg0/WFzDyoK1_II/AAAAAAAADXg/JBF5QutBsaceXUWsSt0kWnMhFhFmgl8UgCLcB/s200/IMG_3394.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of "that" scenery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Gyv26dbljA/WFzBtDp2_TI/AAAAAAAADW4/bR1yNH9q_8A_YtfuHKFjMsgWNMAP_JuxwCLcB/s1600/DRH_11214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2Gyv26dbljA/WFzBtDp2_TI/AAAAAAAADW4/bR1yNH9q_8A_YtfuHKFjMsgWNMAP_JuxwCLcB/s200/DRH_11214.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of "that" scenery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
For us 2016 was a year of too much travel, a lot of work with some successes
along the way. We are looking forward to see what 2017 brings and it already
looks promising. So, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, may the future be good for you.
and</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Bye for now</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
A Bientot</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Maasalama</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5xFv2vMRCxg/WFzBJ_sTbbI/AAAAAAAADWs/6GI-PJsgsHIN8kbbSNr7YS5VDlg5vsBYgCLcB/s1600/DRH_12350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="242" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5xFv2vMRCxg/WFzBJ_sTbbI/AAAAAAAADWs/6GI-PJsgsHIN8kbbSNr7YS5VDlg5vsBYgCLcB/s640/DRH_12350.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You never quite know what you will see next!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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</div>
David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-25479436551677507722016-09-15T14:10:00.002-07:002016-09-15T14:10:37.591-07:00Home Sweet FRANCE?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TwVaH3ZKorY/V9r28jhmSfI/AAAAAAAADSs/hmj_V4xmy8c2dA1tIugOyCWbVJTAapNWwCLcB/s1600/DRH_11686.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TwVaH3ZKorY/V9r28jhmSfI/AAAAAAAADSs/hmj_V4xmy8c2dA1tIugOyCWbVJTAapNWwCLcB/s640/DRH_11686.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keys and an appropriately named champagne to celebrate.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you've been following along in other social media, you'll know by now that we bought a house in France. Sept-Forges, a tiny little village (286 people) in Basse Normandie (that's Lower Normandy to you). From offer to us taking possession took about 10 months. It's not meant to be that way, but there were some issues with French inheritance law. You see, two of the heirs of the seller (Madame Martell) were in state care and required judges to make the call for them. Unfortunately one of the judges sat on the papers, and then sat on them some more, before sitting on them again and finally approving the sale. Sigh!<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X3MbuMxD3r0/V9r3YSw3F5I/AAAAAAAADSw/fdJ6Rx3B0IEWIkjjRIr24n9sJHHwdU65ACLcB/s1600/DRH_11682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X3MbuMxD3r0/V9r3YSw3F5I/AAAAAAAADSw/fdJ6Rx3B0IEWIkjjRIr24n9sJHHwdU65ACLcB/s320/DRH_11682.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6 months of garden neglect</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So after making an offer in October last year, settlement happened on 18 August and we came to France on 8 September to collect the keys and take possession. Finally the marathon was run, time to start another - getting the house to the state we want it in!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qexZZeCxUh4/V9r3-S2idSI/AAAAAAAADS0/N-IfdcQzjucm44LslLRIn1uavmRaep8FQCLcB/s1600/DRH_11696.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qexZZeCxUh4/V9r3-S2idSI/AAAAAAAADS0/N-IfdcQzjucm44LslLRIn1uavmRaep8FQCLcB/s320/DRH_11696.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few days of maintenance later</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At Charles De Gaulle Airport we rented a Citroen Jumpy 9 seater. As soon as we got to the house two rows of seats came out and went into the garage. Much better, as we now had what looked like ACRES OF SPACE, possibly even hectares, to put stuff in as, apart from a couple of dodgy built-ins, the house came with no furniture. Our first few nights were spent at a bed and breakfast in nearby Lassay Le Chateau, while we ran around during the day and got stuff, lots of stuff! Until finally we could move in on Monday, although it took until Wednesday for the water to be turned back on. And miracle of miracles, after Orange telling us the internet would take 2 weeks, it ended up being two days!<br />
<br />
<br />
Fortunately for us, our arrival coincided with a big sale day at the Emmaus charitable mission in nearby Alencon. This meant we got an extendable dining table with 6 chairs, two small dressers, crockery (nice french porcelain), enamel cooking ware, and so on for around 200 euro. We went back again and got an armoire and the worlds heaviest coffee table. I was intrigued by the granite top, which I assumed was "wafer thin" sheets, nope, they must have used blocks!!! At least the coffee demitasses (or wine glasses) won't suffer when anyone walks into it. I'm guessing it'd be a close run thing between budging the coffee table and breaking a leg.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2osNG4ml2s/V9r6Mahg-0I/AAAAAAAADTU/jbVDaQRdyWUyS5CE-5xNhV2vEyYe7tOswCLcB/s1600/DRH_11721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2osNG4ml2s/V9r6Mahg-0I/AAAAAAAADTU/jbVDaQRdyWUyS5CE-5xNhV2vEyYe7tOswCLcB/s400/DRH_11721.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katrina testing out the worlds heaviest coffee table.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We were both taken by the armoire on our first visit, but knew that even with acres of haulage room it wouldn't fit in the Jumpy, with all the other stuff, hence the second visit. The carved decorations took our fancy, and we know that it's missing bits and pieces and doesn't really fit into the available space, but at 40 euro and a free coffee table (courtesy of my little brother).......................<br />
<br />
I mentioned that Emmaus is a charitable organization, apparently the men who live and work there all have "troubles". We dealt with a very jovial young Senegali, who was over the moon to be dealing with Australians and then ecstatic when I told him that I had been to Senegal, and not just Dakar. He started calling me his big brother and was quite excited to see us a second time. I am hoping that by the time a third visit is needed he will have sorted his troubles and moved on.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qvm0EUKaFeE/V9r5tewmzWI/AAAAAAAADTM/u2B7T7cZkDAmW5JjdGsh9oDZ8tSTgVlKgCLcB/s1600/DRH_11714.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qvm0EUKaFeE/V9r5tewmzWI/AAAAAAAADTM/u2B7T7cZkDAmW5JjdGsh9oDZ8tSTgVlKgCLcB/s400/DRH_11714.JPG" width="263" /></a><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dKkZESGmrfI/V9r6KyK7ZNI/AAAAAAAADTQ/Lwce8J8KFe8qdYcSzDrC_jFfAczJ9CeBQCLcB/s1600/DRH_11715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dKkZESGmrfI/V9r6KyK7ZNI/AAAAAAAADTQ/Lwce8J8KFe8qdYcSzDrC_jFfAczJ9CeBQCLcB/s400/DRH_11715.JPG" width="263" /></a></div>
<br />
Madame Martel moved out of the house in March, in expectation of a quick finalization, so from then to October nothing was done to the garden. There were creeper tendrils making a bid for sole occupancy! We soon put a stop to that, but then there was the path, the yards and the fence to deal with. After six days of hard slog I still haven't touched the garden beside the steps from the church, or the main garden plot. There are cubic metres of green waste in the garden lean to, waiting on collection and removal. Although I don't know what that's going to cost us, or when it will happen.<br />
<br />
Speaking of which we seem to have landed on our feet with our neighbours. Directly across the street form us are a French couple, Stefan and Manu, and in the next house along at the end of the street is Josepha, a New Caledonian. Around the corner is Allan an Englishman who pops over regularly while his wife is mostly in the UK. Steffan, Manu and Josepha are permanent residents and Allan has been in and out for 14 years, owning the house and a small farm just outside the village. They have all been very welcoming and Steffan even forgave me when I laughed that his dog Earnest had "broken out" and gone on the run again. He is a very friendly dog that loves people, cows and rolling in cow pats; of which there are plenty, of course, as Sept-Forges is in the middle of Camembert country. Sad really.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keGJy62bYvU/V9r4PGSdx7I/AAAAAAAADS4/yNGRvWf06YoxKbRgWj-yEjzfKoX0WxAyQCLcB/s1600/DRH_11698.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-keGJy62bYvU/V9r4PGSdx7I/AAAAAAAADS4/yNGRvWf06YoxKbRgWj-yEjzfKoX0WxAyQCLcB/s400/DRH_11698.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The church above the house</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As an added bonus, there is a "Sauf Riverains" sign at the end of the street. This means that if you don't have actual business here don't enter. So, in the morning and late afternoon, there is little traffic and otherwise blissful silence. Once the church bells stop ringing the hours in the evening there is absolute stillness, even quieter than Venice at night! Lovely - and a great view to wake to.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SLujNSLgq-Y/V9r4toSbMhI/AAAAAAAADTA/2Oh5HbUpEd8ZD_T5F9AxasJkKRWjK0gUQCLcB/s1600/DRH_11707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SLujNSLgq-Y/V9r4toSbMhI/AAAAAAAADTA/2Oh5HbUpEd8ZD_T5F9AxasJkKRWjK0gUQCLcB/s320/DRH_11707.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Proof positive that the kitchen works</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So for now we have functional kitchen, living room, bedroom and a fold-out bed/chaisse in the living room. The showers both work, there's gas in the kitchen<br />
<br />
Did I mention that the Emmaus furniture was all antique? May be in need of TLC and missing bits, but there's time.<br />
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As for now, we're back to Paris Friday afternoon before a flight back to Muscat and reality. Boy, will we be tired!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the bedroom window - Note that the ascending wall was invisible a few days ago.</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-67436940173485049642016-06-10T04:14:00.001-07:002016-06-10T04:14:47.401-07:00Oh Senegal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look out behind!!</td></tr>
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This year the IT conference was held in Dakar Senegal, you know the place where the Paris to Dakar rally used to finish. Unfortunately the route from Paris to Dakar has become a little too dangerous, so while the contest is still known as the Dakar, it has nothing to do with Senegal.<br />
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Because of the way working weeks work I left Muscat on the Saturday, giving me Sunday to Tuesday in Senegal before the conference began. Col Yahya and Lt Mohammad made similar decisions. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dyCdxj-KLXw/V1qT5Wl_ImI/AAAAAAAADPc/eCVWwRpsWo8vTlbhjTTF_TdELgHuBMcsQCLcB/s1600/IMG_6912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dyCdxj-KLXw/V1qT5Wl_ImI/AAAAAAAADPc/eCVWwRpsWo8vTlbhjTTF_TdELgHuBMcsQCLcB/s200/IMG_6912.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Senegalese Customs Post at The Gambia border</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OJzC6sivJOk/V1qUEI1WEaI/AAAAAAAADPs/VNQsL9aAlpMMTqTwXax6ZTZB9Kh64rHmQCLcB/s1600/IMG_6918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-OJzC6sivJOk/V1qUEI1WEaI/AAAAAAAADPs/VNQsL9aAlpMMTqTwXax6ZTZB9Kh64rHmQCLcB/s200/IMG_6918.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Check out the load</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">On Sunday Mohammad and I went to the Sandaga markets and the statue of the African Renaissance. Interesting. Before leaving for Senegal Katrina told me to buy some of the locally wax dyed fabric, so I did.Mohammad decided that his wife would also like some fabric, so shopped as well. After we'd finished shopping we continued through the market and that's where we got one of the interesting Senegal experiences. A stall holder invited me in, I said "No", he invited again and offered his business card, once again I said "No, I've finished shopping". Welllllllllll that led to the guy following us down the main road of the market calling me (at the top of his voice) racist. I put up with that for a little while before rounding on him and giving him both barrels. After that he settled down and became quite chatty, accompanying us for a few hundred meters and being quite friendly. At the end he told Mohammad "your friend has a big personality". I think that by calling his marketting strategy he became curious and was just happy to chat. BJ, he bargained down for your Senegal cap!</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Monday we made a trip up country to the Fathala Safari Park and a night of "glamping"</span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BM4mbmvTEQQ/V1qTwLgT8iI/AAAAAAAADPU/z11ocVWcJKEbd3a7NnO1jrfQrfxbN75sgCLcB/s1600/IMG_6073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BM4mbmvTEQQ/V1qTwLgT8iI/AAAAAAAADPU/z11ocVWcJKEbd3a7NnO1jrfQrfxbN75sgCLcB/s400/IMG_6073.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of the African Renaissance, bigger than Lady Liberty and built under <br />guidance of North Korea, the view from inside the man's head is spectacular</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XfomPXmGtgI/V1qT5moZBYI/AAAAAAAADPg/ted9g9Tj9a0Jd-SnT0yoMAEK479MHmwtACLcB/s1600/IMG_6270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XfomPXmGtgI/V1qT5moZBYI/AAAAAAAADPg/ted9g9Tj9a0Jd-SnT0yoMAEK479MHmwtACLcB/s400/IMG_6270.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Baobab tree, by no means a big one!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fathala was 250 kms from Dakar and so a chance to see how the majority of Senegalese lived. Intriguing and interesting. Mohammad had arranged a driver for us, and as much as the driving was relatively easy I would not have chosen to drive<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-paaxheaI2uw/V1qgvM9ajAI/AAAAAAAADQ8/QTKfP2wQU1A0dgKn8e-PNSR1fc0L7Sk2ACLcB/s1600/IMG_6302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-paaxheaI2uw/V1qgvM9ajAI/AAAAAAAADQ8/QTKfP2wQU1A0dgKn8e-PNSR1fc0L7Sk2ACLcB/s640/IMG_6302.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
myself. Interesting to see that most Senegalese live in thatch roofed houses and that money is probably not a real issue in most of their lives. Houses were inside walled enclosures, with thatched roofs providing weather protection. Didn't see any sign of electrical power, but everybody seemed to have a charged mobile phone.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N_z1us911aY/V1qGMcG__rI/AAAAAAAADOU/1bzIzZVaCoAmMU6YoyZ6lyZYypz5V7OCACLcB/s1600/IMG_6534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N_z1us911aY/V1qGMcG__rI/AAAAAAAADOU/1bzIzZVaCoAmMU6YoyZ6lyZYypz5V7OCACLcB/s200/IMG_6534.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Giraffe in hot pursuit of the safari vehicle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fgWDLA5DJ3g/V1qGZ6EmzVI/AAAAAAAADOg/36hXejnT87otGBwV6-oMST_ZlU1hdPgngCLcB/s1600/IMG_6548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fgWDLA5DJ3g/V1qGZ6EmzVI/AAAAAAAADOg/36hXejnT87otGBwV6-oMST_ZlU1hdPgngCLcB/s200/IMG_6548.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hmmm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_oTJ8ntVWg/V1qF9qoLcaI/AAAAAAAADOo/PSC5e7-opXUoiqhyMjwGGqnhimfybLwAQCKgB/s1600/IMG_6473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l_oTJ8ntVWg/V1qF9qoLcaI/AAAAAAAADOo/PSC5e7-opXUoiqhyMjwGGqnhimfybLwAQCKgB/s200/IMG_6473.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amqQ1PNMccc/V1qDrH3HobI/AAAAAAAADN0/L-YA38QQkyESo4hWIXuH1bb100DWw_giQCKgB/s1600/IMG_6367.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-amqQ1PNMccc/V1qDrH3HobI/AAAAAAAADN0/L-YA38QQkyESo4hWIXuH1bb100DWw_giQCKgB/s320/IMG_6367.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monkeying around at the watering hole</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Anyway, approaching mid afternoon we got to Fathala and ran into Nestor, a South American in Senegal for the same conference and went on the same safari around the wildlife park. Lots of animals, three of the big African big 5 in the park, We loved it, Giraffe, Buffalo, and so on - see the pictures! The real treat was on Sunday morning when we went for a 40 minute walk with the Lions. Yes Lions, no fence, no safety net - real to goodness LIONS!!!! Can I say AWESOMENESS</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y2XgsTbslq8/V1qLwDXiRoI/AAAAAAAADPE/0Eb2X8SScQg5PY3zeHeZhYkIzCNY9pX0gCLcB/s1600/IMG_6715.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y2XgsTbslq8/V1qLwDXiRoI/AAAAAAAADPE/0Eb2X8SScQg5PY3zeHeZhYkIzCNY9pX0gCLcB/s640/IMG_6715.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">He's behind you<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Going back to Dakar from the park was a bit "special". We left the park in plenty of time and made a 5km detour to the border with The Gambia. That was our mistake. First up we got stopped by Police, who insisted that our driver remove all of his window tinting - they may or may not have been trying to get a bribe from him. Then we went through to the border looked around and hit the road again.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IV3hbzw665w/V1qKhKJ5y6I/AAAAAAAADOw/I6BsbzUhTEsvg5Jwfg1pDeRc7M0T87tigCLcB/s1600/IMG_6498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IV3hbzw665w/V1qKhKJ5y6I/AAAAAAAADOw/I6BsbzUhTEsvg5Jwfg1pDeRc7M0T87tigCLcB/s200/IMG_6498.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Flighty little critters these<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JjM2bnqcJFE/V1qEkXTgT_I/AAAAAAAADOA/aKX5DlV297oh8BnQIzAFQkP0_qNrMWjLgCKgB/s1600/IMG_6379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JjM2bnqcJFE/V1qEkXTgT_I/AAAAAAAADOA/aKX5DlV297oh8BnQIzAFQkP0_qNrMWjLgCKgB/s200/IMG_6379.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
All of which meant that when we got to the ferry crossing we were queuing for the second ferry. No problem. Well when the ferry docked the Captain decided it was lunch time. So off he went to eat and everybody just kept on waiting, and waiting. When he eventually came back, he decided it was also time to refuel, which he did - with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Sigh. So we continued waiting and waiting. Eventually all was well and we got going. All up we were waiting to take the 20 minute ferry ride for more than 3 hours.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1DUzhsVIxn8/V1qURwZv5wI/AAAAAAAADP4/OcyctURYXKANhWmsEikpsCEFoWXaLhHZgCLcB/s1600/IMG_6950.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1DUzhsVIxn8/V1qURwZv5wI/AAAAAAAADP4/OcyctURYXKANhWmsEikpsCEFoWXaLhHZgCLcB/s400/IMG_6950.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local transport</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uL-W0WoRyIM/V1qBXRx6eeI/AAAAAAAADNA/KCiBQFi0eKg07wipLiu0EESNBmenP7s_QCLcB/s1600/IMG_6983.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uL-W0WoRyIM/V1qBXRx6eeI/AAAAAAAADNA/KCiBQFi0eKg07wipLiu0EESNBmenP7s_QCLcB/s320/IMG_6983.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">No comment needed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ahh well, wasn't much of a hardship as there was a small market area at the landing, people selling mangoes, assorted other foodstuffs and locally grown cashews. It was a hive of activity. All the way to and from Dakar, wherever there was a town the road was lined with mango stalls. Stopping to buy some was an experience as the car was instantly swarmed by ladies, a few per window, all trying to attract attention to their mangoes and make that sale.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d4V7Z1orWAk/V1qDZtiWrvI/AAAAAAAADNw/w5duEXLUghkvphztfhzUbbiKNzwCXqDGQCKgB/s1600/IMG_6274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d4V7Z1orWAk/V1qDZtiWrvI/AAAAAAAADNw/w5duEXLUghkvphztfhzUbbiKNzwCXqDGQCKgB/s400/IMG_6274.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mangoes anyone?<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The rest of the week was spent in conference, until on the final morning the president of Senegal decided that he and his entourage were going to stay at the hotel, for some sort of regional African Government meeting. Private guards and police everywhere. Conference delegates with bookings kicked out of the hotel - one even to the local French naval base!<br />
<br />
My favourite moment of that was while the foyer was shut down a European delegate, on being advised why the foyer was shut down said rather loudly "In my country we have a King, And He rides a bicycle!"<br />
<br />
Anyway the conference went well, Col Yahya sat up front and gave his talk, I ended up being drafted in as an emergency facilitator at one of the workshops. Got to see a bunch of people I don't see very often and heard a lot of interesting talks and presentations. At the Gala dinner there was a performance by Senegal's biggest international artist, Yossou N'Dour who had the international hit 7 Seconds Away. It was fun, so much that I even got up and went to the dance floor! Don't panic though, coz I didn't dance. Thanks Senegal.<br />
<br />
Friday afternoon was slated to be a tour to "Ille de Goree" a slave trading center. We all had to book to go during the conference. So I made it to the collection point on time, and was chatting with Lou (the American delegate). All of a sudden we were grabbed and told quick get onto this bus. So we did, it was the VIP bus, Lou was at the front and I was down the back. To cut a long story short as the doors slammed I noticed that Lou had been removed from the bus and replaced by somebody else. That was the last I saw of Lou. Turns out there were many times the number of people than the available bus seats.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-krGakOC1ZoU/V1qYA0P5ClI/AAAAAAAADQU/ksvMGiDxSfgdN2khZlSi_8wJ2BgiCEzRACLcB/s1600/Ille%2Bde%2Bgoree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="99" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-krGakOC1ZoU/V1qYA0P5ClI/AAAAAAAADQU/ksvMGiDxSfgdN2khZlSi_8wJ2BgiCEzRACLcB/s640/Ille%2Bde%2Bgoree.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ille de Goree - which apparently means safe harbour, and was a very active slave trade location.<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We took off, under Police escort (an ambulance) to the port. Pulled in, everybody out was the call, so we did - oops sorry get back in, so we did. Drove around the port, stopped everybody out, so we did - oops get back in so we did, except that one of the busses had dumped and run. On we went to where we were supposed to board the boat. Then we waited while one bus went and retrieved the dumped contingent.<br />
<br />
So finally a good hour and a half late we set off for Goree, which I found quite depressing. We were escorted around the island, by police, guess that meant "you can rip these tourists off but not too badly!" I ended up buying "rather tasteful" shirts and pants for the boys. They may forgive me one day!<br />
<br />
Ille De Goree was a slave trading center and has a museum dedicated to the slave trade on it. People can be such pricks to each other.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bVOhh-4ShAA/V1qXNOVQkyI/AAAAAAAADQI/5edf89D85qo-IKql8rSarsfw_OH8QDq5QCLcB/s1600/IMG_7075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bVOhh-4ShAA/V1qXNOVQkyI/AAAAAAAADQI/5edf89D85qo-IKql8rSarsfw_OH8QDq5QCLcB/s400/IMG_7075.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">At the Museum of the slave trade, which is in the main slave prison<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the end we got back to the hotel at 830 and all the people I had planned to dine with were long gone, having missed the bus and given up on the tour, I guess they went for dinner at a reasonable hour.<br />
<br />
Early the next morning I flew out of Dakar, bound for Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) and then Muscat. I landed in Addis at 9pm, due to board for Muscat at 925. Sadly my flight had been cancelled. So after some argument with the Ethiopian transfer desk I was eventually checked into a hotel with meals. I had a free day in Addis and a 24 hour delay in getting home. I could complain, but what's the point, another country to explore.<br />
<br />
So I did and got to see "Lucy" the 3.4 million year old skeleton, and the last of the descendants of Emperor Haille Selasi's royal lions. And then it was time to go back to Muscat and the start of Ramadan.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knl8ZUtXpmA/V1qZCk2L_tI/AAAAAAAADQg/189_bKEWapU48cLyjHyVud5fY9YkR2cpQCLcB/s1600/IMG_7133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knl8ZUtXpmA/V1qZCk2L_tI/AAAAAAAADQg/189_bKEWapU48cLyjHyVud5fY9YkR2cpQCLcB/s320/IMG_7133.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Lucy<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I can guess why my flight was cancelled, may have had something to do with the fact that I had a bank of three seats to myself for the flight...........<br />
<br />
So now its back to work, with catching up to do.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W9FIu0sQ5OE/V1qZOLAMIBI/AAAAAAAADQo/OKcWtn7wtoU_68MjJ0NOzSMViqBwMNQ_ACLcB/s1600/IMG_7121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-W9FIu0sQ5OE/V1qZOLAMIBI/AAAAAAAADQo/OKcWtn7wtoU_68MjJ0NOzSMViqBwMNQ_ACLcB/s320/IMG_7121.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emperor Haille Selassie's crown</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eqWo8-3Pv2k/V1qF2C4_HFI/AAAAAAAADOc/ORe8NpvhiFMFaae4C_nOGmNExwXeA4IvQCKgB/s1600/IMG_6422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eqWo8-3Pv2k/V1qF2C4_HFI/AAAAAAAADOc/ORe8NpvhiFMFaae4C_nOGmNExwXeA4IvQCKgB/s320/IMG_6422.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peek A Boo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
</div>
David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-56622183472340924582016-05-07T19:51:00.003-07:002016-05-16T00:11:44.615-07:00Does the environment matter<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
An open letter to Greg
Hunt, <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Australian Minister
for the Environment. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
7 May 2016<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear Greg<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is your cousin David
Hunt. Perhaps you remember me from
occasional family gatherings, where I took periodic umbrage with the policies
and politics of your father Alan Hunt, who was variously Victorian State Leader
of the Upper House, Leader of the opposition in the Upper House, Minister for
Education and Minister for Local Government. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the things that
I respected about your father was that he stuck to his principles. It was
through sticking to those principles that Alan introduced the Green Zone legislation
in Victoria. An act that has had a lasting impact on Melbourne, providing
generations with access to green spaces. Spaces that would have been bulldozed
and developed for short term gain and profit, leaving local communities with no
recreation space and city kids with no access to greenery. Please think on that
the next time you take your kids out into parks and reserves in Mornington. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although I don’t live
in Australia at the moment my children do. So I watch Australian news with
interest. When the Abbott government was elected I had high hopes that you had
learnt from your father and that you would be a good Minister in a portfolio
you cared about and had held for a long time. Your university thesis did after
all propose a carbon tax, indicating that before you entered parliament you
cared about the environment and recognised that something had to be done to
address carbon emissions and migrate to other energy sources. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sadly, it seems that
the Liberal Party has long ago been bought by the coal and petroleum
industries, amongst others. <b>(Comment deleted here - see below)</b> Year after year temperature records are broken
and 98% of scientists in the field say that carbon is a significant causal
factor. Of the remaining 2% of scientists in the field many are funded by the
carbon energy sector, do you see any conflict of interest there?<o:p></o:p></div>
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So, as Environment
Minister what are your headline achievements? New coal mines, new ports cutting
through the Great Barrier Reef to move said coal, Coal Seam Gas extraction,
reductions in renewable energy targets and the gutting of Australia’s capacity
to develop renewable energy sources. All while the rest of the world is moving
away from carbon fuels. Heck even Saudi Arabia is investing in, building and
operating domestic solar and wind energy infrastructure. Not to mention that
you have approved projects that will cause environmental damage to Australia’s
food bowl and water table. If you haven’t done so I suggest that you read up on
the environmental record of Adani. Safeguards are all well and good, but should
we be digging up Australian farmland to provide coal for a world that is
rapidly moving to other energy sources? Should we be fracturing rock to extract
gas, knowing that by doing so the land becomes earthquake prone and that inevitably
chemicals used in the process will end up in the water courses? Once poisoned……….<o:p></o:p></div>
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Whether you believe in
carbon caused climate change or not, the rest of the world is beginning to act.
If you don’t Australia will be left behind and what sort of legacy will that be
for Australian innovation and future generations of business leaders, not to
mention the Australian public?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I notice that your
Government is pretty keen to spend money on defence and the military. I am intrigued
that nobody seems to have worked out that in any future war Australia’s “big
infrastructure” energy network would be a prime and impossible to defend
target. In that light I am completely staggered that your Government opposes
solar and other renewable energy sources. Homes, factories and Government
buildings could be independent of the grid, as part of a distributed power network,
making it impossible for acts of terror, sabotage or military strike to disable
power supply. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Australia has so many advantages
and we should rightfully be world leaders in the adoption of new technologies
in solar, tidal and wind power generation. Much of the rest of the world is
headed there, yet where is Australia? Yes, your Ministerial website has
positive stories, but where is the balance of funding going, and what is the
tenor of your decisions?<o:p></o:p></div>
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You have been a
federal politician for 15 years and actively involved in politics throughout
your adult life. Please Greg, I ask you to reflect on this and ask yourself
this one question – What will your legacy be? Will it be positive like your father? Or will
it be one of complicity in causing environmental damage, whilst ignoring a
growing catastrophe, and tying Australia to industries the world is moving away
from?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Kind Regards<o:p></o:p></div>
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David Hunt<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<b>Amendment:</b><br />
<b>"Your most recent public comments about carbon pollution are mind boggling. That you, as an educated man could say such things when the scientific consensus is in is nothing short of staggering."</b><br />
I made the above statement in response to some reportage in the press. Greg assures me that he did not make any such statements, that such statements do not reflect his personal beliefs and was not even at the event where those words were attributed to him. As a result of this post I had a long discussion with Greg. I have to say that I could never be a politician and I do not envy him his task, which would be difficult in even the most progressive of Governments. </div>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-68628069075023642512016-03-11T05:24:00.000-08:002016-03-11T05:27:48.878-08:00When it rains......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very happy wetland feeders</td></tr>
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As you know Oman is a desert country, much of the interior is made up of differing types of desert. There are large swathes of the "classical" sand desert, including massive dunes as well as what we Australians would call gibber plains of desert. For much of the year the temperature is well over 40, in places peaking above 50 and night-time lows are in the high 30's. </div>
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Most of the water in the country comes from aquifers and over the millenia, Omani's have learnt how to access and use those sources. The most prolific and long standing is the Fallaj, which are simply aqueducts running both above and below ground. Wherever there is water and soil, there are green oases and villages. </div>
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What is not so common is rain. Although it seems rain is coming more and more often to Oman. However as there is little practical experience dealing with rain it is cause for celebration when it does arrive. People come out to watch, which is a deadly mix when combined with the barren landscape that does not absorb water. What this means is that with rain comes flash flooding. So every time there is a solid dump of rain people get too close and the inevitable happens, some get caught up and washed away, often to their deaths. Every time there is a serious rain the Police issue warnings and a certain proportion of people ignore them. Oh to be young again. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our local flood</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where the water came from</td></tr>
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It only takes seconds for a perfectly dry place to be transformed into a raging torrent. There are plenty of youtube videos showing flash flooding in Oman and near escapes.</div>
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Last September we got caught in rains in the mountains, we were driving across to the UAE for a weekend away. It started raining, within minutes there were rivulets running down the mountains. In less than an hour we were trapped between two Wadi's that for 99% of the year are bone dry. We saw whole date palms and dumpsters bobbing by in the spate. So we did what the locals do, stopped, hunkered down and sat out the flood. After about two hours the rain stopped, another hour or so the wadi had abated enough for us to cross and be on our way. Roughly 20 minutes down the road there were isolated pools in the wadi and on our return to Oman two days later you could hardly tell there had been such an amount of water through.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Those rivulets - Sorry about the image quality!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Safe enough to cross? On the way to UAE</td></tr>
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This week we had three consecutive days of rain and the latest news article I saw recorded five deaths this time round. The road out front of our house has now been under water for three days, although the flow is now right down and only a few centimeters deep at the most. For a good two days though the water flowing across the road was a solid 30+ cm deep and flowing quite quickly. Many people used discretion and did not cross the water. Many others however made the most of it. </div>
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At the point where the wadi crosses the road there is around 100 meters to the beach, running through vacant land that has some unofficial football pitches and so on. This is normally dry as there is a sand bank before the beach. That sand bank is so substantial that for the last 6 months road workers have been pumping groundwater seepage (2 large industrial pumps running 24*7) from a construction hole into the vacant land, thereby creating a shallow wetland system. Complete with freshwater fish and a thriving community of wading birds. Not any more!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Making the most of the floods</td></tr>
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The rain was such and the water outflow such that that sand bank has been all but washed away. Creek channels have been cut through the "wetland" and the outflow area to the sea is both deep and wide, maybe 10 meters, with at least 4 meters of height washed away. So we weren't too surprised this morning when the roof of a small saloon car was spotted in the outflow. As the Police were in attendance and did not seem too concerned we will happily assume that nobody was hurt. It did make our ride last a bit longer than normal though. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Renaults don't float</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Retrieval begins (Three days ago that was unbroken beach)</td></tr>
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When it rains like this Omani's come out in droves to watch the water, dare the edge and generally get a bit wet. All good fun! Young men come out in their droves and test their Jeeps out in the waters - it is mostly the Jeeps that do that. Probably because there tend to be more tricked out Jeeps and they are the weapon of choice for younger Omani's that go offroad regularly. </div>
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Because rain is not all that common roads don't have drainage systems and water follows its millenia old paths through, happily cutting roads, inundating playing fields and generally making it a little tricky for people to get around. Work was pretty quiet, with some staff and many brokers and others choosing to stay away. Katrina's car hasn't really moved since the rain started, because it would have been difficult for her to get anywhere. The Land Rover, on the other hand.......</div>
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Anyway with the sand bank washed away the wetlands area is well and truly underwater and the waders are making the most of it, with various herons and spoonbills in attendance, quite happily dealing with any small fish that happen to come by. I expect that by tomorrow the water will be down further again and in time wind and tide will rebuild the sandbank. On our ride this morning we did see another new channel cut to the sea by run-off. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new outflow</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-47271877367251466012016-02-26T07:55:00.003-08:002016-02-26T23:30:01.982-08:00Old Muscat Harbour and naval ships names<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Muscat Harbour Entrance</td></tr>
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Hi It's been a long time again .<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Inner Harbour at Night</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left side of Harbour Entrance</td></tr>
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A bit over a week ago I took a trainer from the WCO on a tour of Muscat, just so he could see a little bit of the place. This is a regular tour that I do with guests and new arrivals, one of the stops is old Muscat Harbour, which I generally try to get to around dusk, as that is when the harbour is at its most picturesque. This time however we went in late afternoon, which led to me commissioning myself to go and do a photo shoot of the harbour, in particular the ship names painted on the rocky cliffs surrounding the harbour.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Right side of harbour entrance, showing Relume and others</td></tr>
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Now Muscat is an old harbour, and in fact no longer functions as such, not even as an anchorage. The entrance of the harbour and the inner harbour are protected by well maintained forts dating back to the Portuguese occupation of 1507 to 1650's. At the base of the inner harbour is the Ceremonial Palace - Al Alam Palace which was built by the current Sultan in 1972. Mind you there had apparently been a palace at the site for at least 200 years. But I suspect in reality for much longer than that.<br />
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The outer harbour entrance is protected by a series of small forts and gun emplacements. Sufficient I would think to deter all but the most persistent intruders. The inner harbour and palace site are protected by the twin forts of Al Mirani and Al Jalali. These were built during the Portuguese occupation,remain in good repair and are garrisoned by the Royal Guard. The nearby Muscat Gate museum has some interesting dioramas showing the development of Muscat over the centuries (Perhaps even millenia) and the Portuguese invasion and dispossession. Unfortunately the Muscat Gate Museum is only open during Ministry hours. <br />
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That's enough history.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Inner Harbour from the outer harbour</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">AL Alam (The Flag) Palace</td></tr>
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It was a thing for visiting naval ships crew to paint their ship names on the harbour cliffs. There are ship names dating back to the late 1800's, through to the 1970's, "strangely enough" just after the building of Al Alam palace, which is now surrounded by various court and Government buildings, there is no sign now of what would have been a bustling port. When I first went to Muscat Harbour (4 years ago) I seem to recall the paint marks were much bolder, but with the passage of time and the fact that more rain is falling on Muscat these days the names are somewhat more faded and it is quite difficult now to make out many of the ship names. Brought on by climate changing methinks.<br />
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One of my work colleagues once told me that when he was a child, growing up in Oman rain would come once every ten or so years. However the rains are coming more and more often, which I can support in my brief time here, it seems that there is more rain each year and more greenery seems to be surviving summers. Which is pretty remarkable as for half the year temperatures are around 45, peaking around or even above 50.<br />
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Anyway back to the ship names. Today I made the trek to Muscat Harbour - something around 45 K's or so with my camera in tow.... out came the big lens and many photo's followed. I tried to get all the markings on record, but even with the big lens and cropping in on the photo's many are just too degraded to read. I have a recollection of taking a similar series just after we arrived, but can't find them. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see patrickstewart?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HMS Teazer, note the years</td></tr>
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Anyway the from the markings and a little digging, where I could identify the ship name against a date things seemed to plausibly match up, including, where stated, deployments that would have conceivably seen the ships visiting Muscat. Most of the ships I could identify were from the British Royal Navy, but there are also American, New Zealand and Dutch vessels. Some of the inscriptions seem to be latter inclusions of names. An interesting one is the inscription "patrickstewart irl", couldn't find out if that was a reference to a vessel or a famous Irishman - and no sorry to disappoint you trekkies out there I think the last of the inscriptions pre-date Captain Picard!<br />
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Amongst the early ships named are the Relume, Falmouth, Teazer and Perseus. The sole American ship I could identify is the USS Isla De Luzon. This was a Spanish ship launched in 1887, that fought in the 1898 Battle of Manila Bay, during the Spanish American war. It was damaged, scuttled and burnt during the battle and later refloated, refitted and commissioned by the Americans. It visited Muscat harbour in 1902, when in transit from the Asiatic station to the United States. This was when her name was painted on the cliffs, since then American sailors have periodically refreshed the paint.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Isla De Luzon and others</td></tr>
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Of course if I actually spent some time on this............<br />
And then why doesn't Blogger display posts they way they're laid out in drafting mode?<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-56975979557036214592015-07-24T09:54:00.001-07:002015-07-24T09:56:27.646-07:00I traveled again, must be time for a Blogg post......<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A gratuitous photo of one of my favourite Omani birds, the Indian Roller - VERY colourful - No? </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Omani Patriarch</td></tr>
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I just had a look at my blog and noticed that the last post was in early February, just after we came back from Paris and Brussels. Well I have just traveled again, so it must be time for another post. Hmmm so what's been happening?<br />
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In May we had a visit from our friends Maia and Stanford. While they were visiting we went up Jebel Akhdar (the Green Mountain, which I have posted about before. On Jebel Akhdar we went to the old abandoned village. While we were there I ran into three male generations of an Omani family. After exchanging greetings and taking photos of the young lads, who insisted on photos, the patriarch came up to me and insisted that I take his picture so that people could see what a real Omani looked like. So here he is a man who is proud of his heritage, nation and family:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The family inspecting Daylesford</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still inspecting Daylesford</td></tr>
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Work is busy as we have just implemented. This meant that from January on I was effectively working 7 day weeks, with the occasional day off. Sigh, but then that's why I am here. In the end I could only get two weeks leave to return to Australia. This meant that I flew in on a Saturday, went straight to Canberra (home), where I spent six days, before we drove down to Ballarat and Daylesford (Mum and Dad) for two days, before hitting the road for Brisbane (the boys) and three and a half days. In all Katrina and I drove close to 2,500 km in a 5 day period. Katrina had it better than me as she went to Aus 4 weeks before I did and returned one week after.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bush insects caught in the late afternoon sun</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Mother and Child</td></tr>
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It was good to catch up with people, particularly family and some unexpected people we hadn't seen since long before we left Australia for Oman. So all in all my two weeks away was a lot of fun, just wish there had been time to relax at some point. And in the whole two weeks I got to do one touristy thing, which was to visit Qld Zoo (No Not Bindiland!) with Katrina the boys and Georgie. I can highly recommend Qld Zoo, it may be small but the animal collection is interesting and the animals all seem so relaxed. Many of the native animals have relative freedom and the non-natives are in reasonable sized enclosures. The zoo itself is set in bushland immediately behind the Big Pineapple - which we somehow managed to successfully avoid.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Random Kangaroo</td></tr>
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Anyway I returned to Oman for the last week of Ramadan, which translated into a 4 day week, because of the beginning of the Eid celebrations. The next week was even shorter at two days, because of Eid and Oman's Renaissance Day. Renaissance Day marks the anniversary of Sultan Qaboos coming to the throne of Oman. He replaced his father in an English backed, almost bloodless coup. His ascension to the throne sparked a modernization drive that took the country from a village based, agricultural country where donkey and camel were the only means of transport, to a modern developing/developed country. Quite the transition and the reason that Sultan Qaboos is revered across the country.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">A mother and her sons</td></tr>
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Well as Katrina returned mid-Eid we stayed at home in Muscat for the two days before I returned to work. Then yesterday morning (23 July - Renaissance Day) we looked at each other and said "well, will we go somewhere today?" to which of course the answer was "Why not"<br />
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I consulted friend Google and discovered that all on its lonesome was a fly speck on the map of Oman called Tool. Definitely within striking distance, Hmm I thought, intrigued by the name, can we find Tool and after finding Tool could we make our way through the Hajar mountains to the coast and back to Muscat? Only one way to find out..... By about 0830 we'd put some supplies in the Land Rover and hit the road.<br />
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After stopping at the mandatory petrol station in Bidbid we hit the road, heading inland behind the Hajar Mountains, in a Southerly direction. The built in GPS was not much use, as the map disc is from 2007, which in Omani road building terms is an eternity. Much of our trip was down Route 23 and we had to make our turn off onto route 25 - which according to the Land Rover does not exist! Yep too true once we turned off 23 we were on our own, except for the map that had pre-loaded in my phone.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Ripening dates</td></tr>
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Throughout the day there was a lot of "which way do we go here?" followed by "I can't tell, the phone doesn't give me enough detail" then a decision and a couple of hundred metres later "Nope we went the wrong way" And this was before we'd even left the blacktop!<br />
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And leave the blacktop we did. As we were travelling solo there was no need to mind what anybody else wanted, so as opportunity presented we turned off onto secondary roads and wadi's. This made for a rather relaxed day at the wheel, but also a lot of extra distance offroad. So we stopped at various lookouts, ruins and the like. Sadly we never did find a swimming hole that wasn't already swarming with people.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Random ruins near Smut</td></tr>
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We went where fancy took us, which meant that when we saw a sign for a Nature Park and a village called Smut - well we just had to go. And having gone, moved on. Nothing to see, but we couldn't bypass an opportunity to visit Smut.<br />
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Eventually - probably almost two hours longer than planned we found Tool. It seems like a reasonable settlement, which is in the process of being completely bypassed by a dual lane road, running a long way into the Hajar mountains.<br />
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So having tooled around Tool we set off for the coast, by following the wadi on through. Every now and then we ran across roadworks - presumably that road bypassing Tool will go a long way into the Hajar mountains, possible even to the coast. As for memorable sights, well there was a bridge crossing the wadi, almost fully completed, mind you each end of the bridge was build right up to the rocky mountainside of the wadi. Yep if you could get onto the bridge, you could do endless circuits of the bridge, but that was all the road you would have to play on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Watchtower near Tool</td></tr>
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Eventually the wadi trail took us away and up into the Hajar mountains. Funnily enough along a road we had used to cross the Hajar mountains before. If you've seen the videos posted here ( https://db.tt/CIRbOGVJ ) then you've seen this road, which comes out at a place called Qalhat. This time around the road was much rougher, the last few months have not been kind to it, and in places it has deteriorated to what we Australians would call bulldust (loose dust with a consistency of talcum powder). In other patches rain has washed what little soil there is away exposing the underlying rocks. For quite a bit of the drive I had the suspension set to the highest ride height, something I hadn't had to do the previous time through. Anyway late in the afternoon we braved the switchback down into Qalhat.<br />
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Because of all the extra, mostly offroad, distance covered the car was very happy to receive the jerry can of fuel brought along for just such an occasion. Without that can we would have had to drive away from Muscat to the nearest petrol station.<br />
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So here we are, back safe in Oman. <br />
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Cheers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Why?<br />
Because they have the best mustaches!</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-24976403431840006712015-01-23T04:10:00.001-08:002015-01-23T04:10:29.651-08:00Paris, Brussels and mixed emotions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katrina's unexpected highlight, that's her at bottom left!</td></tr>
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Well as highlighted in my last post it was time to come to Brussels again - more official meetings. This time Katrina told me in no uncertain terms that she was coming along for the ride, so I made the offer "How about we go via Paris". Well as neither of us had been to Paris this was met with rather rapid acceptance and some expressions of joy. Even though it is mid winter in Europe the prospect of Paris was, for some reason, just the ticket.<br />
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<span class="">When work finished on Thursday I went home, finished packing and at 1030 we flew out for Paris via Amsterdam. Lo and behold around 8 we landed at Charles De Gaulle Airport, after a little mucking about we were on our way to Place de Liberte via Nord station. After losing each other in Nord we found our way to the right platform and the train duly arrived. So along with what seemed like half of Paris we boarded, amidst much jostling and shoving and set out on the last leg of our arrival in Paris. Just after we left Nord I discovered what all the pushing and shoving was about - my wallet had been lifted! All my cards and some cash gone in an instant. GRUMBLE - welcome to Paris.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gratuitous shot of Notre Dame</td></tr>
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<span class=""><span class="">We found the Gendarmes and began the lengthy process of reporting the theft. Which at this point amounted to no we can't take the report you have to go to the station at (wherever it was) and make your report. So we popped out onto the Place Liberte and were immediately confronted by the "je suis Charlie" memorials stacked on and around the statuary in the plaza. From there with the help of a local we found our way to the office of the Apartment rental company. They were lovely fed us coffee on arrival and passed me the office phone so I could call the bank and cancel my cards. While I was making that call my credit card was used - a test transaction methinks as the amount was 8 euro. Mind you the staff did tell us that guests arriving minus wallets, passports etc was almost a daily occurrence and that our losses were well to the low side. Luckily Katrina still has her cards and wallet. As an aside they recounted one guest who lost her passport turned up at the US embassy the following morning to request temporary travel documents, and found herself in a queue of about 40 people seeking the same service, for the same reason.</span></span><br />
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From there we went by taxi to our apartment (Museum View Apartments), which was across the road from the Natural History Museum, with views into the bone rooms of the Palaeontology building. The rest of the day was spent dealing with the police reporting, which resulted in a large wodge of papers for me to take home for use in helping get replacement cards. So that was day 1 in Paris - well except for the cycling up and down the Seine as we went about our business.<br />
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<span class="">We got around Paris using the bicycle network. You pay a sum per day and get access to bikes from racks scattered across Paris. They abound around the main metro stations and tourist areas. All very convenient with cycle paths and lanes abounding. So you take a bike ride it and then leave it attached to the docking stations near your destination and provided individual "hires" are under half an hour you pay nothing above the daily fee. As an effective way of getting around Paris I can highly recommend this one, it has the added benefit of being much harder to have your pocket picked when cycling.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ofWhOPJkO4Y/VMIbztt1RLI/AAAAAAAADAE/ubt4bJLfYh8/s1600/IMG_5460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ofWhOPJkO4Y/VMIbztt1RLI/AAAAAAAADAE/ubt4bJLfYh8/s1600/IMG_5460.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes it's a Dodo, at the natural history museum.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class=""><span class="">Bicycles have access to the transit lanes, so you generally only have to deal with taxis and buses, which show remarkable tolerance and patience for the poor bemused cycling tourist. I have to say that Paris abounds in alternate transport, cyclists, scooters (push and petrol powered) and roller bladers abound. The general motorised traffic moves fairly slowly because of the abundant traffic lights and narrowish streets. All of which makes for a much more pleasant cycling experience. Mind you Parisiens seem to have missed the EU notice that smoking is harmful to your health.</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tiuv_9XhS3U/VMIbP2CKWZI/AAAAAAAAC_c/iQuNCBj0AkI/s1600/IMG_4877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tiuv_9XhS3U/VMIbP2CKWZI/AAAAAAAAC_c/iQuNCBj0AkI/s1600/IMG_4877.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As close as we went to the tower.</td></tr>
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<span class="">So what did we see - Eiffel Tower - check, Cluny Museum (Lady and the unicorn tapestries) - check, Notre Dame - check, Military museum and Napolean's tomb - check, Museum of Natural History - Check and the Zoological gardens - check.</span><br />
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<span class="">Being midwinter Paris came across as grey and brooding and given events of the previous week was on high alert, with heavily armed Police and Army deployed everywhere we went. They were usually in groups of three or more and looking rather serious. Everytime we entered a tourist venue it was off with the camera bag, so that security staff could look through it. This very quickly became part of a single process where I would present the bag for inspection and insert/remove winter woollies into the bag as necessary.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rg-jPS0oRHA/VMI2QRSSjEI/AAAAAAAADA4/y9WHt62bAP4/s1600/IMG_5433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rg-jPS0oRHA/VMI2QRSSjEI/AAAAAAAADA4/y9WHt62bAP4/s1600/IMG_5433.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just some of the detail in Notre Dame</td></tr>
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<span class="">We were blown away by the beauty of Notre Dame Cathedral and somewhat in awe of the ability to conduct a service with so many tourists swirling around. Many of them seemingly oblivious to the Mass being conducted and the worshippers. For a building verging on 1000 years (in parts) the grand old dame is holding up well, although the ravages of time are unmistakable. Katrina stayed at Notre Dame for a service and concert, which just happened to be given by a Sydney based choir. Very happy girl. Although she did forget the cap she'd knitted especially for Paris and left it on a pew.</span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCYL5DtNpq0/VMIbOF3NL5I/AAAAAAAAC_M/xmOtGm79ObY/s1600/IMG_5055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CCYL5DtNpq0/VMIbOF3NL5I/AAAAAAAAC_M/xmOtGm79ObY/s1600/IMG_5055.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Military order pouch, 100 years war, bearing the arms of <br />
Marshall Bertrand Du Guesclin</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Tiy0QjH3TA/VMIbbdpCD1I/AAAAAAAAC_k/CBk-9kFqXqE/s1600/IMG_5116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4Tiy0QjH3TA/VMIbbdpCD1I/AAAAAAAAC_k/CBk-9kFqXqE/s1600/IMG_5116.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carving under the seat base of a choristers chair</td></tr>
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<span class="">Other highlights of Paris were the unicorn tapestries in the Cluny (next to the Sorbonne). They are truly spectacular and nothing quite prepares you for their size. They are BIG. Katrina was completely absorbed. I was quite taken by the old chorister seats lining the walls of a couple of rooms in the Cluny. Nice practical woodwork, but the underside of each seat displays a carving which would not be seen when the seat is lowered for use. The carvings are a mixture of trades, games and activities, a wonderful touch and I imagine if left to it the choristers would fight over who got which chair.</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pTDj3smzqyw/VMIbkY2iSbI/AAAAAAAAC_0/4J19sWhw6T0/s1600/IMG_5347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pTDj3smzqyw/VMIbkY2iSbI/AAAAAAAAC_0/4J19sWhw6T0/s1600/IMG_5347.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span class="">Some of the Armour that's not really on display</span></td></tr>
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<span class="">The Military museum was very good. Halls and galleries to be lost in. I spent most of my time in the Royal armour collection and the medieval/renaissance armour collection. I have never seen that much armour displayed in the one place and some of the pieces are simply stunning. By the time I got through them it was a quick walk through the WW1 and WW2 Galleries before visiting Napoleon's tomb. I ran out of time to see the relief maps and saw no sign of any Napoleonic gallery. Although that's not really an issue for me as the Brussels military museum has a more than adequate Napoleonic display, which I have been lucky enough to see more times than I can immediately recall.</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_cs0TEy2K5I/VMIbc8otYjI/AAAAAAAAC_s/uGhczn8iaFg/s1600/IMG_5304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_cs0TEy2K5I/VMIbc8otYjI/AAAAAAAAC_s/uGhczn8iaFg/s1600/IMG_5304.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fashion?<br />
Armour?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RtK0wU97BBs/VMIc08zc1zI/AAAAAAAADAU/L-j3unG3En0/s1600/IMG_5329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RtK0wU97BBs/VMIc08zc1zI/AAAAAAAADAU/L-j3unG3En0/s1600/IMG_5329.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sleeves and Pants?</td></tr>
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The Military museum is housed in the veteran military hospital grounds.A small po<span class="">rtion of the grounds are still used for their original purpose of housing veterans and attending to their welfare. A rather interesting juxtaposition I thought.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ANeuKiIIfVY/VMI2KRx02jI/AAAAAAAADAw/LbYVi3itvqc/s1600/IMG_5391.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ANeuKiIIfVY/VMI2KRx02jI/AAAAAAAADAw/LbYVi3itvqc/s1600/IMG_5391.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Napoleon's tomb - it's massive!</td></tr>
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<span class="">The zoo although small was nice, having been inaugurated in 1794. The animal houses are quite decorative. And it had my favourite big cat - the Snow Leopard, which were quite animated possibly because of the cold and the females hormones.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QlUopZXwc2s/VMI2DAdkrHI/AAAAAAAADAo/EfXW0LQHAcI/s1600/IMG_5596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QlUopZXwc2s/VMI2DAdkrHI/AAAAAAAADAo/EfXW0LQHAcI/s1600/IMG_5596.JPG" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Well come on and play"</td></tr>
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</span><br />
<span class=""> So rather tired and footsore we set sail for Brussels by the Thalys express train, which fortunately for us was delayed meaning that turning up five minutes after check-in closed was overlooked in the bigger issue of the two hour delay.</span><br />
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<span class="">So Paris despite the pickpocket, the weather and so on - the jury is still out. It didn't do a lot for me, but maybe I'm just jaded. Lots of things to see and do, but then again there are so many other places that the completeness of my life does not require or demand Paris.</span><br />
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<span class="">And so now we are in Brussels, and after a week of meetings catching the plane home for Muscat in the wee small hours of Saturday morning.</span><br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-58930479993517187142015-01-12T06:51:00.000-08:002015-01-12T06:51:30.750-08:00Belated posts and New Years<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well hello 2015 and farewell 2014. Can't say what happened to the second half of 2014, other than I must be a bit slack. There is a bit to tell.<br />
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In August, at the end of Ramadan Katrina and I jumped a flight to Salalah. It's the Southern end of Oman and the climate is just a bit different. In general Salalah is much more tropical, coconuts not dates, bananas, mangoes etc, etc and there are roadside fruit stalls everywhere. Fancy a fresh coconut? some pawpaw? Luverley bananas......<br />
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When we went it was the Khareef season. That's when a low lying mist rolls in off the sea and turns everything in the region a wonderful lush green. It's also a welcome relief from the summer heat. Mind you everything gets constantly damp and while its not raining the roads are constantly wet, the wipers forever on and apart from the green everything is greyed out. Sigh. But we found Salalah to be ok and there was enough to see and do for the four or five days we were there. Ancient ruins, rugged scenery and coastlines, and its where frankincense originates from.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CcI86-SKX4Q/VLPXO7aGvfI/AAAAAAAAC98/lZ07dTqXTwk/s1600/IMG_4006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CcI86-SKX4Q/VLPXO7aGvfI/AAAAAAAAC98/lZ07dTqXTwk/s1600/IMG_4006.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camels and the water near Salalah</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q5tqg8s6u8U/VLPbkN95qYI/AAAAAAAAC-w/GIJPuEXi5JU/s1600/IMG_3894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q5tqg8s6u8U/VLPbkN95qYI/AAAAAAAAC-w/GIJPuEXi5JU/s1600/IMG_3894.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Khareef effect</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uz4qu85NiQ4/VLPXZXgeg4I/AAAAAAAAC-E/HMU8TqlMr70/s1600/IMG_4035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Uz4qu85NiQ4/VLPXZXgeg4I/AAAAAAAAC-E/HMU8TqlMr70/s1600/IMG_4035.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frankincense tree</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5iAZbYsMaE/VLPXGAQbA3I/AAAAAAAAC90/I5LPHgnuBSs/s1600/IMG_4054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m5iAZbYsMaE/VLPXGAQbA3I/AAAAAAAAC90/I5LPHgnuBSs/s1600/IMG_4054.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Police barracks at Mirbat - where the last rebellion faltered.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WY1FYdQrcEg/VLPYJzwVyfI/AAAAAAAAC-M/jG-ZLSC6LOs/s1600/IMG_4058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WY1FYdQrcEg/VLPYJzwVyfI/AAAAAAAAC-M/jG-ZLSC6LOs/s1600/IMG_4058.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fresh fruit in Salalah</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cSXQdoJhxYU/VLPbuGHNrzI/AAAAAAAAC-4/c44TQhgr1lw/s1600/IMG_3883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cSXQdoJhxYU/VLPbuGHNrzI/AAAAAAAAC-4/c44TQhgr1lw/s1600/IMG_3883.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katrina and the ruins</td></tr>
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After that the balance of the year was fairly quiet the only other things of note were that I had another Brussels adventure, which I coupled with a trip to Manchester and a visit to Meaghan, Jamie and the girls and we had a weekend away in Bahrain - our second visit there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FkzXJ0RE3ko/VLPYWd7N9uI/AAAAAAAAC-U/OrKGwWMlbWM/s1600/IMG_4850.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FkzXJ0RE3ko/VLPYWd7N9uI/AAAAAAAAC-U/OrKGwWMlbWM/s1600/IMG_4850.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our living area</td></tr>
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Other than that our other big news is that we moved house!. Our little villa in Al Hail has been swapped for a not quite so little villa in Al Hail! We moved in the weekend before Christmas and then ended up hosting a bunch of people for Christmas day. Much fun was had by all, let me just say that a bunch of 50+ ish adults and table top wooden santa bols do not mix - much danger but much fun. And don't believe it when you buy the wash - outable, draw on - able tablecloth. It is not a kids toy! We adults (maybe the definition adult is a bit questionable) had a great time with it!.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BABIX16WbTs/VLPYiznoFgI/AAAAAAAAC-c/pY-xFIg11RY/s1600/IMG_4851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BABIX16WbTs/VLPYiznoFgI/AAAAAAAAC-c/pY-xFIg11RY/s1600/IMG_4851.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guest living area</td></tr>
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Having been in the house for almost a month now it is mostly set-up. We have 6 bedrooms which comprise of one master bedroom, one master guest room, one (yet to be furnished) secondary guest room all on separate floors plus a dressing room, a hobby room and a storage room. We also have a study, dining room and two sitting areas, plus a balcony and smallish backyard/garden. The good news about the balcony - and the rest of the front of the house are the ocean views. The panorama from the roof is spectacular.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UDtQmX0gMbM/VLPajVC8gTI/AAAAAAAAC-o/M-dI9G1pX74/s1600/10634057_10203274002587255_6030148262335279874_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UDtQmX0gMbM/VLPajVC8gTI/AAAAAAAAC-o/M-dI9G1pX74/s1600/10634057_10203274002587255_6030148262335279874_o.jpg" height="117" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katrina and the VIEW</td></tr>
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So now its mid January and I have another Brussels adventure next week. So we are going to leave on Thursday night and have three days in Paris before cutting across to Brussels for a week of work. </div>
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Soo see ya - can't promise the next blogg will be any more frequent!</div>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-51917214276653520872014-06-29T09:15:00.002-07:002014-06-29T11:19:51.170-07:00My My it's July - Well almost<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/Ykq2eFVRIDXixMMLMuWVlnEfbFaMVU7kamaj01NM4-x7oEBzJwFhdd0JX9tOO870qzw" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/vwSrwx7.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ripening dates</td></tr>
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So the 29th of June it is. Hard to believe the two months that have just gone by. One in Australia and another back in Oman, since my last post with Ramadan having started today. Our third one in Oman, how time flies.</div>
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<div>
Well the Australian trip was an absolute whirlwind. A week here, a week there with a lot of driving and a lot of people. Splitting our time between Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne is going to be a fixture of our Australian sojourns now, as both Rufus and BJ live in Brisbane, our home is in Canberra and the rest of our families in and around Melbourne. Guess that's going to tie us to a lot of intra Australia commuting. Sigh. This time we hired a campervan, which was a good decision as while it was old and a bit clunky it got us safely from place to place with plenty of luggage space and on the occasion we needed it a bed for the night. AND it was cheaper than a rental car! </div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yiuYiFjkaM/U7BVU9-ILTI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/6ZJDXKyQhBk/s1600/IMG_3337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3yiuYiFjkaM/U7BVU9-ILTI/AAAAAAAAC6Q/6ZJDXKyQhBk/s1600/IMG_3337.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cheap and cheerful</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
We arrived home exactly a month ago, to an Oman where the temperature was on the rise. As we drove to the airport in Melbourne it was 14 degrees - when we left the airport in Muscat it was 45 degrees! And the temperatures have largely stayed up there since. Hot, hot, hot.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So what have we done this month? Not a lot to be honest. The first couple of weeks were spent getting back into the groove, letting the cats know we hadn't really deserted them and catching up at work. So no not a lot of out and about. Until these past two weekends that is. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9UO6nKZm6I4/U7BRsWlM20I/AAAAAAAAC58/omos0hP2iWw/s1600/IMG_3485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9UO6nKZm6I4/U7BRsWlM20I/AAAAAAAAC58/omos0hP2iWw/s1600/IMG_3485.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Katrina storming Bid Bid Fort</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Two weekends at home without going anywhere was a bit much. So on the third weekend we loaded up the 4wd and headed off for a place called Bid Bid. We were told it had a fort, the papers said it would be open and a blogg post or two said it was interesting - promising. Also only half an hour down the road. So after a quick Google Maps search the fort was located (not found said Google, but really rather obvious in the pictures!). And then will wonders never cease the GPS said "yeah I know where that is..D'uh you don't?"</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJnx_b6tn40/U7BRtj1yAnI/AAAAAAAAC6E/gmaxtzfb3gA/s1600/IMG_3475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GJnx_b6tn40/U7BRtj1yAnI/AAAAAAAAC6E/gmaxtzfb3gA/s1600/IMG_3475.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Omani Bucolic Idyll</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our drive to Bid Bid was rather uneventful. The fort was duly found and not unexpectedly closed! So we hung around the outside taking pictures of the fort and surrounding date farms and then simply drove off into the Wadi for some 4wd action before going home with a local pottery water barrel for the kitchen. It is date season here and the date palms were overburdened with fruit and really rather peaceful. The date grove was rather green and peaceful. Being towards the middle of the day it was also rather quiet, all in all very pleasant.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This weekend just gone we jumped a plane to Bahrain for the weekend, as an early birthday thing for Katrina. The original plan was to go to Dubai, but by the time I got to making the booking it was much cheaper to go to Bahrain and as we hadn't been there before it was a no brainer really. Similar flight times.... SO Thursday night we hit the airport (Hint - Muscat airport has next to no long term parking now, luckily work is under 10 minutes walk away.) and but a matter of a few hours later we were in Bahrain, forking over a nominal sum for a visa and then off to our hotel, courtesy of their complimentary pick up. We can highly recommend the Palace Boutique Hotel in Bahrain, 20 rooms, pool, food, bar, restaurant.... But by the time we hit the hotel it was all getting a bit late so we took ourselves off to bed reasonably quickly, after a short study of the tourist maps.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Friday dawned, what else but bright, sunny and hot. Well it is officially summer after all. Breakfast was followed by more map study and the dawning realisation that we should have arranged a hire car. No problems the nice hotel people soon sorted that out and we had a Yaris for the weekend at a reasonable rate. Tally ho! And I swear I could hear the GPS calling from Muscat saying "D'uh Forgotten something?" Yes it has Bahrain maps which would have saved us a fair bit of mucking around.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U8Va5J4vuCI/U7BRGWUnw6I/AAAAAAAAC5w/-maSDrTCX_o/s1600/IMG_3542.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U8Va5J4vuCI/U7BRGWUnw6I/AAAAAAAAC5w/-maSDrTCX_o/s1600/IMG_3542.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional Bahraini Garb</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sIg50Gfs_nw/U7BRGCAi4eI/AAAAAAAAC5s/ltThxkXEvQo/s1600/IMG_3637.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sIg50Gfs_nw/U7BRGCAi4eI/AAAAAAAAC5s/ltThxkXEvQo/s1600/IMG_3637.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trading Seals</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As is pretty much our habit we started with the Bahrain museum. A nice, reasonable sized and very informative museum. Manama, the capital of Bahrain, has history dating back thousands of years. And the proof is there in the museum. It's a good first stop, because it tells the stories in a nice simple fashion, setting you up for the rest of Bahraini tourism, which doesn't have much in the way of informative information. Katrina was especially taken by the early (2000 odd BC) trading seals. Interestingly the main floor of the museum has a map of Bahrain on it, which has lines running from points to various of the exhibits in the large entrance area. Really rather well done I thought. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
From the museum we took off for Sheikh Khalifa's house. It's a rather large house laid out in traditional Bahraini style. A key feature of the house is the wind tower - an early form of aircon, absolutely essential in the climate. The wind tower has four air channels which allow breezes top blow into the room below, no matter the wind direction. Rather large wooden flaps can be opened or closed to allow or shut off the flow. It was stinking hot when we were there, but the gentlest of breezes coming through the wind tower made the room significantly cooler than anywhere else in the House.</div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fULXmNfP5dE/U7BQaE92BvI/AAAAAAAAC5g/uWiWoUqPKF4/s1600/IMG_3682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fULXmNfP5dE/U7BQaE92BvI/AAAAAAAAC5g/uWiWoUqPKF4/s1600/IMG_3682.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind Tower outside</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qZpzpLBDFu8/U7BQZzKwqGI/AAAAAAAAC5c/o-g27kXn_aQ/s1600/IMG_3691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qZpzpLBDFu8/U7BQZzKwqGI/AAAAAAAAC5c/o-g27kXn_aQ/s1600/IMG_3691.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wind Tower inside</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
But by then, after struggling with the back streets and the museum Katrina's knee said called time and we headed back to the Hotel and a couple of refreshing hours in the pool. Followed by a rather nice but rather expensive restaurant dinner and bed. </div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nOX4OFyocpU/U7BOnKRrkwI/AAAAAAAAC5M/NcW8N8eqPAw/s1600/IMG_3705.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nOX4OFyocpU/U7BOnKRrkwI/AAAAAAAAC5M/NcW8N8eqPAw/s1600/IMG_3705.JPG" height="133" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A thught for Sui</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tstbcb6zigk/U7BPyLEGJPI/AAAAAAAAC5U/LH5tfa5_IFs/s1600/IMG_3713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Tstbcb6zigk/U7BPyLEGJPI/AAAAAAAAC5U/LH5tfa5_IFs/s1600/IMG_3713.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some culture is universal......</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
Saturday dawned bright, sunny and hot. Our first outing for Saturday was the National Craft Industries center. Open 7 days from 0700! <br />
Yippee, yeah, but no. We got there to find closed doors and the only people there were the glass workers, must be a dedicated lot. They told us that yes the website says 7 days, but they're never open Fridays and Saturdays, not even the craft shop. So we looked at the glasswork - <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bng68YTpdcg/U7BOKP_zkoI/AAAAAAAAC5A/nK3OqM7xw10/s1600/IMG_3743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bng68YTpdcg/U7BOKP_zkoI/AAAAAAAAC5A/nK3OqM7xw10/s1600/IMG_3743.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bahrain Fort</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
which we greatly enjoyed and then took off for the Qalat al Bahrain - Bahrain Fort.<br />
<br />
A massive pile of rock it is and that is mostly what it is. A UNESCO site under restoration and excavation since the sixties. The fort was impressive, but the museum on the beach below was even more so, especially as the temp was well above 40. The fort grew over a few millennia and was in use until the late 16c when it was abandoned and by the sixties very little was visible above the encroaching sand. That's not the case now, as we walked the 300 meters from car to fort the true scale slowly became apparent. Wandering through the ruins and the excavated and intact parts of the fort was fascinating. Unfortunately the only signage throughout the castle were for the art installations, or a simple number for the audio tour - which you had to get from the museum on the beach below, but as we went straight to the fort..............</div>
<div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0otOdQwyIik/U7BNlO--INI/AAAAAAAAC44/sETa8NFwpvw/s1600/IMG_3734.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0otOdQwyIik/U7BNlO--INI/AAAAAAAAC44/sETa8NFwpvw/s1600/IMG_3734.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It used to b e a well</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div>
It was hot and getting hotter so we retreated to the museum below and inhaled water. Then we hit the museum. We had already seem similar things the previous day, but there was enough interesting differences to keep us happy and interested. More seals for Katrina, some tombs and diorama's. I was most impressed with the scale model of the smelting furnace. There was stuff and other stuff mixed in with other stuff..</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F7le5EWJbXY/U7BYk40_UtI/AAAAAAAAC6c/OxhLVUeIWpM/s1600/IMG_3762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F7le5EWJbXY/U7BYk40_UtI/AAAAAAAAC6c/OxhLVUeIWpM/s1600/IMG_3762.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The smelting furnace</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
From there we headed for some shopping, after all we hadn't bought any souvenirs yet. On our way to the fort Katrina had noticed a large mall at the side of the highway boasting Bahraini made arts and crafts. We wended our way through some back streets to the mall and went in to the small stalls. In the end we came out with a drink coaster that has an image of one of those seals that Katrina so admired and a painted rock that kinda looks like a camel - so it's in our camel collection now. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As we drove around Bahrain I had wondered about the police cars parked in reasonable permanently looking posts where the police always seemed to be looking away from the road as we went by. Well that's because they were. In the streets around the craft mall there was a lot of graffiti and we saw two makeshift barricades ready and waiting to be put back in place. As we drove out a little man on a motorbike drove up to one of the police points to deliver the pizza lunch! And that was Bahrain. We will go back.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oh got in the car this morning to be greeted with "D'uh did you miss me?" from the GPS"<br />
Me "Shut up I know the way to work!"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
And as of today it's Ramadan. The Holy month of Ramadan a month of celebration and fasting. So in the spirit of the times "Ramadan Kareem" to you all. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I do have to say to our friend Bob - get well soon, falling off motorbikes is not good for you. Stop doing it!!</div>
<textarea id="cont" name="area3" style="display: none; height: 100%; width: 100%;"> <div>
So the 29th of June it is. Hard to believe the two months that have just gone by. One in Australia and another back in Oman since my last post, with Ramadan having started today. Our third one in Oman, how time flies.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Well the Australian trip was an absolute whirlwind. A week here, a week there with a lot of driving and a lot of people. Splitting our time between Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne is going to be a fixture of our Australian sojourns now, as both Rufus and BJ live in Brisbane, our home is in Canberra and the rest of our families in and around Melbourne. Guess that's going to tie us to a lot of intra Australia commuting. Sigh. This time we hired a campervan, which was a good decision as while it was old and a bit clunky it got us safely from place to place with plenty of luggage space and on the occasion we needed it a bed for the night. And it was cheaper than a rental car! </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
We arrived home exactly a month ago, to an Oman where the temperature was on the rise. As we drove to the airport in Melbourne it was 14 degrees - when we left the airport in Muscat it was 45 degrees! And the temperatures have largely stayed up there since. Hot, hot, hot.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
So what have we done this month? Not a lot to be honest. The first couple of weeks were spent getting back into the groove, letting the cats know we hadn't really deserted them and catching up at work. So no not a lot of out and about. Until these past two weekends that is. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Two weekends at home without going anywhere was a bit much. So on the third weekend we loaded up the 4wd and headed off for a place called Bid Bid. We were told it had a fort and the papers said it would be open and a blog post or two said it was interesting - promising. Also only half an hour down the road. So after a quick Google Maps search the fort was located (not found said Google, but really rather obvious in the pictures!). And then will wonders never cease the GPS said "yeah I know where that is..D'uh you don't?"</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Our drive to Bid Bid was rather uneventful. The fort was duly found and not unexpectedly closed! So we hung around the outside taking pictures of the fort and surrounding date farms and then simply drove off into the Wadi for some 4wd action before going home with a local pottery water barrel for the kitchen. It is the beginning of date season here and the date palms were overburdened with fruit and really rather peaceful. The date grove was rather green and peaceful. Being towards the middle of the day it was also rather quiet and peaceful, all in all very pleasant.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
This weekend just gone we jumped a plane to Bahrain for the weekend, as an early birthday thing for Katrina. The original plan was to go to Dubai, but by the time I got to making the booking it was much cheaper to go to Bahrain and as we hadn't been there before it was a no brainer really. Similar flight times.... SO Thursday night we hit the airport (Hint - Muscat airport has next to no long term parking now, luckily work is under 10 minutes walk away.) and but a matter of a few hours later we were in Bahrain, forking over a nominal sum for a visa and then off to our hotel, courtesy of their complimentary pick up. We can highly recommend the Palace Boutique Hotel in Bahrain, 20 rooms, pool, food, bar, restaurant.... But by the time we hit the hotel it was all getting a bit late so we took ourselves off to bed reasonably quickly, after a short study of the tourist maps.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Friday dawned, what else but bright, sunny and hot. Well it is officially summer after all. Breakfast was followed by more map study and the dawning realisation that we should have arranged a hire car. No problems the nice hotel people soon sorted that out and we had a Yaris for the weekend at a reasonable rate. Tally ho! And I swear I could hear the GPS calling from Muscat saying "D'uh Forgotten something?" Yes it has Bahrain maps which would have saved us a fair bit of mucking around.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
As is pretty much our habit we started with the Bahrain museum. A nice reasonable sized and very informative museum. Manama, the capital of Bahrain, has history dating back thousands of years. And the proof is there in the museum. It's a good first stop because it tells the stories in a nice simple fashion, setting you up for the rest of Bahraini tourism which doesn't have much in the way of informative information. Katrina was especially taken by the early (2000 odd BC) trading seals. Interestingly the main floor of the museum has a map of Bahrain on it, which has lines running from points to various of the exhibits in the large entrance area. Really rather well done I thought. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
From the museum we took off for Sheikh Khalifa's house. It's a rather large house laid out in traditional Bahraini style. A key feature of the house is the wind tower - an early form of zircon, absolutely essential in the climate. The wind tower has four air channels which allow breezes top blow into the room below, no matter the wind direction. Rather large wooden flaps can be opened or closed to allow or shut off the flow. It was stinging hot when we were there, but the gentlest of breezes coming through the wind tower made the room significantly cooler than anywhere else in the </div>
<div>
House. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
But by then, after struggling with the back streets and the museum Katrina's knee said called time and we headed back to the Hotel and a couple of refreshing hours in the pool. Followed by a rather nice but rather expensive restaurant dinner and bed. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Saturday dawned bright, sunny and hot. Our first outing for Saturday was the National Craft Industries center. Open 7 days from 0700! Yippee, yeah, but no. We got there tho find closed doors and the only people there were the glass workers, must be a dedicated lot. They told us that yes the website says 7 days, but they're never open Fridays and Saturdays, not even the craft shop. So we looked at the glasswork - which we greatly enjoyed and then took off for the Qalat al Bahrain - Bahrain Fort. A massive pile of rock it is and that is mostly what it is. A UNESCO site under restoration and excavation since the sixties. The fort was impressive, but the museum on the beach below was even more so, especially as the temp was well above 40. The fort grew over a few millennia and was in use until the late 16c when it was abandoned and by the sixties very little was visible above the encroaching sand and soil. That's not the case now, as we walked the 300 meters from car to fort the true scale slowly became apparent. Wandering through the ruins and the excavated and intact parts of the fort was fascinating. Unfortunately the only signage throughout the castle were for the art installations, or a simple number for the audio tour - which you had to get from the museum on the beach below, but as we went straight there...............</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
It was hot and getting hotter so we retreated to the museum below and inhaled water. Then we hit the museum. We had already seem similar things the previous day, but there was enough interesting differences to keep us happy and interested. More seals for Katrina, some tombs and diorama's. I was most impressed with the scale model of the smelting furnace. There was stuff and other stuff mixed in with other stuff..</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
From there we headed for some shopping, after all we hadn't bought any souvenirs yet. On our way to the fort Katrina had noticed a large mall at the side of the highway boasting Bahraini made arts and crafts. We winded our way through some back streets to the mall and went in to the small stalls. In the end we came out with a drink coaster that has an image of one of those seals that Katrina so admired and a painted rock that kinda looks like a camel - so it's in our camel collection now. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
As we drove around Bahrain I had wondered about the police cars parked in reasonable permanently looking posts where the police always seemed to be looking away from the road as we went by. Well that's because they were. In the streets around the craft mall there was a lot of graffiti and we saw two makeshift barricades ready and waiting to be put back in place. As we drove out a little man on a motorbike drove up to one of the police points to deliver the pizza lunch! And that was Bahrain. We will go back.</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
And as of today it's Ramadan. The Holy month of Ramadan a month of celebration and fasting. So in the spirit of the times "Ramadan Kareem" to you all. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
I do have to say to our friend Bob - get well soon, falling off motorbikes is not good for you. Stop doing it!!<img width="1315" src="http://i.imgur.com/vwSrwx7.jpg"></div>
</div>
</div>
</textarea></div>
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Over the last week or so I have been reading about the Australian Government Commission of Audit and the upcoming budget, which by all accounts is reckoned to be a horror story in the making for the common man.<br />
<br />
What I have read about the commission of audit recommendations fills me with dismay, it is a narrowly focused set of findings based on the principle that Government has no place in service provision and market forces are best. In my view this is wrong on so many levels that I don't really know where to start.<br />
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Now correct me if I am wrong in any of this. A government is elected to serve the country and the people of the country. Not just one sector but all the countries peoples.<br />
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Governments - be they state or Federal exist to govern and provide essential services that pull a community together and give a common direction. Or at least a direction that the majority can agree to.<br />
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Australia is a Commonwealth, a federation of the states and territories. They banded together to build a stronger Australia as a Nation. The concept of a federation and a commonwealth is one of common purpose and mutual assistance. States and Territories are not competitive market driven entities, and should not be forced into such a role.<br />
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Have a think about the word Commonwealth. Yes sure it means an aggregation of entities into something larger. But the origins of the word are "the common good". That's right the common good, in other words to safeguard and improve the lot of everyone, the common wealth.<br />
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I am no economist, but I can see that pushing current federally provided services out to states to run competitively (on a business footing) does not make sense. Doing this will create winners and losers across the country for no other reason than where you live. Larger or more populous states will have the economies of scale to provide good services. Tasmania, Northern Territory, ACT and probably South Australia will be disadvantaged. And it's not as if you can walk around the corner to another "shop". You would have to move state. Sure people do that all the time, but not everyone can or wants to and for every "economic refugee" this creates the worse the lot of those remaining will be. Less people, less money, less services and thus a downward spiral.<br />
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I guess the thing that gets my goat is just how narrowly focused this commission of audit is and how one sided the proposed solutions are. An audit by a self interest group for a self interest group.<br />
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What we are seeing in Australia (and other countries) is the effect of an entrenched political class. People who view politics as a profession and an end in its own. The loyalty is to the party, not the people and the country as a whole. What matters are the deals and interest groups that provide the patronage. If you don't belong to the party or support the party then your interests don't really matter.<br />
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I don't doubt that many people enter politics out of a sense of public duty, but somewhere along the way the majority give the impression of having lost that focus.<br />
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Of course the two party preferential system doesn't really help things either. Successive legislation has entrenched the existing parties, making it difficult for other parties to gain traction. And of course when a threat to the existing order comes along the two parties close ranks to negate the "common enemy".<br />
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To jump around a bit. Over the past twenty plus years I have watched as a succession of economically driven policies have divested Australian Governments of a range of Government business enterprises and sold off public assets. I am sure there is sound economic theory behind this. But by doing so the Government's ability to affect the market place without legislation was lost, and the revenue base narrowed to simply taxation.<br />
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The same and similar economic theories have also narrowed Australia's range of economic activity. The loss of the car industry being a great example of that. Throwing up another set of disused factories in Australia's industrial wasteland. Victims of a sort of scorched earth approach.<br />
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I have to say that a community is not a corporation. Business is a part of it. But a community is and should be about people, their wants and needs and ensuring that we use and distribute our wealth equitably. By any objective measure that is not happening now.<br />
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Yes our captains of industry are doing well - for themselves. Just watch the business councils antics whenever general wage rises are proposed. Then watch their antics as they propose executive remuneration increases, that are completely out of kilter with the rest of society.<br />
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And what of the people in our society who are suited to manufacturing positions? Oh too bad they got left behind because they couldn't re-skill or weren't suited to another role. Australia used to have a well rounded economy, now? By my reckoning our economy is becoming increasingly hollow as manufacturing shuts down and service jobs are off-shored to wherever is cheapest.<br />
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Where to Australia? Is Australia may be a commonwealth, but where is the sense of Common Wealth?<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-18098798315566228422014-04-30T20:44:00.000-07:002014-04-30T20:44:27.457-07:00Yippee it's holidays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yay<br />
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In two days time Katrina and I will be flying out for home and just under a month back in Australia. Really really looking forward to time in Australia. We will spend the first week in Brisbane staying with no1 son (Rufus) - mind you I will spend much of that time at a conference, where I will be a tech talk facilitator and a workshop instructor. So my time with Rufus and Brisbane people will be a bit limited.<br />
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After that we head off to Canberra where we plan to arrive on the 11th. That will let us catch up with the Beej, our house and various friends. After that we head off to Victoria doing the round trip through Wonthaggi, Melbourne and Daylesford to finally fly out of Melbourne on the 28th. It will be a whirlwind three weeks but fun nonetheless.<br />
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So looking forward to Australia.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just how unreliable can one 4wd be?</td></tr>
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Since March we have been rather busy and so quiet in Oman. The 4wd has been off the road as much as on. A succession of sensors and diodes have died, usually at inopportune times. Last weekend we set off for a last quick spin up a wadi before leave. Within 2kms of the exit the crankshaft sensor died - so no spark, no go. Luckily I was able to coax the car to a tree where we sat out around four hours while our rescue was arranged - thanks to Herman and Jane and Robbie and Lucy. Mind you a two hour outing became a full day and so now we are behind on our packing and so on.......<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But as ever those views!!!</td></tr>
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Summer is fast approaching and as a precaution I had most of the rooftop plants moved down and under the shade trees. Pretty soon the roof will become too hot to be relaxing. Unfortunate that. But we have been lucky this winter with the temperatures staying down longer and more rain than usual. Far more rain than usual.......<br />
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The guys tell me that the last few years in Oman have been brilliant, with much more rain than they have seen before. And boy is rain celebrated here, unfortunately sometimes with tragic consequences. You see drains have not been a part of urban planning and when it rains people come out to watch the wadi's in full spate and people get caught crossing in their cars or playing too far out into the water.<br />
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So while an upside is more rain, the downside is the deaths.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">About to get it on</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the winner is - the Brown bull.</td></tr>
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On a cultural front the only thing of not we did was going to the traditional bull fights. Interesting it was. Clearly a community based activity with a concrete bull ring and a hundred plus bulls in attendance. Apparently on the day of the fights owners bring the bulls in and tether them around the ring. Then they go into the middle and arrange the matches between each other.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm a comin to get Ya! - but when he got there he declined the bout!</td></tr>
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So many bulls in one place - what a racket. The young ones are up and calling their challenges, while here and there an older bull sits and watches, as if knowing that saving their energy for the coming contest is the sensible idea - yawn. <br />
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So what is Omani bull fighting. Well the bulls are pretty much matched for size. When their turn comes they are led into the ring and face up to their opponent. They are brought together and locking horns the contest begins. The two bulls push and shove each other around until either one is driven backwards and beaten, or time is up and an end to the contest is called, at which point their handlers pull a rope attached to their front leg forcing the bulls to separate.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Run and hide, run, run</td></tr>
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And on occasion a bull breaks loose, or two bulls agree they've had enough and take off, scattering the spectators, as the handlers/owners desperately rush after them trying to bring them back under control. At one point two bulls took off together and made it all the way out into the car park. As soon as it was safe all spectators were back in the ring sitting down and waiting for the next match. But shush, please don't tell the occ' health and safety guys!<br />
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All in all the bulls seemed to enjoy their bouts and we saw no sign of any injuries. So while it was fun, interesting and a cultural thing, not sure that we will go again.<br />
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Cheers, bags mostly packed, an early night tonight and tomorrow night then off to the airport and Aus............<br />
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See ya<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-49229221348003413452014-03-07T02:40:00.004-08:002014-03-07T04:53:39.846-08:00Checking in from Oman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well it seems like only a few days have passed, but in reality it is now March. Where did the time go?<br />
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So what has been happening you may well ask. We took the opportunity, in showing guests around, to visit old favourites and new places as well. I have now lost count of the number of times Wadi Fanja has been conquered by the Chevy and we have now been clued in to some desert dunes around an hour from home, rather than the 2 and a half for the big desert. All good for showing people around and giving them a bit of most things Oman has to offer.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional boat building in Sur</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">Coffee at the Festival</td></tr>
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And of course the Muscat Festival was on through much of February so, just the thing for guests. Think I went four times this year? just to show guests around and give them an opportunity to sample a wider range of crafts and traditions of Oman. Michelle and Kazzia both went home with a wonderful BBQ basting paste and an Omani Marsala spice mix. Mind you the Marsala mix being presented in spice layers, rather than mixed may make it a little tempting to just put away and bring out to tease guests.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">"Xander" Meet beach!</td></tr>
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Until a couple of weeks ago we had a constant flow of guests. That's now come to an end for this season and we are not expecting any more house guests for some months. In all we had visits from Katrina's sister Liz, our son Robert (BJ), Robin and Jeremy (who I missed, being away with work), Michelle and finally Kazzia and 10month old Alexander, and not to forget a work visit from SP (at the WCO). So our spare room now goes back to its normal unoccupied state.<br />
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For me after the Christmas/New Year break to Jordan it has been back to the grindstone, leaving Katrina to play mine host. From all reports everyone had a fun time in Oman. At this time of year it is rather idyllic, mid winter with overnight lows in the high teens and days low twenties has been just fabulous. But we know summer is fast coming and the 40++ days that entails.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dancing at the Muscat Festival</td></tr>
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Highlights of the past few months include the traditional boat yard in Sur (250k's away) that was fun clambering around the boats under construction. If I was more of a woodworker or a seaman at all it would have been "outstanding"! (if anyone wants pictures........... just ask)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The coast from up high</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vultures soar above the Hajar Mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bahla Fort</td></tr>
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We crossed the Hajar mountains a couple of times, got reacquainted with Nakhal Fort and got to see Bahla Fort (well more castle in both cases). Nakhal is rather quite nice and the rooms are laid out with some furnishings. Bahla on the other hand could do with some decoration, it is huge, still not finished and it would be interesting to know what parts date to which era's, as it was clearly built and added to over centuries. It justifiably wears a World Heritage plaque, but unfortunately that seems to be almost the only descriptive plaque in the castle at large.<br />
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As we get out and about more and more we are regularly seeing abandoned and decaying strongholds, houses and in some cases villages. When we have the time, we stop and have a look around as these can be fascinating places. But it would be nice to see more evidence of these historical/legacy places being shown more care and attention before they degrade completely.That's not to say there aren't significant places under preservation already.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned Village</td></tr>
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One of the constant frustrations in Oman is the lack of decent tourist information. There is a lot to see and do here, but very little accessible information about just what is available and when it is open. There is also a lack of descriptive information once you are somewhere. One of the few exceptions to this is the Bait Al Zubhair Museum, which we take most of our guests to. There would be a good living here for someone that could come in and deal with this........<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sheesh a Smurf!</td></tr>
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Our efforts in starting Brooke P's money box collection around 18 months ago have borne fruit, in that she now has more than 60 of them, so if anyone wants to please feel free to add to her (in)voluntary collection. I am sure that Ms Brooke will be most "appreciative" of your efforts on her behalf. We have a few here waiting postage..... The reason for bringing this up is that Michelle's visit coincided with a Smurf infestation of our house. Coincidence - I THINK NOT! But we did detect Brooke's "subtle" hand in this. (Katrina loathes Smurf's with a passion). As Smurfs are found a pogrom is enacted and, well, incidents happen. Anyone who has seen my recent facebook posts will have been witness to how we deal with Smurfs! Although we have since had regular Smurf sightings while out and about, including a recent Sheesha smoking Smurf - what next intravenous drug use Smurf????<br />
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Anyway to finish off, last weekend we went to Doha, Qatar simply to see what's there. The answer is a kind of miniature Dubai, but on a human scale, with the "Dubai" quarter confined to a relatively small part of the city. And at least in Doha the landmark/signature sky scrapers all seem to be reasonably original in concept.<br />
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We flew in to Doha late Thursday night and back to Muscat on the Saturday evening. Would have been a great weekend away, but for a bug/virus that struck on Saturday. Sigh spent the entirety of Saturday asleep in bed or shuttling to and from the little room. Fun for no-one! It wasn't until quite close to flight time that we were sure I was well enough to travel home - thankfully only an hour and a half flight.<br />
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So what's in Doha - well apart from the ubiquitous malls, the Museum of Islamic art and Souq Waqif are the two things we got to see. The souq is fun and quite different to Muttrah Souq here. This one is largely recently built, but in "traditional style". In consequence there is room to move around it is well laid out and includes a restaurant strip, making it quite a vibrant place and experience.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian wool carpet 16c</td></tr>
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Quite a lot of thought has been put into this and it fits in well with the corniche area that includes the aforesaid museum, the (mostly tourism) Dhow harbour and public park areas. All in all a really nice use of the bay area.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PK0CwNA1nnk/UxmEp1NQqHI/AAAAAAAACvE/WXekNRLU3MA/s1600/Griffin+Penbox.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PK0CwNA1nnk/UxmEp1NQqHI/AAAAAAAACvE/WXekNRLU3MA/s1600/Griffin+Penbox.JPG" height="163" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">11c Spanish ivory pen box detail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mf1eZmddj1o/UxmGVpAQJhI/AAAAAAAACvQ/1ZufNdTVrvQ/s1600/IMG_2253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mf1eZmddj1o/UxmGVpAQJhI/AAAAAAAACvQ/1ZufNdTVrvQ/s1600/IMG_2253.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illuminated Quran 13c Baghdad</td></tr>
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The museum of Islamic Art was simply fabulous. We have to go back because we saw less than a quarter of the main collection. Sigh What we saw was simply wonderful. Well laid out in display cases and in many instances viewable through 360 degrees. Carpets, architectural pieces, homewares and the list goes on...... So of course a picture or two is in order.<br />
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And finally our garden is now in full bloom, wonderful stuff, I'm off to smell the flowers.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6EGD_FNMWaQ/UxmUrMntXiI/AAAAAAAACw0/qCVQPRNgOwk/s1600/IMG_2410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6EGD_FNMWaQ/UxmUrMntXiI/AAAAAAAACw0/qCVQPRNgOwk/s1600/IMG_2410.JPG" height="425" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flowering succulent</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-84264193560309389892013-12-27T06:31:00.002-08:002013-12-27T06:31:59.809-08:00So that was Jordan - Mosaics, Ruins and floating ON the Dead Sea<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The Tree of Life at Madaba</td></tr>
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Well late last night we flew back in from Jordan. We'd had a week there as a Christmas Break along with our son Robert (BJ) who we had flown over for the Festive season. He's still here and goes home to Australia in early January. then after that we have a constant flow of guests over the next three to four months. In the next couple of months our presence in Oman will have brought at least 20 people over for a visit.<br />
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What to say about Jordan? Fascinating. It really is a country of contrasts, desert in some parts, hills and snow elsewhere and bustling cities with historic sites in every direction. I joked to a Jordanian that the music of Jordan was the car horns, which are incessant as formal road rules seem to matter as much as road lanes, which while occasionally marked are universally ignored. A road has as may lanes as cars that can fit side by side across it. One of the things we did remark on was the smell, ever present and while not overwhelming it was a relief to get back to the clean air of Muscat.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The three travellers at the Citadel in Amman</td></tr>
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Mind you the Jordanians we dealt with were nice, just always smoking and it seems always on the look out for ways to make money from you. When I checked the hire car in yesterday the rental company guy said "Yes Jordan is a nice place to visit, but you don't want to live here".<br />
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Jordan has been hit hard in the wake of the Arab spring. Apparently Saddam Hussein was providing free petrol to Jordan, meaning now they have to pay market price, and coming from Oman that was a rude shock. There have also been a range of other impacts meaning the cost of living has gone up markedly. At the same time the ongoing Syrian civil war is discouraging tourism across the whole country. And in Australia we think a few boat people are a problem (many from countries where our foreign policy has not necessarily helped). Well in Jordan there are UNHCR refugee camps scattered across the country housing Syrians and I guess also camps for Palestinians. In our travels we lost count of the number of camps, generally smallish, but I bet we only saw a fraction of the total.<br />
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Enough of that. If you like mosaics then Jordan is the place for you - in spades! There are so many old buildings and ruins to be found and many of the Roman and later ones have mosaic floors. In places like Jarash, (a wonderful Roman site which is only partly excavated and not fully see-able in one day) you can walk in ancient churches, on uncovered and partially uncovered mosaics. They have two museums in the site, one general (which we got to) the other a mosaic museum (which we didn't). The outside walls of the general museum have a succession of mosaics on them, all the way around the outside. We loved Jaresh and to do it justice would need to go back for a second visit. All around us were signs of the drop in tourism, the big dining room inside the site was empty and where we lunched it was just us and a few of the local hopeful taxi drivers.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jaresh Roman column detail</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The temple of Zeus at Jarash</td></tr>
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So what is Jaresh? Well it was a Roman town and has a Hippodrome, multiple churches, Christian, Roman, Greek and so on. Villa's barracks, an amphitheatre and, and, and....... It is a work in progress which has been underway for decades and is probably not even half done.<br />
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From Jaresh we went to the Citadel in Amman - this had been occupied from Neolithic times up until after the second world war. So there is a temple to Hercules, Christian churches and mosques scattered around the hilltop in the centre of Amman (Jordan's capital). Oh and did I mention mosaics? It was an interesting place to visit and the views and contrast to Amman were fabulous.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e70ZLRBjiQY/Ur11Ds4EjLI/AAAAAAAACr0/uQZoFx4D2xA/s1600/IMG_1037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e70ZLRBjiQY/Ur11Ds4EjLI/AAAAAAAACr0/uQZoFx4D2xA/s320/IMG_1037.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How many years did you spend in the cells at Al Karak</td></tr>
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We also visited the Crusader castle of Al Karak, on our way from Amman to Petra. Al Karak is interesting, the Crusaders held it for a brief period after which it was taken by Sal a Din and since then has remained in Islamic hands. Mind you the site was originally a temple from around 850BC. The castle is an impressive sight and has the most spectacular of views, affording us our first (semi) glimpses of the dead sea and beyond that Israel. Unfortunately it remains largely un-restored and the only way to see it with more of an understanding of "Oh another empty room, I wonder what this was?" is to hire a local guide which we did and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0SWWsee_kE/Ur10f83GF0I/AAAAAAAACrs/o3rzSE8ubq0/s1600/IMG_1043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y0SWWsee_kE/Ur10f83GF0I/AAAAAAAACrs/o3rzSE8ubq0/s640/IMG_1043.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But that view.........................</td></tr>
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From there we went on to Petra and our two nights in a Desert Camp. Can highly recommend the Seven Wonders Desert Camp. Mind you being winter there it was cold and blowy, made all the colder by the fact that we had just missed a 1.5 metre dump of snow and there was still some snow on the surrounding hillsides, meaning the wind chill factor was pretty extreme.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--IsNd5bDkLU/Ur13iOxQIKI/AAAAAAAACsk/ORtQHvzRsn8/s1600/IMG_1344.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--IsNd5bDkLU/Ur13iOxQIKI/AAAAAAAACsk/ORtQHvzRsn8/s320/IMG_1344.JPG" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That movie shot!</td></tr>
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And then Petra. If you've seen Indianna Jones and the Last Crusade then you have seen the treasury at Petra. There is so much more than that to Petra. We went in the front gate and when confronted with the reality of a 3 km (or so walk) to the treasury sensibly hired horses and guides who took us up and across mountains, around the back where we could look down on the main sites of Petra, before walking down into the main areas. Petra was once a bustling trade hub and many of the buildings carved into the rocky canyon walls were related to that or impressive family tombs. There were few that could be entered and scatttered around the canyon walls were actual residences, once again carved into the rocky walls. The reason for all of this rocky building is that the rock is sandstone, in a bewildering array of colours, which the local artisans make use of by creating scenes in glass bottles, for us tourists to buy. Along with horses, donkeys and camels to ride. Oh and we finally saw the treasury on our way out, it made a fitting end piece to day one there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFEV18TCK7c/Ur11Qoonl-I/AAAAAAAACr8/OcJZeOvdsxw/s1600/IMG_1162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JFEV18TCK7c/Ur11Qoonl-I/AAAAAAAACr8/OcJZeOvdsxw/s200/IMG_1162.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking down into Petra</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8h0YrjhIj5I/Ur12zqEPYTI/AAAAAAAACsQ/Y8wJcLFj2YI/s1600/IMG_1306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8h0YrjhIj5I/Ur12zqEPYTI/AAAAAAAACsQ/Y8wJcLFj2YI/s320/IMG_1306.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Royal Tombs</td></tr>
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I don't really know what to say about Petra, it was stunning, but teeming with locals living off us tourists. I know the Jordanian Government tries to regulate things, but................ Petra is truly a place of wonder and well worth the visit. But be prepared to walk a long way - or PAY for the privilege of four legged transport.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taxi anyone?</td></tr>
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On the second day we trekked in through the back entrance to see the Monastery at the very top of the Petra site. Once again wonderful and I was pleasantly surprised by how well Katrina dealt with the "trail" and its, at times sheer drop off's. We had a great time and will probably go back - just look at the pictures as I can't really describe it all.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T_J6cbMHW6o/Ur14AQt1F6I/AAAAAAAACs0/0vlnuKgAGr4/s1600/IMG_1380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T_J6cbMHW6o/Ur14AQt1F6I/AAAAAAAACs0/0vlnuKgAGr4/s320/IMG_1380.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The back way into Petra</td></tr>
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From Petra we went and saw Little Petra, which put things into a much more human perspective. Same construct but not so grand and in a much, much smaller ravine. The locals there were much less interested in money and more than happy to explain things. A missing element from the main site.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First century roof murals in Little Petra</td></tr>
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From there we went to Aqaba, on the Red Sea, which is the only place on our trip that we would not bother to visit again. If we were keen snorkel/scuba types it would be first on the list, but other than that it has little to offer. Once again you can see signs of the downturn in tourism, with attractions closed and few people at the ones that are open. Aqaba borders Israel and across the Red Sea you can see Egypt.<br />
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Our Christmas Day drive paralleled the Israel borderline. For much of the drive we could see an Israeli highway mirroring the Jordanian one we were on and every few kilometers military observation posts on either side of the border. As we got closer to the Dead Sea the land became more and more fertile, with Desert giving way to farms - tomato, banana, olive, capsicum etc,<br />
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At Katrina's insistence we stopped at Lot's cave, where there was another church, with mosaics (as yet uncovered) and the cave - which we got to look into but not really enter. Lot's cave is on a hillside with a wonderful view out over the end of the Dead Sea and the flat lands stretching into the distance. There was no sign of Soddom or Gomorrah - but the hugest pile of salt I have ever seen. The original plan had been to get to the Dead Sea Resort by dark, but with 70 or so km to go we watched the sunset from Lot's plateau.<br />
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So Christmas Dinner 2013 for David, Katrina and BJ was at the Holiday In Dead Sea Resort, in a nice restaurant - 393 Below (that would be metres below Sea Level) with live lounge music and for once a no smoking zone!<br />
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And Boxing Day dawned with the obligatory dip in the Dead Sea. Interesting, you float on the water. If you swirl the water in the shallows you can see just how salt saturated it is. It looks rather like when you are cooking a syrup and the water is taking the sugar in - except in this case there is no heat involved. Rocks and the like on the shores are coated in salt. The water is so salty it stings the tongue and tastes incredibly bitter - not like salt at all!.<br />
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Swimming is interesting, floating on your back a good half of your body is out of the water. And as for swimming, well when doing the Australian Crawl you feel like you are skimming across the surface and it feels effortless to move at speed. Just one international swimming meet at the Dead Sea and there would be new records for all styles and distances - without the need for performance drugs. You are not so much dragging yourself through the water, rather propelling yourself across it.<br />
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Katrina and BJ tried an experiment. As BJ has almost no body fat, rocks were stacked on his chest and abdomen while he floated. Rock after rock was added to the piles, until there was room for no more, it made a most negligible difference to his flotation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swimming the Dead Sea</td></tr>
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And all too soon it was time to pack and go to the airport. Although there was one last surprise in store for us. The GPS gave two routes, I chose Madaba. At first we thought this was a mistake as the tourist signs in Madaba were not very good, but we eventually found the Information Center and after much mucking about with stationary traffic and one way streets I managed to park there - which the center people said was the only sensible thing to do. <br />
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There were old churches and the John the Baptist beheading chapel (next time) but most importantly a mosaic museum. And boy were we in luck, on entry there was no-one at the ticket booth, so after a few minutes we went on in and started taking pictures. After a little while I saw there was an attendant in the booth, so I went back and paid our dues. He turned out to be quite a nice guy and after talking to a colleague he whisked us off for a guided tour, which included him spraying water on mosaics so that for the first time on our trip we got to see the true colours of the mosaics. He also ushered us through to the best viewing vantage points and took us through a small chapel to see the tree of life! Wonderful stuff.<br />
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But then it was time to go as the airport and Oman beckonned....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Okr157XZZ3g/Ur1ylsq4d1I/AAAAAAAACrQ/RGjJP6rbZMk/s1600/IMG_1622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Okr157XZZ3g/Ur1ylsq4d1I/AAAAAAAACrQ/RGjJP6rbZMk/s320/IMG_1622.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Four Seasons in colour</td></tr>
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Where we stayed:<br />
Amman - Amman Pasha Hotel - its in the centre of old town Amman, almost directly opposite the Roman Amphitheatre. Rooms are ok and reflect the cheap price. Incredibly cheerful hotel and each night the staff sing and dance in the adjoining cafe - heaps of fun.<br />
Petra - Seven Wonders Bedouin Desert Camp, located in Little Petra - about 10 minutes drive from the entrance to Petra. Shame it was mid winter as guest numbers were well down, but a lot of fun and personal attention from the staff.<br />
Aqaba - Double Tree Hotel, by Hilton. Certainly up to international standards, just a pity that there was smoking allowed in all the public areas.<br />
Dead Sea - Holiday Inn Resort Dead Sea. Really rather pleasant. Once again shame about all the smoking, but we did find a non-smoking restaurant.<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-397527969112358492013-12-03T08:57:00.001-08:002013-12-03T08:57:24.687-08:00And there was a Flamingo<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Can't remember how long since I last posted, but it has been a while, months even. So what to tell?<br />
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Well visitor season has started with Katrina's sister, soon to be followed by our son Beej for Christmas/New Year and then a steady flow of guests until about April. So we will not be lacking Australian company for the next little while.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6uwa2My_NmE/Up3_2V7V4-I/AAAAAAAACo0/Ba55UAa7as4/s1600/DSCN2943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6uwa2My_NmE/Up3_2V7V4-I/AAAAAAAACo0/Ba55UAa7as4/s400/DSCN2943.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 ton rope meets an end</td></tr>
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As expected work has been busy so weekend outings and the like have been rather limited, with work happening one or both days of most weekends. in between we did manage to fit in a second visit to Jabal Akhdar (the Green Mountain) - thanks Liz your visit was timely.<br />
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That trip involved a quick dash up Wadi Fanja before a drive to the mountains, aimed at maximising Liz's exposure to the different scenery that Oman offers. On the way up Wadi Fanja we stopped at a water hole to dangle our feet in the water and have them nibbled by little fish. While we were there I heard various cars passing up and down the Wadi and then a range of odd noises followed by animated conversation. Being a nosy sort I poked my head out and took a look.<br />
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Three young Omani guys in a Jeep had landed themselves in water up to the window line. Not good I thought, so being civic minded I wandered over and had a bit of a look. No probs got a 5 ton tow rope we'll have you out in a jiffy! Ahhhh NO. 5 ton rope took up the slack then,...... my Chevy just kept on going, the Jeep never budged. Hmmm, that's really stuck!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JjlDKeKnRcM/Up4CWirAIzI/AAAAAAAACpI/ElYd7MfSnmg/s1600/IMG_0117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JjlDKeKnRcM/Up4CWirAIzI/AAAAAAAACpI/ElYd7MfSnmg/s320/IMG_0117.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Abandoned village</td></tr>
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Luckily for them a party going the other way (towing a Hyundai SUV) stopped and lent me their much more substantial tow rope. Multiple full tilt pulls later the Jeep came free, leaving us free to wend our way up to the mountains. Ruined villages, canyons and terraces beckoned and were duly explored. Then all too soon we were back in Muscat and Liz was on her way home to Australia.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TTuzP2UVfOM/Up4CDh6-N9I/AAAAAAAACpA/fybf5yBrqEM/s1600/IMG_0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TTuzP2UVfOM/Up4CDh6-N9I/AAAAAAAACpA/fybf5yBrqEM/s320/IMG_0147.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisters whooping it up</td></tr>
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Mind you our adventures took it out of the poor old Chevy and it took almost two weeks to get the parts and everything back in order. Just in time for a long (four day) weekend. So we spent three of those days in the car doing STUFF.<br />
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Our first day involved driving to the desert and into it through Bidiya for about three hours before setting up the camp site and relaxing for the night. There were four cars, seven people and four nationalities in our little group - Herman - Dutch, Bob and Ali - Brits, Robby and Lucy - South African and us.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desert in the morning</td></tr>
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We found a dune with a view and camped there. At which point I became our only bogging of the weekend, by driving in last swinging off the line of the others and involuntarily parking in soft sand - axles here we come. Some digging and towing later all was good.<br />
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Camp was set up and we settled in to a round of relaxing ales, sunset watching, cooking and admiring the sunset over the rather green desert. It had recently rained and there were little green bushes everywhere. Once the sun had set there was silence, dead silence and one of the best night skies I have ever seen. Bliss. And then someone discovered there was Internet access and of course Bob's phone rang!<br />
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But other than that the night in the desert was fabulous, low temperatures (high teens) so cold that long sleeves were indicated. And of course the obligatory camp fire and tall tales and true?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Over and down</td></tr>
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Day two dawned with coffee and bacon rolls. Ahh noice. After which we struck camp and set off to find our way across and out to the beaches for the second night.<br />
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This was my first time driving over dunes. Interesting, drive up to what you can't see over and go over it! Trust that the car before you got it right and just go, there is that feeling of oooh aaaah when all you can see is sky as the car noses over and down, then things come into view and you control the descent with gears and throttle to ensure the bump at the bottom is not too hard! This part was okay for the two older cars in the group, but the rather new Pajero ended up with damage to soft panels, front and back. And later in the day the new Land Rover shed a few plastic panels.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7m_E1ETcY7w/Up4E2qZIXjI/AAAAAAAACpw/0jY6puaXH-I/s1600/IMG_0389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7m_E1ETcY7w/Up4E2qZIXjI/AAAAAAAACpw/0jY6puaXH-I/s320/IMG_0389.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How to make a Land Rover more reliable?</td></tr>
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We were doing okay getting out of the Desert until by following the purple line on the off-road GPS we ended up in car breaking territory. By consensus we turned back. Thinking we were back where we came in we headed off down a track, but hang on where did that camel farm come from? The nice guys there gave us typical country directions, drive that way to the X, turn right, go about 40k's and..... So we did and after a total of around 170kms of sand driving we popped out onto a main road, maybe 2km's from a service station. Ahhh refuel and pump the tyres up from sand pressure of about 12psi to 30+psi.<br />
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By then of course we were hopelessly behind time and our beach camp site suddenly became a place called Filim a full 100 or so k's earlier than originally planned. Setting up camp in full dark has limited attraction.<br />
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Not sure what to make of Filim. Not that we ever worked out exactly where Filim was. So we found an uninhabited beach that had fisherman's shacks made from date palm fronds, co-opted one of them as our kitchen and set up camp around it. Nowhere near as quiet as the desert and much windier, but still a pleasant enough camp.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tAo8Kr6VT9M/Up4HHKGVrJI/AAAAAAAACqQ/2Qyxo1yVsqs/s1600/IMG_0436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tAo8Kr6VT9M/Up4HHKGVrJI/AAAAAAAACqQ/2Qyxo1yVsqs/s320/IMG_0436.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camp Filim</td></tr>
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In the morning I got up and went for a walk along the beach. It was quite dispiriting as I found lots of dead turtles. Some looked like they'd had run in's with boat propellers and others had clearly been cooked and eaten. But at least there were signs of recent hatching's as well. And then as I walked the beach I saw a wading bird that rather stood out - a bit unusual, yep a Flamingo.<br />
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And all too soon it was road time just under 500k's to Muscat and work the next day. It's a great drive down the coast as the terrain changes every half hour or so. Gibber plain, high dune desert, sandy plains, beaches, rocky escarpments in many colours. I could go on and on, but I won't.<br />
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The last thing of note that happened was when our little convoy was flagged down by some Chinese guys in a rental Nissan 4wd. Seems they'd discovered what happens when you ignore the "Caution Dunes Cross the Roads" sign and Police warning board placed before the tag end of the dune. In their words "There was a big bang and then the car would not stop bouncing". They ended up a good 100 plus metres off road, bogged to the axles and leaking radiator fluid. Lucky for them one of our party was a mechanic and able to diagnose the problem. A quick bypass of the heater later they were on the road again. Mind you given the number of zip locks holding the front together they were far from the first people to come to grief in that rental.<br />
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The rest of the drive home was uneventful, but it was a very tired David and Katrina heading off to work on Sunday.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zpHW-QbMPPo/Up4GEE30caI/AAAAAAAACp8/WU1vtH68Ms8/s1600/IMG_0433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="108" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zpHW-QbMPPo/Up4GEE30caI/AAAAAAAACp8/WU1vtH68Ms8/s320/IMG_0433.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And the Flamingo at dawn</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-37974297939699284422013-08-03T08:15:00.001-07:002013-08-03T08:15:57.452-07:00Roooned I tells ya, roooned....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
No I'm not talking about English Football, rather the ruins that scatter Oman.<br />
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One of the things about work is that around the halls and offices there are pictures of things and places in Oman. One of the pictures I paid heed to this week was of a ruined castle/fort/keep. Where's that I asked - Oh that's in Bowshar I was told! Bowshar, that's a suburb in Muscat, no problems an easy day out for sure.<br />
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So when I got home from work I said to Katrina, "Did you know there's a fort in Bowshar?"<br />
"No, but I got lost in Bowshar not long ago and found some really narrow streets with deserted traditional houses in them." She replied.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NtrEou4qgL8/Uf0TQavEgpI/AAAAAAAACkY/fOsW3imqk-c/s1600/IMG_9514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NtrEou4qgL8/Uf0TQavEgpI/AAAAAAAACkY/fOsW3imqk-c/s320/IMG_9514.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">If I put the keystone back, will that save the fort?<br /></td></tr>
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After a bit of online research - not much found - two pictures that reasonably matched the office picture I'd seen, but taken in 2004/5, so reasonably recent, but with useless directions because so much has changed. Looking good the fort looked in reasonable shape and the photographers talked about being able to go up stairs inside it. Promising!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Wc65U3ONHc/Uf0JIZ9xgZI/AAAAAAAACkI/cQNOhDf6SzQ/s1600/1947818.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Wc65U3ONHc/Uf0JIZ9xgZI/AAAAAAAACkI/cQNOhDf6SzQ/s320/1947818.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bowshar Fort Circa Nov 2005 - Photo courtesy of Panoramia and taken by Siddiq Balushi</td></tr>
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Google maps weren't much help, so today we set off to have a look see. If we couldn't find the castle/fort/keep then we could just get lost in Bowshar and see the old houses. There was a plan to go further afield too, but that went west after two hours of poking around Bowshar. And given that it's still Ramadan, so no eating or drinking outdoors - at all - being seen risks a fine or worse!<br />
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So down the highway, turn at the Muscat Grand Mall, on past the Bowshar dune and towards the hills. On into parts of Bowshar that I did not know existed. Pretty soon we started to see the green of date palm tree-tops - a sure sign of the Falaj (ancient water distribution system) at work. Where there's date farms clustered around an old Falaj there's sure to be a stronghold of some type nearby! After all the Ministry of Heritage consistently quote that there are more than 500 Castles or Forts in Oman! (This all dates back to the recent past of a tribal based society, where you may not be safe from reasonably near neighbors.)<br />
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Following our noses - well driving towards the biggest green cluster, we started to explore side streets. Not encouraging all new "Mc Mansions" lining the streets. Keep going - hang on what was that, back up and sure enough in the near distance the remnants of a tower top plain to see. After about five more minutes we discovered that had we ignored the side turn and driven straight for another 50 metres the Bowshar fort and its entrance road were immediately visible to the left. Sigh!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HqsfysP0rU4/Uf0UFm3FJ-I/AAAAAAAACkg/211sy0iTKAg/s1600/IMG_9477.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HqsfysP0rU4/Uf0UFm3FJ-I/AAAAAAAACkg/211sy0iTKAg/s320/IMG_9477.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Tower remnants<br /></td></tr>
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To say that the fort had deteriorated somewhat in less than ten years would be an understatement! We drove up to the fort and parked. The basic structure of the fort is still there, a square construct, around 30 meters a side, with round towers at diagonal corners. We poked around taking pictures and were rather stunned at how rapid the deterioration has been. Given how much has happened since 2005, it seems likely that it must have been in use through the seventies and possibly later.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AvAV16z7uE8/Uf0Ujb6HWNI/AAAAAAAACks/G3PtemYacKY/s1600/IMG_9539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AvAV16z7uE8/Uf0Ujb6HWNI/AAAAAAAACks/G3PtemYacKY/s320/IMG_9539.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Bowshar Fort in its "glory"<br /></td></tr>
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Omani fortifications (and traditional houses) are often/typically made of packed earth (mud - aggregate mix), with some stone mixed in and stony foundations. Means they're relatively easy to make and maintain, but when left to fend for themselves they rapidly deteriorate. Sadly it seems this one is not on the list of forts to be restored as left alone it will soon be no more than a pile of mud and stone, sitting atop a small hill.<br />
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Still we had fun poking around the ruins, but being good boys and girls nothing came away with us.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xKsci1fgPXE/Uf0VdRj1JYI/AAAAAAAACk8/q1xAIdU9CXc/s1600/IMG_9558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xKsci1fgPXE/Uf0VdRj1JYI/AAAAAAAACk8/q1xAIdU9CXc/s320/IMG_9558.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Bait Al-Maqham<br /></td></tr>
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After the fort we headed off deeper into "old" Bowshar and found Bait Al-Maqham (House of the Maqham's) after Bowshar Fort we had no great hopes, but were pleasantly surprised. These two forts are no more than 3 kilometers apart and what a contrast. Sadly Bait Al-Maqham was not open and from the lack of signage it would seem to remain in private hands. Everything looks to be well maintained and the date palms in the grounds appear well kept.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UTBu0_vD4Iw/Uf0WRr1sLKI/AAAAAAAAClI/zw2H1e8G6-o/s1600/IMG_9557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UTBu0_vD4Iw/Uf0WRr1sLKI/AAAAAAAAClI/zw2H1e8G6-o/s320/IMG_9557.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruins ahoy!</td></tr>
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From there we explored crumbling houses. Interestingly rooms appear to be much smaller than current buildings and the houses packed much closer together. Sharing walls in many cases, this is something we noted in Adam, Jebel Akhdar and other places with traditional homes. Once again the houses are the mud mix. Floorboards are made from split palm trunks laid side by wide, with palm fronds to provide the flooring. But sadly these houses too are in advanced states of disrepair and to enter many of the rooms would be to invite trouble.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3haOo2wCxFA/Uf0WX0ZB66I/AAAAAAAAClQ/R5GvsgV8oCA/s1600/IMG_9563.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3haOo2wCxFA/Uf0WX0ZB66I/AAAAAAAAClQ/R5GvsgV8oCA/s320/IMG_9563.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Partly fallen/intact flooring</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-IPqEbJQEY/Uf0XKEVkyZI/AAAAAAAAClg/qYUSZLmQDsg/s1600/IMG_9566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v-IPqEbJQEY/Uf0XKEVkyZI/AAAAAAAAClg/qYUSZLmQDsg/s320/IMG_9566.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Home shelving traditional style.</td></tr>
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So off we went, with a side-trip to the Bowshar dune, try as I might the sand was just too soft for me to get to the top. And I wasn't interested in letting the tyres down to sand pressures, so after traumatizing Katrina for a while I gave up and we headed off to refuel the bodies. Thank-you Radisson for keeping the bar and grill open. No sooner had we sat than I realized that television on the wall was playing the Brumbies, against some NZ team. Turned out to be the final - Ah well better luck next year Canberra.<br />
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After a few weeks of working every day it was nice to have time out!<br />
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This week is only three days and then Ramadan ends, followed by the Eid celebrations. So the office shuts down on Wednesday and the return to work is either Sunday or Tuesday, depending on when the astrological observation is made by the duly appointed observers...<br />
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So on Thursday we will be off to Masirah Island, where there's the prospect of camping, kayaking, ship wrecks, turtle hatching and goodness knows what else. So after considerable time of not much............ <br />
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Weird televised sport 2 for the day - drag racing, up sand dunes!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2BGH1_CuGIM/Uf0XXR1rTiI/AAAAAAAAClo/BySKPxBMVmk/s1600/IMG_9576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2BGH1_CuGIM/Uf0XXR1rTiI/AAAAAAAAClo/BySKPxBMVmk/s640/IMG_9576.JPG" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More ruins, showing how close things were built.</td></tr>
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1450072798064055243.post-91935410536599072862013-07-19T03:16:00.000-07:002013-07-20T08:13:22.121-07:00Ramadan again<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lunch will be served, when?</td></tr>
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Almost two weeks ago now the holy month of Ramadan started. This is a time of the year when Muslims fast from dawn to dark. Being summer here the long hours and heat are hard for people as the fast extends from around 0430 to roughly 7pm. I think next year will be a little better as the Islamic calendar uses lunar months meaning that the month called Ramadan moves forward by around ten days each year.<br />
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During the fasting period it is illegal to eat or drink in public. Throughout Ramadan the sale of Alcohol is banned across the country. As a result many of the licensed bars, clubs and restaurants shut down, giving their expatriate staff an opportunity to go home. licensed restaurants even stop serving any dishes cooked in alcohol.<br />
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It's a little bit strange seeing all the coffee shops, restaurants and eateries closed through the peak lunch period. Makes the food courts seem almost worth going into - nobody's there so it's nice and quiet! And Mc Donalds are getting the amount of custom their "alleged" food deserves.<br />
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In many ways it is the Muslim equivalent of Christmas - at least in terms of public acknowledgement and celebrations that go on around Ramadan. Radio stations change their programming, and air introspective programs talking about religion, society and core values. Each morning 90.4FM - "The Nation Station" starts with a reading from the Koran in Arabic, then English and a discussion on the meaning of the passage. This is repeated with verses coming up to prayer times throughout the day.<br />
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Supermarket chains advertise Ramadan specials, there are lucky shopper giveaways and everybody competes to offer "specials" through the month. Ramadan deals on cars etc, buy this get that free, two for one chickens in the supermarket..................<br />
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Because of the fasting office hours are reduced for the private and public sector and nobody really expects a lot to be done through Ramadan. Although that's not the case for me and the project at work. the morning drive to work is fabulous, but afternoons coming home are another story entirely.......<br />
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Ramadan is meant to be a time of introspection and also one of family and strengthening family ties. So in the lead up to dusk Omani's head off from wherever they are to join a family Ifthar (breaking of the fast meal) this may be at a home, or it could be at any number of restaurants that put on Ifthar banquets. The Grand Mosque in Muscat holds free Ifthar banquets after the dusk prayers. These are for the workers and the less fortunate.<br />
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Many restaurants have set up extra areas for Ifthar diners. One near here has a set up which is close to the largest marquee I have ever seen, it fills two thirds of their large parking area. (Out 8*5 metre tent would hardly bother a corner) Restaurants offer special Ifthar meals - banquets or fixed menu meals at reduced prices.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The temporary ifthar hall</td></tr>
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Once started the celebratory eating continues to the wee small hours and after a small sleep its time to get up for breakfast and prepare for the long day ahead. Because of this people are up and about at all hours. Shops close in the afternoon and open again by about 8, staying open until 1am or later. There are special activities in the evenings - the Muscat Motorsports club is running go-kart sessions at their track until 1. Movie sessions slip back, theaters open at 8 and sessions start as late as midnight.<br />
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Charity bins and giving places have sprung up in the malls as Ramadan is when Muslims are meant to honor their annual giving of excess wealth to those less fortunate. Of course the counter to this is you now see beggars on the street - something which the local Imams preach against. I have read articles decrying begging as against Islam. And to be honest throughout the rest of the year there are few beggars to be seen anywhere in Oman. If a Muslim is needy they should go to the mosque and seek aid there.<br />
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Throughout this month one of the most common questions I get asked is "Do you fast?" zyou should join us it is a wonderful experience, good for the body cleansing and the soul. My answer is always that I fast at work and in public and I never say that I would not fast. Maybe there will be a day or two in there somewhere.....<br />
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Anyhow<br />
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Ramadan Kareem<br />
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David Hhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11346987745460997369noreply@blogger.com0