The stately pleasure domes....

In Shangri La!  That's the name of the resort we spent this last weekend at, well the Thursday afternoon til Friday lunchtime!  It was the birthday of British Rob the band instructor so a bunch of us expats headed off to Shangri La.

Ahhh Shangri La, you've done it again!

A great time was had by all, swanning around the sundeck, taking the lazy river ride from one lagoon (and pool) to another and its adjoining bar area.  Sigh the hardship, but someone had to do it!

David does the lazy river

But really I am getting ahead of myself. Since returning from Europe three weeks ago life has been busy. I had to prepare for and go through vendor negotiations. Such fun! and next week I get to front the powers that be and dicsuss the findings of the evaluation team, me and our contracted service provider.  All in all that means there will be more work in the offing.

So the long and the short of it is that the last few weeks have been a little more than busy. And Katrina has been given a 2 January submission date for the BIG T (Phd thesis). So no rest for her til January!

But in between work I bought a car! Somehow along the way I managed to discount a number of Jeeps, Citroens, Volkswagons and other cars from consideration. Settling in the end for the cheapest car I considered, a 2001 Chevrolet Blazer 4wd SUV.  It has the zr2 designation so sporty suspension, to go with the 2 doors.  It wasn't until a few days after buying it that I realised that as well as being a two door it is a four seater. That's right no middle seat in the back! And then today I discovered the cruise control, so swings and roundabouts.

But for its age it is remarkably clean and quiet with (for this region) a very good service record. But then being a Chevrolet and thus an American car, the fuel economy sucks and it doesn't handle. But with petrol 28c a litre..... On the other hand it is rather comfortable and a pukka 4wd.  Wadi bashing here we come - well after Katrina hands her thesis up!

The Chevvy

The weather here is finally starting to turn for the better. Some nights the temperature even drops below 30! and 40 during the day is becoming rarer.  Outdoor activity will become more and more possible in the coming weeks. People tell me the next five months will be fabulous with days in the mid twenties and nights around twenty with low humidity.  I could get used to that. Apparently it's called winter!

We are slowly building a social life here and the last few weekends have all included nights out involving a few different social circles.  Funnily enough the only Aussies we deal with on a regular basis are Dan and Nooshin (and now their baby Anoosha). Dan is a freelance Aussie, working on business development in the region, primarily with Australian companies.  For all of the first baby three months ago Dan is not hugely younger than us, although young enough to not remember/know Aunty Jack and the Naked Vicar Show! He does however have a complete DVD set of Kingswood Country.

Apart from our two rescued Omani cats  - Button and Bluey - mum cat out the back has gone and sprogged again. Four kittens this time two white with grey tabby patches and two white with ginger splotches, a bit like their big brother Bluey.  Thankfully a second vet has opened in Muscat (a good 20+ kilometers closer to home) and as soon as we can catch mum it's off to the vet for some tube tying.  The kittens will follow shortly after and hopefully they will stay and chase the rest of the local cats off, meaning no more breeding in our backyard!  Kittens tug Katrina's soft side - Yeah I know who'd a thunk a Ranga had a soft side!

Mine, all mine!

And then all of a sudden we are almost up to date.  Wednesday night was spent at the Police club, at one of their candlelight evenings.  I thought it was just going to be a special spread in the club restaurant, but no it was a buffet dinner in the sports field. As I'd booked a table for four we took Dan and Nooshin with us and were the only non Omani's there - well apart from some of the wait staff.  The stadium lights were set to "romance level" and tables were spread across the in-field, with 4 or 5 buffets around the perimeter.

When they called "grubs up" we all rushed and queued for the food - only to have the Maitre'D' come and tell Katrina and Nooshin that actually ladies should be queuing on the other side of the field!  So off they went. Field sides seemed to stop mattering after a little while as we all bogged in and people went searching for that dish they missed.

They also laid on live music, rather pleasant Arabic (but slightly Westernised) music and bouncy castles for the kids - of which there seemed to be a never ending supply! One of the bouncy castles was the aft end of a ship set at about 30 degrees to the ground - so everytime I looked downfield I kept imagining Leonardo Di-Caprio heading for a deserved ending! (and when did I not have my camera?)

Which now brings us to Shangri La!  A rather pleasant resort with three hotels, the Omani Heritage centre, numerous restuarants and late night Belly dancing in an area adjoining one of the many bars. Following on from pool lounging, floating around the lazy river and our first ever camel rides, a rather nice way to spend the balance of the weekend - the pictures can talk for themselves.

Camel riders extra-ordinaire

And then all too soon checkout and back to reality. The next little while will be rather busy for us both, but will hopefully have settled a bit before we welcome our first two sets of Australian visitors on the 3rd of November and then my parents for the second half of November.

Let's see what Hunts tours Oman can conjure up...............

Home again home again.....

Yes we are home again, back in Muscat. We arrived a few days ago, getting in a couple of hours late because the pilot stalled the engine at a red light in Abu Dhabi.  And well by the time they got it restarted and checked out again landing time had slipped from 9 to 11. Making what would have been a reasonable off the plane and home to bed a rather late off to home, chill a bit and then off to bed.

It is kinda nice being home and somehow the mosque calls ringing out over the neighbourhood are a pleasant reminder that we are in fact home.

So what happened on the rest of our trip, welllllllllllllllllllllllll

Dijon, was so picturesque and we had a great time wandering up and down the banner infested street looking at all the fabulous buildings and so on.  unfortunately the museum at one end of the Ducal palace was closed for renovations. Sigh!  It must have had some good stuff in there as my experience is that if a museum is under renovation or closed when I come to town that's cos it's got the best stuff in it!  Grump.

So off we wandered down the street and bumped straight (well almost straight) into a pair of cathedrals. One of them has been disused for a couple of centuries or so and so, following some pretty severe desecration in the French Revolution.  None the less in we wandered to find a functioning art space set up around the slowly being renovated interior.  Huge industrial strength wooden beams have been set up to stop the arches falling in.  Sadly off in one corner lies the rather large remnants of a baptismal font.

Cathedral repairs under-way

From there we wandered across the street to the functioning, gargoyle clad cathedral.  Lots of late 17th century stuff in here........  Wandered around took some pictures and then Katrina got all excited, it seems that under the Cathedral is an 11th century crypt, which we could go see. How often does an Australian get to look in a crypt? let alone one this old with a genuine saints coffin included!  So down the stairs we duly clomped and around the rather atmospheric crypt we peered. All very interesting and given what is left of the original colours it must have been spectacular in its heyday.

Katrina of the Catacombs

And then all to soon the TGV train to Switzerland beckoned and we were away again, leaving the city of mustard behind.

Ahh Switzerland the home of bankers, international diplomacy, fabulous scenery and the second best chocolate in the world!

We trained it into Geneva, via Lausanne and with the help of a taxi found our way to Kiriel's landing where we gladly stopped and dragging out the tablet watched QI until Kiriel made her way home from work. This was to be home for the next week, Kiriel's pull out couch bed!

Mont Blanc takes a peek, just to be sure Geneva survived us.

There is really too much to tell about Switzerland and surrounds, well the French claim part of the shore of Lake Geneva and in these French areas the red and white Swiss flag is flown at least as proudly as the tricolour. Where did we go well Annecy is pretty spectacular, set in the Alps and as is almost every other town in the region, on a lake shore. Montreaux (on a lake shore) boasts the utterly spectacular Chateau Chillon which we spent half a day at after the GPS had us drive Kiriel's little Toyota all the way around lake Geneva.

Just one of the fireplaces, rather modestly decorated..

And then we were off to Basel for the real reason of the trip the wedding of Christoph (and Monika), who had lived in Canberra some time ago when studying at the ANU and had rented house space from..... Kiriel.  Interesting wedding, a civil ceremony in a hall above a sled and coach museum followed by a reception at a 12th century castle which overlooked the whole valley that Basel nestles into.  Mmm Mmmm Mmmmmm.

Berg Reichenstein, 12c Castle and 21st C reception venue par excellence.

As a side note apparently marriages in Switzerland are not legal unless they have had a civil ceremony, whether a church wedding is involved or not is apparently immaterial. And as another interesting side point all churches are referred to as cults! So Cafe Cult is a perfectly nice coffee shop in the grounds of a church.

But I digress, after the wedding we hotfooted it back to Geneva via a rather spectacular stronghold and medieval city, a Roman Ampitheatre and accompanying city bits and one of the most spectacular sunsets we had ever seen.  Quiet days beckoned, kind of.

Avenches amphitheater - which as you can see from the temporary seating is still used.

Monday was a relax and down time day and Tuesday we explored Geneva by bicycle. Katrina swears she is never going cycling with me ever again!  A ride around the city parts of the lake took us down to the confluence of the Rhone river (Lake Geneva outlet) and the L'Arve river which comes out of France. The Rhone is crystal clear and the L'Arve a kind of milky white. Not seen anything like that before, have a look on Google maps and you will see the difference. Unfortunately the cycle path got rather undulating on that leg and by the time we decided this is no place for bicycles, it was damned if you do and damned if you don't so we continued.  Just when Katrina thought there could be no more up, there was! I may not have helped things by reminding her that "well we were in the Alps after all!"  Even a cold beer and coffee waiting at the pub atop the climb was not enough.

The Rhone and the L'Arve meet

And that night we farewelled Kiriel as the airport beckoned at a totally unreasonable hour of the morning.....

Dijon it is

Almost a week ago we jumped on a flight out of Muscat and ended up in Amsterdam, where we had a day and a half to catch up with a colleague and have a look around the city. Well worth the time it was, quite enjoyable, although the hotel I had booked was further out of town than we would have preferred.

Amsterdam by dusk.

It was a nice little place with a tram stop almost outfront! And thankfully that line went straight to the Reiks Museum. Our first order of business was to wander around and get a feel for the place and then in the evening we went on a canal boat tour. Started in daylight and ended the tour in full dark. A great way to see the city, neither of us had realised just how much of a canal city Amsterdam is. Not as ubiquitous as Venice but still covering the whole city centre and just as important to the development and prosperity of the city.

The houses here are narrow (to do with land taxes), have wide windows and are no more than around 4 stories, as that is all the sandy soil base will support - even now with modern building tecniques. If the foundations are exposed to air the wooden beams start to rot and the building develops a lean!

From Amsterdam we trained across to Brussels. Nice to be back, as I have always liked Brussels. In between dropping through the WCO we shopped and ate. Luckily our visit co-incided with their flower festival and the Grand Place was under a carpet of flowers. And then all too soon it was farewell again to the familiar faces and places of Brussels, for tomorrow was Namur.

The Grand Place looking more speccy than usual

Namur is a little town in between Brussels and our next stop - Luxembourg. Why Namur, well it has a wonderful collection of 13th century gold and silverwork by a guy called Hugo d'Oignes and his workshop. When last I visited the collection was in the care of the nuns at a convent. Now it is in the local museum. Fabulous work, well worth the visit and this time I bought the catalog, something I always regretted after my first visit.

Namur at dawn

Since the works were created they had been on display and in use at the local Cathedral and despite numerous wars, battles and invasions the works were kept safe from the predations of Napoleon, Hitler and their ilk. That had a lot to do with the nuns and support of locals that valued what is truly wonderful workmanship and now forms a unique collection.

Katrina was also blown away by the small collection of woven and embroidered purses, dating from the 14th century.

Namur sits at the confluence of two rivers and boasts a wonderful collection of windy cobbled streets with typical Belgian houses and atmospere. For anyone who appreciates fine metal work this place is a must see - unfortunately no pictures as the museum said "non".

And then Luxembourg - by train again. Another picture postcard city. We spent an evening and a morning exploring, sticking to the heights of the old town. Luxembourg was/is a natural fortification, strengthened by centuries of digging in the sheer cliff sides. Until now there are the casement defences developed over centuries, you can see how Luxembourg became a tough nut, best left alone and bypassed! Red Squirrels!

From there Nancy beckoned. Place Stanislas is a must see - and another world heritage site. Man if it stood still it was gilded! A picture tells a thousand words -

It is stands still GILD IT!

And their museum is not alf bad either. Built on one side of Stanislas it boasts a small but nice collection of XIV to XVII paintings , the bones of the original citadel and a glass collection that is more than a bit over the top!

And now we are in Dijon, the home of mustard, Pinot Noir, the Dukes of Bourgonnia and the Owl's Trail. Which we started following today and will do more tomorrow before heading off for Geneva and a stay with Kiriel.  

Welcome to Dijon

Mid July and things are moving

I guess calling the 26th Mid July is strictly speaking not all that accurate.

But things are moving on at work and home now only needs furniture in the spare bed room!  I have a study desk, we finally found a lounge suite - although that cost more than we really wanted to pay, but after months of looking when we found on we were both comfortable with the decision was made. And we have a day bed in Katrina's study, which folds out into a queen size bed. 

Things at work are starting to heat up - in the sense that the project I came over for should really start to hit top gear in the next couple of months.  Yay!

The walls of Sohar Fort - under re-construction as you can see.

In the mean time I have been looking at organisational arrangements and making recommendations for improvement. Hopefully some of these will be picked up and I will be able to start feeling that I am making a real difference. 

The week before last I spent up country in and around Sohar looking at operational locations, with an eye to process and looking for possible improvements. Sohar is north of Muscat in the direction of Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.  

Unfortunately on the week away I didn't really get to look at much of the scenery. The days tended to be rather long with 7am starts and on one occasion a 1am finish - that was a long day. Having said that we did get a break in the afternoon that day and avoided the worst of the heat. How outside workers do it I don't know. 

We did get to have a short walk around Sohar town. This is a seaside town, not really developed at all for tourism and well on the way to becoming the industrial heart of Oman.  

According to some Sohar is one of the places that Sinbad the Sailor is reputed to have originated from. Could be the basis for some pretty good tourist attractions I would have thought. 

Exercising the Bull

Sohar also practices Omani bull fighting and has a bull ring somewhere in the town. Now don't get carried away, it's not like Spanish/Mexican bull fighting at all. Essentially two bulls are led up to each other, they lock horns and then spend about two minutes pushing each other around the ring. On a pre arranged signal the handlers grab a rope tied around the left fore foot and pull the bulls apart, ending the pushing contest.  Could be worth having a look as it would seem that little to no damage is done to the bulls. Apparently the guy "walking" his bull in the sea would have been training it for the ring.  

About a week ago the holy month of Ramadan commenced. For Muslims it is a period of fasting, prayer and giving. Fasting commences each morning at dawn (which is around 0430 here) and ends around 7pm. Fasting is complete - no water, no tobacco and definitely no food. Although there are exceptions made for the sick, elderly, young, pregnant and sports-people. Even so the Islamic Olympians will have to make up their fast when they return home after the games. 

It is illegal to eat or drink in public, including in your car and you can be fined for doing so. Most of the food outlets are closed throughout the day, opening in mid to late afternoon so that people can buy food to take home and break the fast (istfar). Some have been given dispensation to remain open to service non muslims, but these are places where people eating and drinking cannot be seen from outside. 

I have been asked at work a few times if I am fasting and the answer to that is yes during the work hours.  Although I could close my office door and eat or drink, and I am told that would be accepted, I do not think that would be fair on the people around me. And it is no great hardship in any case.  You see as they have no formal meal break in the office I have often worked through with nothing more than a drink of water and a cup of tea, and during Ramadan office hours are shortened. Work starts at 0830 (instead of 0730) and ends at 1 (instead of 2).  Although I always start earlier and end later than most, an extra hour or half hour at each end, partly because that lets me avoid traffic and not having had a desk at home, until this week............

It is pretty quiet, people wise, at work at the moment. Many people take leave through Ramadan and some have gone on pilgrimage to Mecca. This isn't the Hajj, which falls in September this year and is a holy obligation that Muslims must (if they are able) make at least once in their lifetime.

Once the office closes everyone goes home and the place pretty much shuts down as people take their rest through the heat of the afternoon. And then come dark everybody is out and about. Friends and families coming together to break the fast and continuing until well into the late late hours. Followed by bed and a really early start for that breakfast.

In about three weeks Ramadan ends and the Islamic World then moves into a celebration called Eid Al Fitr. A time of feasting and hospitality. The public sector closes down for Eid. But Katrina and I will be off to Europe for two weeks then, to go to a wedding in Switzerland and catch up with some people.

For Zanzibar food

Pretty much everyday since we moved into our house one or both of us have driven past the African food and coffee shop, for Zanzibar food. But why Zanzibar I hear you ask? Well for some centuries Oman was a maritime trading empire that included Zanzibar. For a time there were two Sultans one in Oman and the other in Africa. That all ended with an episode of fratricide and the Sultanate was re-united. There are many Omani's who can trace their ancestry and cultural heritage back to Africa. There are I understand people who live in parts of Africa that are or consider themselves to be Omani. Our suburb Al Hail North has strong ties in that direction.

Having seen how busy Zanzibar food is in the evenings we finally decided to go last night.  And boy are we glad we did, really nice and well cooked food that fed us to a standstill and cost, well not a lot! Even though the waiter talked us into some of the more expensive menu items.

Oh yum shrimp in coconut sauce a whole grilled and spicy herb encrusted fish, salad, muttabel dip, flat bread fresh from the making and a fabulous fruit cocktail. All for less than $20 Au.  We wobbled away from the table and had to go for a long beach walk afterwards.  Ahhh Mr Zanzibar food we will be back!!!!

Our Zanzibar food.

And drink

Of course we didn't help ourselves having dined at the club the night before.  I ordered an English mixed grill. No problem they said only to come back a while later and say, it's been so long since anyone ordered this that we don' have any lamb cutlets and veal kidney, do you mind if we replace the lamb with more beef and the kidney with chicken liver.  Hmm no problem said I (not really a lamb or kidney fan) so a bit of a win. Mind you I wilted when the plate arrived with more meat than a David can eat in a sitting.  But needs must.... Although the chips were left untouched.

My English mixed grill! Backed up by Katrina's Steak.

But that's enough of my most common sin - Gluttony!

All in all this last week has been pretty good.  I got lots of positive reinforcement and feel much better about life the universe and everything! So yay me, and tomorrow I head off for a week long tour of a number of the work places up towards the UAE.  Should be fun and just in time, because Ramadan is scheduled to start just after I get back. Methinks outdoor in the sun without the ability to drink may be a bit hard on this soft Westerner.

There's a certain buzz building about Ramadan.  A number of the guys have told me they look forward to it and feel better after the month of daytime fasting.  The radio has ads about Ramadan and the charities to help the needy that are a part of Ramadan.  Most of the food and drink places close during the day through Ramadan and I understand that includes malls in their entirety.  Although they will open for the evening and late into the night.

Eating and drinking in public is forbidden and transgressors can be fined.  Your motor vehicle is included as a public place.  So that is essentially anywhere where you may be seen breaking the fast between dawn and dusk.  Some food outlets are given permits to open during daylight hours through Ramadan, to service non-Muslims, but those permissions are few and far between and subject to licensing controls.

This will be an interesting experience for me, never having fasted. Not eating and drinking at work or anywhere in public through daylight hours, yet another new experience.

In the past week the weather has improved, its fallen down into the mid to low thirties and one night the high twenties.  A lovely relief which we and most of the locals grabbed with both hands. Off to the beach for walks up and down the sea shore for us. Dodging the joggers and fishing boats coming and going along the shoreline.  We walked at and in the waters edge, which also kept us clear of the numerous soccer games in progress.  The pitches had scraped out boundaries and in some cases looked to share goal mouths, so many and closely packed the games were.

Mid thirties, beach - ahhh that would mean humidity - you betcha! I tried to take some pictures of the thronging beach, but after about five minutes this was still the view through the camera lens..

Honest there is a beach, people and soccer games in there!

One of the things I find quite bizarre here is the dust haze.  It is omnipresent and means that most evenings you can look directly at the sun.  The blue sky is somewhat muted, but it also means that I don't need sunglasses very often and while you tan, sunburn is pretty hard to achieve.  So swings and roundabouts.

The sun at dusk

And this weekend we went to another museum, this time the Museum of Natural History. A very nice little museum that tells the natural history and development stages of Oman. There are a series of display rooms and display cases focusing on the geology and animal life of the country.  In a separate hall there is a sperm whale skeleton along with some dolphin and other aquatic animal bits and pieces.  We enjoyed the museum, but were bemused by the lack of people there.

In one corner there was a couple of sheets of paper showing attendance figures at the museum since its opening. I was very disappointed to see that each year since opening attendance figures have dropped.  While it is nice to have a museum almost to yourself, it is such a shame as Oman has so much to tell of its history.

A false killer whale - actually a dolphin species

It's July already?

Wow time has flown!

Almost 4 months down now and we continue to settle in.  The last few weeks have  been fairly quiet as the weather has really hit its stride now and most days top 40! Although the last few have been a cool change - around 35 or so.

It's funny the things you miss from home - the greens and the ability to roam around outside without really having to worry about the heat.  I am at a total loss to understand how the frantic building and outdoor work continues in this constant heat.  I really miss the ability to cycle to and from work - apart from the heat there's no such thing as a bike path and while I'm willing to drive on the roads I can't say the same for a bike.

That relaxed Australian attitude to life would be nice. Not that people here aren't relaxed, it's just a different type of relaxed.  I still don't feel right walking around in shorts for example, although Katrina now goes most places without a head scarf.

Traditional Islamic helmet - check the decorative work!

Work has been reasonably intense, so quiet weekends at home have been a good thing. Couple intense work with my innate ability to question myself and my worth and David has had a self inflicted interesting time.  Hopefully that's all behind me now!

One of the little joys is being able to wander around in sandals rather than shoes. Shoes are just too hot, apart from at work and even then sometimes its touch n go. But sandals, of yeah rather comfy!

Traditional Omani shield (Buckler) made of HEAVY, HEAVY leather.

We had Katrina's birthday last week and that was fun, a dinner party followed by a late lie in the following morning.  In Katrina's case it was a well deserved birthday lie in. In my case, well in my defence the morning after a dinner party - I ask you? And I did give Katrina the keys to a perfume shop to select a perfume as her birthday present.  She chose well, rose and musk oil, made her happy, so me happy and the shop keeper was well satisfied with the purchase too.

And then last weekend I took off to the Sultan's Armed Forces Museum. It's located in a functional army base and the museum itself is housed in a rather old fort, which was used by the Sultan at the beginning of his reign. Naturally enough the museum focusses on the history of the Sultanate with much of it given over to the last 40 odd years.

Walking into the outdoor display area with my serving military guide.

Quite the weapons collection, gun nuts would love display. Not least because many of the larger weapons are left out and can be touched and photographed from all angles.  Outside there are static displays of retired aircraft, patrol boats and a field command centre and hospital.  On arrival you are met by a serving officer and guided through the outside displays.  My guide was called Bader and through a misunderstanding introduced me to a Dutchman whose guide had decided the Dutchman was Australian too. Turned out said Dutchman will shortly be touring through Australia.

One for the gun nuts!

Last Wednesday night we went to the club for dinned and ran into a recently arrived English bandmaster who has been employed to work with the Police bands.  Goody we thought let's find out when and where the camel pipers are going to play next. Not so, apparently they only do a few gigs a year and there is no formal schedule as such and their primary concert is National day for which the location is a closely guarded secret until the last minute.... Sigh! We will find in concert one day........................

And now Katrina has kidnapped the sole remaining kitten from the litter our local feral had just after we got Button the Kitten.  So now we have a not so little girl cat and a little boy (visit to the vet soon).

Camels, goats, farms, forts and Socceroos

Wow  what a weekend we had a week ago now.  Thankfully it was announced a couple of days ago that this weekend is a long one - four days, yay we can relax!

Last Wednesday night we went to our Arabic lessons and then set out for the wilds of the interior - in this case a village called Adam, around 230 kilometers from Muscat.  So after stopping for dinner, a map and well a GPS (hey going out of town gave gadget guy an opportunity) a couple of very tired people arrived an Adam, to be met by Sultan (who you may remember as the guy that shepherded us through our first days here).

Adam is his home town and on the weekends he lives in a house across the road from his parents and sister (one of many siblings) with his wife, son and youngest brother.  The house is quite large and we were escorted upstairs to the guest room where we quickly unpacked and after saying the obligatory greetings collapsed into bed and sleep.

Sultan's house has two front doors one for men and the other for women.  The men's door opens directly into a rather large Majlis - that's entertainment room to you.  The walls are fully lined with sofa's and they have one of the biggest flat screen tv's on offer.  The women's room is off to the side of the entrance and is a bit smaller (a fraction of the size) and has a smaller tv and lacks the gigantic sofa.

Over the weekend I met the male half of Sultan's family and Katrina met some of the male side and the women.

Katrina inspecting the waters

Anyway on Thursday the three of us set out for a tour of Adam. It is a farming village, village being a misnomer really, but there are date farms everywhere. A large part of the reason for this is the long established Fallaj - or aqueduct system.  The system is fed from acquifers and has been in use in one form or another for around 4000 years I am told.

On our journey through Adam we stopped at the clock that controls the Fallaj.  Well sundial really, the day is broken up into half hour blocks and each farm is allocated a watering time, which lasts for 2 hours. As the sun approaches the correct mark a little man jumps on his bicycle and pedals off to start the water flowing. He knows when to leave because the men stand around discussing just where to put the palm strand so that he can get to the farm at the same time as the sundial says go.

Fallaj control system

Funnily enough the men standing around the sundial were related to Sultan.  So after a bit of a chat we all went back to their place for Omani coffee, fresh season dates and fruit.  Then after that it was lunch and funnily enough yet more fresh dates.  It's the beginning of the season and the dates are rather nice.

Harvesting dates, about 20metres up

Sultan's family owns 4 farms and I got to go to two of them.  Katrina unfortunately gave up the ghost with a continuation of a bug that laid her low the week before.

One of the sights of Adam is the walled village that the current Sultan of Oman's grandfather was born in.  It is an impressive sight rising out of the surrounding date palms. Unfortunately it is showing severe signs of wear, but is under repair by the Heritage department and will I presume be open to the public when finished. It will be well worth the visit then, but as it was under renovation and the signs said no entry..........

I also went to the mosque that built itself - but you can read about that in a separate post.

And then we collected Katrina and headed out to the largest of the family farms. At which time Katrina saw her first wild camels.  I had seen another couple walking down the street earlier in the day when Katrina was collapsing.

Makes roos seem like less of a road hazard

The farm was interesting it had a bit of everything - more dates, goats, sheep, cattle, bees....  Katrina really likes Omani honey.  But boy is honey expensive in this part of the world.

Katrina and farm friends

Anyway after that we had the obligatory night view of Adam from a nearby hillside.  And then dinner and a grateful collapse into bed.

Only to get up at 6 so we could be on the road to Nizwa by 7 for the goat and cattle market.  That was great, bustling, noisy, colourful and well busy.  The grins on peoples faces as they left with their purchases was just great.  From the goat market we headed off into the souk, where Katrina bought a traditional woven basket, the obligatory camel (our collection is building now!) and some local Halwa.

Nizwa goat market

And then somehow or another we ended up at the entrance to Nizwa Fort, which was the centre of government a couple of centuries ago.  Don't know why they insist on calling them forts, somehow castle seems more appropriate.  So we went on in and spent some time roaming around checking out the exhibits. Cannon to the left of us, cannon to the right,  lots of stairs to climb and things to see.

Katrina was not happy going up and down the stairs to the central keep, because they'd removed the wooden coverings over the numerous pitfalls and replaced them with perspex covers and underfloor lighting. I was none too concerned and thought the soundtracks with splintering noises loud crashing and so on was just great.

Nizwa from atop the fort

And then it was time to leave the fort and head for home.  I had work to do and still the Socceroos match to go.  And yes Brooke we did wear the hats and scarfs.  We waved the little flags and I tied the big flag to the side of the big stadium stand.  I was told by one of the locals that the flag got some air time on the telecast!

Sadly the Socceroos couldn't get the business done, but then fortunately neither could the Omani's. A nil all score was the result and probably fair.  At kick off it was around 41 degrees and by games end still in the high thirties.  Not so bad for us in the stands, but playing international soccer?

 And just because you didn't ask the GPS has maps for the entire Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Egypt and Morocco.