Christmas in Muscat

Hello Again

Well, a slight change of plan for us. We were originally going to be back in Muscat for only about eight days before heading on down the coast of Oman for the exit port of Salalah. Now we will be in Muscat for both Christmas and the New Year. We have been making contact with different rally groups with regards transiting the Gulf of Aden, to find they really don’t start moving in that area till early February, so, at this stage we have put our names down with one of these groups. Therefore we have postpone moving out of Muscat till early in the New Year to start the trip south. It is a 1,000nm run to Salalah, and we want to stop off and visit towns villages and bays along the way. Also

everyone tells us the fishing will be great the further south we get. Really looking forward to that.

Dubai Back To Muscat

Hello Again

Here we are back in Fujairah – on the East Coast of The United Arab Emirates. It is their 39th National Day and we will now have four days of ‘party time’!!!! They – the locals - start about 3.00pm driving up and down the Corniche with their cars all decorated up in flags, and some have bits of cloth the colours of their flag draped all over the cars, transfers of the different leaders stuck all over their cars along with stars and even more flags, then, tooting horns, backfiring their cars like a machine gun going off, screeching tyres and making as much noise as possible is the norm. There are bodies hanging out the windows, the favourite is to sit on the roof of the car with their legs in the windows, or sit with their legs in the sun roof, carrying a can of spray foam which you aim in the window of the car you are passing, preferable at the driver. If that misses then you jump from your moving car and run up and spray it in the window then clamber back onto your car. This is all happening on a four lane road. Very much like being at the circus!! The road is crammed with cars so they are not moving at too fast a pace. This will carry on till about 3.00am!!! and yes, the Marina is right on the Corniche!! I can now see why boats were pulling out for the long weekend as we arrived in here. Oh and to top all of this off, National Day co-insides with the Muslim New Year so there is a big fireworks display included in all this huge chaotic festivity.