Oman: the chaps depart

I took Al to Mutrah fish souq, which I think has deeply inspired him. Here the fish, meat, fruit and vegetables are not sterilised and wrapped in polystyrene and plastic by equally plastic wrapped and sterile staff handling the food like chemists in a laboratory. If Al could have found a small cooker at the market, he would have knocked something up on the spot, Rick Stein style. Our job is done.

After a few hours of late morning flapping, we headed to the airport to deposit the chaps onto the Gulf Air flight back to Blighty. No tears were evident on this occasion, perhaps because they will be back soon at Christmas.

My wallet breathed a sigh of relief.