Wednesday 8 November 2006

Oman: last day for M&S

On the last morning of M&S’s trip we took them to the nearby Grand Mosque. The cool temperatures inside the main prayer room gave welcome relief to the high heat reflected by the stunning white marble outside. The magnificent central dome encased an enormous chandelier, casting its soft light over the carpet, reputed to be the largest in the world. While everyone stared in awe, Simon was busy formulating a hypothesis as to why the carpet was fitting badly around the pillars due to traffic on the outer blue circuit.

The souq beckoned for some last-minute trinket shopping. However, prices seemed to be ridiculously inflated so we came away empty handed, except for a pot of amber and a silver box. Solace was taken at the Marina in the form of fruit cocktails and chicken ciabatta sandwiches with extraordinarily fine chips.

After packing, we took M&S to the airport where we woke the gentlemen guarding the x-ray machine, rattled around an empty departure terminal, addressed a minor seating discrepancy and wished them bon voyage for the next leg of their holiday in Bangkok.

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