Oman: and finally again....

Duncan spent his last day in Muscat packing leisurely with the assistance of Koofi. We decided to end his trip with a blow-out at Muscat's finest Indian restaurant, the Mumtaz Mahal and arrived at 7.00pm as the place was opening. Waiters scurried frantically as the room began to fill with eager customers from all over the British Isles. We stained our table cloth and shirts with chunks of King Fish, curried prawns, vegetable kebabs and chicken apparently cooked in a Northwest frontier way, plus an assortment of bread and rice (with pieces of tinned peaches?). We did England proud.

After the usual formalities at the airport we said our farewells to Duncan for whom the last four weeks has whizzed by too quickly. He now has the responsibility of selling the country to his parents so that they too can have the chance to experience a fascinating part of the world. In a few weeks he will embark on a life as an impoverished student at the Royal Holloway College in Egham. We wish him luck.