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284 days ago
My new blog is ranked No. 1 in WORLD TOP BLOGS , as voted for by bloggers from all over the world. It has also been named as ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BLOGS IN THE WORLD by the Mexican news site, El Universal. To visit it click : >Here! <
289 days ago
Sorry, I have removed this entry as it is going to appear as an article in Dark Roasted Blend
299 days ago
My Uncle Sid is dying. He's my favourite uncle, doesn't deserve to die, but he is: the prostate cancer has spread. It's his birthday this month: inevitably his last. He's not into computers and he's not online. So, I wanted to send him a final birthday card. I went to a lot of trouble choosing the right card in a greetings card store in Muscat, the capital of Oman, because getting the right card with the right words was important. I went to my local post office, here in Salalah, to post the card at 3.10pm, but it had closed for the day. There were no opening times anywhere to be seen so when it was open was anybody's guess. Opening hours in Oman vary considerably from one place to another and nobody seems too sure when any of them are. So, you just have to keep turning up at the door and hope that one day you'll find the place open. It's a hit and miss affair. So, the next day, I went back to the post office at 1.50pm. It was closed. I wasn't going to give up. I tried again ...
305 days ago
Salalah is famous for its tombs of famous religious figures. There is for example, next to Lulu supermarket, the tomb of the father of the Virgin Mary, although there is the possibility that it might not be. But, nils deperandum, as it is said that, if he wasn't the father of the Virgin Mary, then he must have been the father of Moses (or somebody good anyway). I guess you could say this tomb has killed two birds with one stone. The sarcophagus is 33 m long, so there is plenty of room for conjecture. One there is little doubt about (well, there is a little, as he has another tomb in Lebanon) is Job's tomb. This is the mausoleum of Job of the Old Testament, known as the Prophet Ayub in the Koran. He is probably best known for the misquote "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away." Both the Bible and the Koran say that he was an enormously rich man whose wealth was taken from him, and who was afflicted with a terrible skin disease, but he never despaired, remained loyal ...
309 days ago
There is a beautiful African Paradise Flycatcher that sits on a branch outside my window, deserted beaches where I swim with dolphins, there are storks and eagles in the mountains, banana, papaya and coconut plantations by the roadsides, camels wandering along the roads, a sultan's palace and a frankincense souq. It is said that the Queen of Sheba once had a palace here too. Where am I? You might think I must be living in La La Land, but this place is for real and I'm living in Salalah. Not many people outside the Arabian Peninsula seem to know about Salalah, except for a few Swedish tourists who fly down here for the winter sun, the occasional group of birdwatchers, and the migrant workers from Kerala and the Philippines who work in the shops, hotels and restaurants. So, where, you might ask, is this place? Well, it stands on the north-western shore of the Indian Ocean, a two-hour drive from the Yemeni border and a twelve hour drive, through the Dhofar mountains and ...
