Lucky, or Day 117 in Doha, Dubai, and Muscat

Late last night, I called Karwa, the primary taxi service in Doha, and asked for a cab at 6:30am this morning for my 8:30am flight. They said they couldn't take reservations until 9. I took this as "Call us in the morning, and we'll send someone over." It was actually, "We are fully booked." So, this morning, I rang them up and was on hold for 15 minutes (all that phone credit!). I finally pretended I was Arabic and pressed 1, and got a response... that said they were fully booked.

I was a bit panicked at this point (it was 6:30), so I found another taxi company's number, called them up, and they said they would have one there before 7. I sat outside, and waited, and, miraculous, a Karwa taxi came by 15 minutes later, having just dropped someone else off. Someone was watching out for me, and I got to the desk just minutes before the "one hour cut-off" (which is hardly ever a strict cut-off around here).

I had a few hours to kill once I got to Dubai, so I told my taxi driver to take me to the Creekside Park. He overshot it, so I ended up on the other side of the creek, but had a little adventure in the "Children's Park." Well, when I wasn't sitting in the shade recovering from the heat.

I got to the bus stand, met up with an English "bloke" and an Australian "mate", and set off to find a bite to eat with them. It is a good thing too, because I didn't reset my watch forward one hour, and would've missed the bus!

It was about a 7-hour bus ride, all said and done. We had three different border crossings (an exit, a bag check, and an entry) then dropped people off at random places until we got to Al Ruwi, one of the towns that makes up Muscat. On the way... there were mountains! Hills of the rough and rugged type, and higher than anything I've seen lately.

I didn't want to go get food by myself, so I went to the (much cheaper) hotel they were staying at to check it out (and will probably stay there tomorrow).

We also walked a bit along the corniche and had dinner. Well, food, and not very much of it. The Omani rial is 10:1 with the Qatari riyal, so everything that is 1 rial is 10 riyals is $2.70. You wouldn't think a 1-note would be worth so much!

But tonight, I'm in posh accommodations with A/C and an internet place across the street. After a sweaty day like today, I'll enjoy it.