The forecast was ominous. The Times of Oman takes an unusually pictorial route to weather forecasting, a man in traditional Omani dress of a long white dishdasher (a great name for a collarless white floor length gown) cowers under a scornful looking sun. Should this not convey the heat sufficiently the editors added a large 40 degree centigrade sign in capital letters to underline the point. 

So it would appear summer in the Arabian peninsular is rather hot- certainly confirmed by the fact it was 33 degrees when I left the aeroplane at ten in the evening. I am very much looking forward to picking up the portable air conditioning box (aka hire car) in an hours time. In the meantime I'm waiting in the airport rather exotically between a costa coffee and a WH Smith. There seems to be an overhang between this and my last adventure as I'm about to eat Dosa from an establishment called idli.com. Quality of dosa bodes well for the next week.

Edd (the lover of temples and loser of Nivea) has been replaced by Leila (lover of turtles) for this adventure. Being too important to risk travelling on the same flight from London we staggered our arrival, but she'll be here any minute!