Two Days at Sea

We left the port in Muscat, Oman on Thursday evening at 6, and headed across the Arabian Sea toward Mumbai.  Yesterday was a busy day for us!  I walked on deck before breakfast.  We went to a university professor’s talk on the UAE at 10, then we lifted weights.  We had Italian for lunch, and then at 2 went to a professor’s talk on Oman.  Next we biked, then went to tea at 4.  We read a bit before an Arabian dinner at 7.  We played banana grams before calling it a day!

After visiting and talking with people that live in both the UAE and Oman, then hearing the professor’s talks, seeing statistics, etc., Oman is a country we are interested in returning.  Their big question mark is who will replace the Sultan when he dies.  He has no heirs, but there are 85 cousins/relatives.  Sultan Qaboos has been in power since 1970 and the country loves him.  He has brought them out of the Middle Ages, with just 10 km of paved roads in 1970 to multi lane freeways today, 2 hospitals to 59, 2 schools to 1230 and 95+% literacy rate today.  All this with oil, and today tourism and service industries (banking, etc.), but little flash and much stability.  The beaches and Wahiba Sands are beautiful.  

We have another day at sea before arriving in Mumbai.  We’re planning more exercise, doing laundry, and some reading.  We’re going to the professor’s talk on India this afternoon.  So far so good!  We’re having a wonderful time!