Earlier in the day I enjoyed a visit to Al Bustan Palace Hotel 

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I arrived in Muscat in 1986 just after the initial opening of Al Bustan Palace and then lived for many years in the village next to the hotel - though I have moved a few kilometers away its always been like dear friend and neighbour .

The hotel, scheduled to re-open later in 2008, has undergone a full refit. The bedrooms  are especially splendid the golds and creams with darker wood details make them warm and inviting making any stay a pleasure. The famous lobby has undergone a redesign and the grounds now have a more structured feel with a range of pools.

Contact us to book your stay at  Al Bustan Palace Hotel in Oman

With temperatures where I am in Muscat sizzling at up to 49c I thought I would try to see if eggs eally do fry on hot, black tarmac; well ..... its hot but still not hot enough to fry an egg !

    (but I suspect a slow Omelette or Scrambled eggswould work) http://blog.omanholiday.co.uk/blog/Photos/_archives/2008/5/18/3697233.html

A bay, not far from my home, is where I enjoy swimming - several time a week for 22 years - but for the first time in that bay I came across a live Olive Ridley Turtle http://www.omanholiday.co.uk/omannature.htm . Unfortunately not one of the ones we sponsor http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?tag_id=82843 . Covered in algae and with a few barnacles the turtle in the bay was no youngster . At first I thought it was dead as it laid motionless on the surface, but eventually it dived so I guess the warm bathlike temperature of the water was as enervating for it as it was for me.