{"id":8310,"date":"2017-01-25T11:03:03","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T16:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=8310"},"modified":"2017-01-25T11:03:03","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T16:03:03","slug":"man-oman-youre-expensive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=8310","title":{"rendered":"Man, Oman. You’re expensive!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reda wanted to get something before our tour today and I figured we’d just stop by the cafe in the lobby. Unfortunately they weren’t open so we wound up at the breakfast buffet… way more than I needed and WAY pricier at 10 rials<\/em> apiece (about US$26 per person!!).<\/p>\n

Then I realized I messed up booking the 2017 Honolulu Marathon. There’s a one day early bird special and with the time zones I missed it. I wound up paying almost twice as much as I would’ve a few hours ago. I’m just feeling stupid.<\/p>\n

On top of that, our tour guide never showed at 8 am. The contact numbers we had on my booking voucher were all disconnected. I tried email, FB messengering, anything at all. Reda found a number through google that got us to one of the drivers for Golden Oryx Tours who gave us an office number to try. Apparently the tour guide just never showed up so they are dispatching somebody else to take us into the desert.<\/p>\n

Maybe I’ve been on the road too long. Or maybe I’m coming down with something – jet lag plus weird temperature swings plus general wear and tear have resulted in a sore throat and aches and pains. Looking forward to the desert but it’s been a rough start today.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

A few facts and figures about Oman the nation and Muscat the city as we drove away from it:<\/p>\n