Our fuel appointment was scheduled for noon, so we decided to go out for breakfast. The closest restaurant is the Oasis Club, which turned out to not open until noon. The next closest restaurant is Taj Al Meena, about 5 kilometers away, and it was open. There is an open seating area in the middle, and along one of walls there was a head high partition with a series of small doorways covered with a curtain. We were quickly whisked into one of the little partitioned rooms. This one had tables and chairs. We have found out that in “family” restaurants, the open area seating is for men and the rooms are for women/couples/families. Women who choose to cover their faces do so in order that men, other than family members, cannot see what they look like. Obviously, you have to take your mask off to eat. The private eating areas allow the women to eat mask free without fear of a man seeing her face. It is perfectly acceptable for a woman who does not cover her face to sit in the open seating areas at most, but not all, restaurants.

It turned out to be a burger place, so we got burgers, fries, smoothies, and a large bottle of water. The total bill was USD$6.00. Food in restaurants in Oman have been surprisingly inexpensive and the portion size remarkably large for the low cost. Food is very good value for the dollar, that is for sure.

Three boats were getting fuel today, and we were the second in line. After lunch, we went over to the boat that was first in line, Greetings, and hung out with them until the fuel truck arrived at 1300. We are thrilled to report that the Greetings crew pointed out a functional ladder on the sea wall. We hadn’t noticed it because it is behind a ship tied to the sea wall, but there is just enough space between the ship and the wall to squeeze the dinghy in and climb up. Then you pull your dinghy down the wall a way so it is not bumping up against the ship. What a relief. Climbing the tires was getting old.

The small tanker pulled up to the edge of the quay, and when it was our turn, we pulled up alongside the truck and tied up to the sea wall. The hose was nice and long, and the pump was fast. We needed 2700 liters, and the fuel ran dry at about 1700. Sigh. The truck must not have been full when it pulled up. Muhommed felt bad, so he brought us lunch, which was really nice. Here is a picture of Muhommed in his robe and cap. We found out that this is considered formal attire, the Omani version of a business suit.

We were told they were going to get more fuel and they would be back in an hour. The third boat in line came and tied up alongside us and we chatted during the wait time. Both boats had gone to the northern Maldives instead of Male. Both left the Maldives after the new fee was in place. Not only did neither of them have to pay the new fee, they didn’t have to pay ANY fees. That made us even more mad about the $1,000 in fees we had to pay in Male. Those fees are definitely going into some crooked politician’s pocket that doesn’t have jurisdiction in the northern provinces. Not only was their stay free, the locals were very friendly and took them sightseeing. Both boats had a great time in the Maldives, exactly the kind of experience we had been hoping for.

The fuel truck was back in an hour and a half, and we quickly finished fueling up. We were re-anchored by 1630. Fuel was .775 per liter. Not as low as we were hoping for given the part of the world we are in, but still the cheapest fuel we have gotten yet.

We decided to go to the Hilton for dinner. It was a buffet, so we tried some new foods. Mutable looks like hummus, but the texture and the taste are a little different. We think it is eggplant, since it is very similar to an eggplant dish that we often ordered at our beloved Alladin Restaurant in San Diego. There was a lentil salad that was surprisingly tasty.

There was a chicken shwarma salad, and we decided that schwarma tastes better on it’s own that covered over with mayo and other salad toppings. There was a cauliflower dish that was delicious, and we are not cauliflower fans at all. Tabouleh was also there, which is finely chopped greens in Olive Oil. It has a lot of parsley in it and is quite good. There was another dish of chopped, cooked vegetables that we think had a lot of zucchini in it. It was kind of mushy in texture and had a light seasoning that was quite good.

For dessert, we tried several dishes. The first photo is called Umm Ali. It is a hot dish, almost like a light bread pudding drenched in milk. It is not very sweet and it is loaded with almonds. We liked it. It contrasted sharply to the Ach El Sharaya, which is a very dense, thick, sticky, and sweet bread pudding.

We don’t know what the dessert in the next picture is called, but they taste like frosted sugar cookies and have the texture of fudge. You can figure out the frosting flavors by the colors.

We also tried something called lukomades, which is deep fried dough, kind of along the lines of donut holes but with a lighter batter. The Hilton turned out to be the exception to the “food is inexpensive in Oman” comment we made above. It was actually surprisingly expensive. [90]