21 March Muscat:
I spoke at a luncheon for the bank staff here, hosted with wonderful eastern hospitality by Ravneet Chowdhury and his highly motivated team here.
I was especially touched by the deep commitment of the youngest members of the bank's fast growing sales team here, who all came to say hello to me afterwards- I could not have been made to feel more welcome!
That evening I contributed to a dinner at the Grand Hiat Hotel here in Muscat- a fabulous, imposing hotel right down by the Gulf. Shayne Nelson, CEO for this region of the world for the bank also spoke, and I enjoyed meeting many of their corporate customers from Oman, and was interviewed by several newspapers and publications about our flight to raise much needed funds for the Seeing is Believing project.An extremely enthusiastic auctioneer, dressed in a dazzling white suit I am told, who had flown in from Dubai especially to support the event led us in an amusing, fast-moving auctioning of paintings and sporting memorabilia for the charity, and I understand some $10,000 was raised from the evening.
Our huge thanks to all who contributed financially to support the goal of our flight- to restore sight to thousands of unnecessarily blind people in our world today!
Richar and I ended the evening relaxing down by the beach nearby, listening to the sound of the surf, drinking fresh mango juice drinks, surrounded by the wafting, spicy aroma of patrons quietly sucking on their "Hubbly-Bubbly" pipes, known as Shisha Pipes elsewhere. Tjhey consist of small quantities of fruit-flavoured tobacco placed in tin foil on burning charcoal, with the person sucking up the aromatic smoke through a chamber of smoke-cooling water into an ornate tapestry-covered pipe.
(TO VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM THIS LEG OF THE TRIP, CLICK HERE)