Muscat

Hello

We have spent a lovely week in Muscat with Rachel, Mark, Chris and Michael. Muscat is in the United Arab Emirates near Dubai.

In Muscat, people speak Arabic, but a lot are able to speak English as well. Arabic writing looks very different and it is read from right to left. (luckily most signs have English writing as well)

In Muscat we have seen many things

Bimmah sinkhole - where the boys had a play in the water and fish nibbled my toes.

Wadi Shab - where we walked across the river and saw a beautiful oasis.

Niswa - which has an old fort and souks (shops)

We also went out on a boat and did some fishing. Look at the fish that Cameron and Matthew caught.

Many of the people in Oman are Muslim. They wear clothes that cover their body and hair. They also pray in a special place called a mosque. We went to the Grand Mosque and had to wear clothes that cover our legs and females need to cover their hair as well. Rachel and I both had head scarves. It was very beautiful.

We left Oman and flew to Dubai and then Perth.

After spending the night in Perth we flew back to Geraldton.
What a long holiday. It's nice to be home.
We'll come and see you soon.

Bye

Morocco

Salaam/Bonjour

We are in Morocco, which is near the top of Africa. To get to Morocco we had to drive the car onto a ferry at the bottom of Spain and go across the ocean to Ceuta. We then had to show our passports at the border crossing and drove into Morocco.

In Morocco, people speak Arabic and also French. We only know a few Arabic words

Salaam - hello

Min fadlak - please

Shukran - thank you

Maas salaama - good bye

so we mainly speak French and English,  (mainly English, because my French still isn't very good)

Morocco is a very different country from what we are used to. Many Moroccan people are very traditional, and do things the same way they have for hundreds of years. Many people do not have a car, so they use donkeys, camels and carts to transport items.

Vehicles (trucks, cars and scooters) are also used, but carry lots of people and animals.

Morocco has a lot of mountains and deserts. It has very beautiful scenery.

The older houses are made from mud bricks, and it depends on the colour of the sand in the area what colour the houses are. (Some of the villages looked like sandcastles)

But it can be very hot. Many people wear head scarves to protect themselves from the heat.

One of the cities we visited was Fez. We saw people making dishes, plates and other items from clay, and then they painted them by hand.

In Fez they also make leather from animal skins, and use the leather to make bags,  shoes, belts and jackets. They make and colour the leather at the tannery. (It's very smelly and we had mint to put under our noses to hide the smell).

We also saw people making mats and carpets. Matthew had a go at helping a lady to make a rug. It was very tricky.

They have many big markets (called souks) where you can buy items that are handmade. They are huge.

On the way out of Morocco we saw the Rock of Gibraltor, and then caught the ferry back to Spain. We are going to leave Europe and catch the plane to Muscat in Oman for a few days, before we come home.