PARAPLEXED

I certainly didn't. But there they were, large as life, and marching purposefully along the Corniche, to the delight and bemusement of the crowds gathered to watch the power boat racing. They were good too, striking up in perfect synchronism and in tune (not easy on the Highland bagpipe) and backed by a very tight drum team. The power boats were quite impressive too, in their way, though I'm not sure why anyone would want to put themselves through the pain of piloting one. And for the cost of owning one, you could probably support a whole regiment of Highland bagpipers for a lifetime - surely a worthier cause!

So I'm sitting outside the cafe enjoying the Tbilisi sunshine (no, that's not me; I'm the one taking the photos!) and letting the World go by. I've finished my work here and have a few hours left to enjoy the ancient city before heading to the airport and back to Qatar. And it really is an ancient city, with the pride of culture that goes with it; that much I've learned in a few short days. This is no mere Soviet satellite. Speaking of which, the sun blind above my head looks like this: Or, from in front, like this: The cafe is called KGB. Black humour at its best, but it lends a chill to the Autumn sun.

yet there are limits. And the guy who parked this huge yellow sewage water tanker (5,700 gallons, good area, best vintage) with 'for sale' signs stuck to it was surely pushing his luck. OK, on closer inspection the tanker turns out to be brand new, fresh from the factory. And no doubt sewage water tankers are bought and sold like everything else. But surely not by casual roadside advertisement, like some clapped out Ford Cortina (MOT failure, £150). It's hard to imagine someone, say, walking to the mosque, prayer mat under his oxter, happening to spot the yellow monster with its sale signs and thinking: Hey, only this morning I was saying to my wife over breakfast, what we really need is a decent new sewage truck. It's not going to happen, is it? Thinking about it, some readers might be unfamiliar with sewage water trucks. They're not something you see too often in most cities. But Doha does a special line in isolated buildings, not connected to mains water or se