‘I feel the same way,’ said Sarah. ‘But I don’t know if it would be wise to go out there on our own. The guide was adamant we should hire an escort.’

‘That’s only because he wants to make more money out of us,’ said Jane, snatching up her handbag to riffle through it for a comb and lipstick.

Sarah realised her sister was determined to go out, so went to find sturdier shoes and a lightweight shawl. ‘It’s probably best if we leave all our valuables and passports in the safe behind reception,’ she said. ‘Just take enough money for a bit of shopping, and a scarf or something to cover our heads.’

‘A headscarf in this heat?’ gasped Jane.

‘If there is ill-feeling out there, then we must be careful and show respect for their different culture by covering up a bit.’

Jane gave an exasperated sigh, snatched up a scarf and headed out of the room.

Sarah followed her and they went down into the lobby to have their valuables stowed away. Slipping the key to the security box into her handbag, Sarah draped the thin shawl over her head and shoulders and stepped outside onto the veranda.

It was raining again, so she took one of the umbrellas from the nearby stand and unfurled it before going down the steps and heading for the gate. She paused for Jane to catch up. ‘Which way, do you think?’

Jane fumbled with the street map the hotel had provided and quickly made up her mind. ‘That way,’ she said. ‘There’s a market, an old palace and a couple of temples I’d like to visit. The guidebook said they’d be well worth it.’

They set off down the unpaved street, swerving to avoid the puddles in the deep potholes and watchful stray dogs, and trying not to notice the human waste floating in the stinking roadside ditch. Within seconds they were bombarded by a pack of demanding street urchins who pulled and tugged at their clothes and tried to snatch at their handbags.

The further they walked the more they were harassed as men in long, filthy thawbs pressed their wares on them, throwing scarves over their shoulders or thrusting carved ornaments against them, all the while jabbering and gesticulating in their faces.

Jane and Sarah knew better than to make eye contact, and tried to ignore them, tossing away the unwanted wares and clutching their handbags to their chests as they hurried along, desperate to escape.

Sarah saw a doorway into a shop and pulled Jane in after her. But there was to be no respite, for the owner loomed out at them from the dark interior and began to badger them with his sales talk.

They both sensed an underlying danger as they noticed the sly, dark glares from the knot of men at the back of the shop, and as they stood there not knowing what to do they were roughly jostled by two of them. A couple of scrawny dogs started to bark and snarl, and the men who’d jostled them were now barring the doorway.