Harsh and only lightly governed, it was nothing like Abu Dhabi, let alone London. In the city center, Victorian buildings left by the British had been neglected to the point of rot. Even the newer structures, exposed to the dusty wind, looked battered, as if decades of wear had been concentrated into a few years . . . Despite appearances, the city was a promising place to operate, with a location critical to maritime commerce and considerable margin for profit, as long as you had some connections and an eye for opportunity in the liminal spaces of its economy.
— Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy, p. 193
Kanlaon 