Salalah, Oman

Salalah is located at the bottom of the Arabian Peninsula, next to Yemen. They swear that in the summer, this place greens up. Supposedly it gets heavy summer rains creating lovely waterfalls. They say it is cooler than most places in the desert as it is somewhat protected from the hot desert winds by the “beautiful “Mountain Range. Their beaches are an attraction for those in the surrounding desert countries. Maybe, all I can tell you is how it looked today. I would describe it as hot, arid, barren, desolate, and bleak – and the beach as deserted. They did have a few banana, papaya and coconut groves which I would not have expected. This was once was a part of Sheba and they did have a Queen – you know, as in “Who does she think she is, the Queen of Sheba”. Mom used that expression but I never thought about it being a real place. We are now firmly in Muslim country. They said Oman is 100% Islamic. That tells me there is no religious freedom at all. This country is much stricter - even in dress, than the places we have been to before. Or as Jim says, we are hanging out with the “burka babes” now. Salalah mainly consists of two story white washed adobe houses – none of the skyscrapers or the big city feel of many of our other ports. Although they do have a Hilton and Crown Plaza surprisingly enough. There are no taxes here, school and medical care are free and gas is 60 cents a gallon. At age 23 each man is given 600 sq. meters of land by the government. What is more amazing is the camels – they are everywhere! There are 200,000 of them in Oman. We saw herds of them. We saw them walking in the road where the bus had to stop to let them cross. They were in the plains, roads, mountains and desert. Apparently they all wander back home at night for food and water but during the day they just roam loose. I took about 25 pictures until I figured out they were going to continue to be all over the place. They are used for transportation and they also drink the camel milk and eat camel meat. They say the milk is low fat and the meat is very lean. We signed up to see Job’s tomb and the Frankincense trees. We started the day with a drive to the Wadi valley, very desert-like, to see a Frankincense tree. From ancient times Salalah has been prosperous due to its frankincense trade. The resin from the Boswellia/Frankincense tree is used to produce the aromatic incense. It can also be used as a spice apparently. In ancient times it was in high demand as they burned incense to cover the smell of the sacrificed animals. Incense is still used in many religious services. Oman had almost cornered the market as it is one of the few places in the world where Frankincense Trees will grow. (Other than Yemen and Somalia – and who can deal with them?) I did get some sap from the tree and bought some Frankincense – which should be a good “show and tell” for Hannah next Christmas. When the demand for Frankincense declined they developed a Frankincense perfume “Amouge”. It came in 24 carat bottles and was the most expensive perfume in the world at that time. I took a whiff, not the fragrance for me –somewhere between Frankincense and camel. The tree itself looks like a desert tree – not lush and green more scraggly limbs and leaves – but I guess it is the resin that counts. You could see the Qara Mountains from there – I guess it was blocking the hot desert winds. There sure wasn’t a breeze stirring. Then it was off to the beach. I must admit that was prettier than I was expecting given the rock and desert around us. As hot as it was, no one was on any beach. The guide said it was because of the terrible undertow, but later I saw a sign stating that it was forbidden to go on that section of the beach. It had a white sandy beach framed by steep cliffs and pocketed with caves. Then we drove across Jubriah plains to Job’s tomb. Given the overall area, it was a nice burial spot. It did have flowers and trees which we didn’t see much of anywhere else. It is considered a very sacred place in Oman. I was surprised to learn that the Muslims consider Job, a Muslim prophet; his grave is a place for Muslim pilgrimages. For that reason I was required to don one of those lovely wrap around head scarves that I look so swell sporting. Interesting that Job is considered a Jewish and Muslin prophet and he is also found in the Christian Bible. We saw the Sultan’s palace, big - and then shopped at the Al Husn Souk. That was fun and different – I actually bought a couple of things. They had lots of frankincense, perfumed oils, clothes, knives and unusual crafts. One of the best smelling markets we have been to on this trip. In Oman, you really get the feel of the Arabian Desert. As we crossed the desert going back to the ship, I almost expected to see Omar Sharif come riding over on the dunes astride a camel.