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Published: March 23rd 2008
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Salalah, Oman
Sultanate Oman is located northeast of Yemen and south of Saudi Arabia and U.A.E. Its shores are on the Arabian Sea and go north toward the Persian Gulf, but end before the Straits of Hormuz, at the U.A.E. border. Evidence shows settlement back 5,000 years, but until merchants began to sell frankincense, it was a relatively isolated country. Frankincense was thought to have divine curative powers and was widely sought after during the time of Christ, and was more precious than gold because it was only found here. It is a resin derived from the scraggly Boswellia tree, and is a sweet incense when burned, although I found it not that pleasant a smell. It is still used here, and now is very cheap. (No, I didn’t buy any!) Commerce flourished during the 2nd century. When the demand for the incense waned, the development here slowed, and the country became almost isolated from the world until the 1970’s when, guess what, they discovered….OIL!
Soon after that discovery, the country opened up and people were allowed to come and go freely. Development moved quickly, and building continued to grow, especially in Salalah and Muscat, the capital. The country is desert, and therefore very dry and unless irrigated, the land does not produce much. Coconut palms are grown here in great quantity, but dates are not because, according to our guide, it is not hot enough. There is a monsoon season from June through August when the rain floods areas and the mountains are once again green. The Bedouins still are keepers of the animals, especially the camels that roam freely across the country. We saw no oil rigs on our journey as they are in the interior of the country, not near the sea shore.
We drove to the ruins of Sumhuram, once the center of trade where they would toss bales of frankincense over the cliffs onto boats not too far below. It is also known as the Queen of Sheba’s city as that is where she lived. The ruins sit atop a beautiful cliff with breathtaking views overlooking the Arabian Sea. We could walk among the ruins and by using our imagination, could picture Queen Sheba giving orders to her servants to bring her more grapes. The area is hard to get to and is well guarded to prevent vandalism. We passed well tended houses, mostly white, and several turrets and mosques along the way. The country has huge concrete plants and exports gravel and stone as well as oil. The port is , we were told, the third largest in the world. The air is clean except for the sand, but there is no smog as in the developed cities of the world.
Our guide spoke limited English, and said tourism is still being developed and they hope it will become a country many tourists want to see. They are in the process of building big hotels and resorts, but until this part of the world becomes a bit more stable, shall we say, it may be a while before tourists flock here. The Sultan has a huge palace, of course, and we didn’t see any real poverty as we had before. The government is building houses for the people, and we saw a beautiful complex he built for the families of those who work for him. He was not home at the time as he was in Riad doing business.
The one thing we did not see on our tour was Job’s tomb which, I understand, is a long, elaborate tomb decorated with verses from the Quran. I am sure my former students in Ft. Lauderdale would LOVE to know about that since they so enjoyed reading about Job’s suffering. We did struggle with that part of the curriculum, I sort of know how Job might have felt - a little. Actually, the tomb is an important part of this area, and I’m sorry I did not see it, but we had to make choices. The history is so deep when you think about civilization existing back 5,000 years and more right here. The tomb is open to the public. Women must have their skin covered (arms, legs, body, and head) and men as well except no head covering. And of course, no shoes, either.
Our last stop was in a small fishing village on the way to Salalah. We saw ruins of a house of a rich man who had so much money he built his house of honey. I don’t exactly understand how this came about, but the bricks are somehow made of honey, and then are able to be assembled safely into walls. In any event, what we saw was what is left after many, many years - don’t know how many. We saw lots of camels in the desert on the way back, but most of them were too far away to photograph. The country is so interesting, and I’m sure if things stabilize in this area, that the country could be another desirable destination for winter vacations. We did pass a beach development with many buildings that were used by scouts from all the Arab countries to assemble at least once a year. They have the right idea.
We returned to our ship and enjoyed the sail away from this huge, busy port and a most interesting visit to the developing country of Oman.
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