Salalah, Oman

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After 4 days at sea, we pulled into Salalah. We had been escorted by the Dutch Frigate, HnLms Evertsen since leaving Mombasa and were sorry to see it leave. It's main Mission was to protect Emergency Food supplies that were being delivered to Somalia but we were very happy to have her company and protection as well.

Salalah is a pretty bleak looking place from the water and it did not get much better once we went ashore. We had booked a Shore Excursion to Mughsayl Beach, Frankincense Trees and The Tomb of The Prophet Job. The beach was actually beautiful but there was not a single soul on it! Swimming is not part of the Omani Culture so no one goes to the beach. The big highlight of our first stop was the blow holes where waves are forced through the rock and come out in big fountains. Unfortunately this only happens during the rainy season in July & August but we stood by the hole anyway and did manage a little stream.

The next stop was the Frankincense Trees of which there were only 2! Turns out no one uses Frankincense anymore and tourists have been cutting them to make their sap run and give them a sniff of the aroma. Due to excessive cutting there are now only the 2 we were able to see. There used to be quite a few along the coast but now there are just 2 along the road. The Government has decided to plant a few groves of the trees but these are currently protected from the public. There are still some farms over the mountain range but there just is not a big market for this Magi Gift that at one time was worth more than Gold!

To get to the Tomb, we had to drive over the mountain range and this turned out to be quite nice since we got a chance to see a lot more of the country and the way people live. Most Omani's either live in the desert and tend camels, live on the coast and fish or live in the mountains and raise cattle and goats. We got to see a slice of all three on the trip. There are no fences in Oman to keep animals in one place and everything is open range. The only fences or walls are to keep animals out! We had camels and cattle blocking our route a number of times. The tomb was basically anticlimactic, but like I said the ride was definitely worth it. Even our guide admitted that the odds were less than 10% that Job was actually buried at the Tomb!

The excursion of cause had to end at a Sauk, where we had a chance to buy some local wares. It turned out to be a good stop because we really wanted to buy some frankincense and it also gave us a chance to tour around Salalah a bit. The town is like a little oasis and was the only place we actually saw anything that was green! Got to see a little of the Sultan's Palace which he uses when he is in the area and not in Muscat, where he lives full time. Overall, we had a very nice day and glad we stopped here.

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