Today we berthed at Salalah, a port at the southwest corner of Oman. After 4-1/2 days at sea, our ship needed to refuel, and we were all eager to get off the ship and stretch our legs.
Salalah’s weather was very different than what we’ve experienced on this journey so far. We left the hot-and-dry of Egypt and Jordan for the hot-and-incredibly-humid of the Red Sea. Salalah, in contrast, was in the low 80’s today and a little humid, but not oppressively so. They’ve just come off a rainy spell from the Indian monsoons, so the local vegetation was a nice healthy green. The city was very clean and not at all crowded, even though we had come at the start of rush hour.
Salalah is a relatively unknown spot for Western tourists, but it is a popular summer getaway for residents of the Arabian peninsula. In July and August, when temperatures easily exceed 104°F (40°C) in cities like Riyadh or Dubai, Salalah remains relatively cool (by comparison) all summer.
Our Omani tour guide, Ali Amer Al-Mashani, took us first to the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in the newer part of the city. It was prayer time, so we couldn’t go in, but we enjoyed the beauty of the mosque’s architecture from outside.
Next we visited a roadside fruit and vegetable area. Salalah’s climate is conducive to growing coconuts, bananas, tamarinds, dates, figs, and other tropical fruits.
The market keeper hacked open coconuts and inserted straws so that we could have a refreshing drink.
Another stop took us to the Frankincense Museum. The city has been an important hub of the frankincense trade for thousands of years.
Tradition holds that it was the source of the gift of the Magi to the infant Jesus.
Frankincense is made from a resin that is taken from local trees. After it’s dried, it can serve many purposes depending on which variety you’ve got. Some of it is best used for incense. The sweet and pleasant smell of burning frankincense pervaded the entire souk (also suq, i.e. open-air market) in the old town. Other varieties can be chewed like gum or taken like medicine for a variety of ills. In addition to its curative powers, the locals believe that it is also important for driving away evil spirits.
I enjoyed the stroll through the suq and its myriad shops selling perfumes, colorful fabrics, kummas (embroidered round hats for men and children), keffiyehs (turbans), toys, necklaces, and traditional curved daggers.
The shopkeepers were friendly and eager to talk with Western shoppers, but not at all pushy. It was a pleasant respite from the “in-your-face” aggressive sales tactics of the people at the tourist sites in Egypt. The suq is a hundred yards or so from a beach. Ali said that modernization is coming; the suq will likely be demolished soon to make way for luxury hotels.
Ali was very happy to answer questions about the life of typical Omanis. With the country’s oil income, Oman is able to provide free public education for all children, and free college for those who score above 90% on the entrance exams. Some people were surprised to hear about the size of the extended families who all share one home—as many as 45 grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, kids, grandkids can share a single house. But the house would be very big by American standards. Ali said that the 25 members of his family share a house of more than 15,000 square feet.
Our tour was over after only a little more than three hours. We’re back out to sea this evening. One more sea day, then we arrive at Muscat.
