Salalah-Oman Salalah, Oman

From Muscat, we flew to Salalah, about a hour and a half flight. It was July during the monsoon season in Salalah, where Oman meets the Arabian Sea. We saw very little rain, but it was overcast and humid, with temperatures in the 80's (27 C), but comfortable.


We stayed at the Salalah Hilton, a beautiful hotel on the outskirts of Salalah, surrounded by very little except sand and camels. Camels on the road, camels on the beach, and camels with our Toyota Land Cruisers, seemingly the transportation of choice in Oman. We got carried away with taking pictures of camels, all of which are included in the photo gallery for your viewing pleasure. But the camels were part of the adventure.


Then we started by trying to find the local souqs (markets), based on directions from the car rental agency. What we found one was probably not a tourist destination...a little run down feeling, a few shops, an open air gun souq and a third world feel I just was not ready for, as we walked away from the gun souq, we passed a weathered older man, dressed traditionally all in black, with a belt of bullets across his chest and a dagger hanging from his belt. We did not stay too long, leaving for our first trip away from Salalah to Mughsail Beach.


The next day we split up. Half of us spent the day at the Salalah Hilton, enjoying the beach and all that the hotel had to offer. The rest of us set off for Ubar and the Rub' al Khali the "Empty Quarter.


Our rental Toyota Land Cruiser came with an unexpected surprise that we enjoyed throughout our travels in Oman. We found two cassette tapes, filled with modern Arabic music. One was commercially produced, but the labeling was so worn as to be illegible, so it became known as the "white tape." The other was a recording made from another source and became known as the "clear tape." We talked to the rental agency representative, who said to consider them a gift.


The next day we were off again. It was a long day, with our first stop being Job's Tomb, followed by a drive along the edge of the Rub' al-Khali, where the mountains meet the desert.


And to finish our last day in Salalah, before returning to Muscat, we had dinner at Bin Atique...traditional Omani food, reasonable prices, and very casual. We were all in one room, no table, no chairs, just a rug and pillows, and a TV broadcasting in Arabic the day's news and events. Our dinners were put in the middle of the floor, and we all shared. My favorite was the biryani rice (more Indian than Arabic).

I also enjoyed the coffee at the end of the meal, although not everyone did. It was much different than either American coffee or espresso...strong, thick, sweet, and heavily flavored with cardamom.