Day 84 - Salalah, Oman

 

 

Date:  April 2

 

Location:  Day 84 – Salalah, Oman

 

Next Port:  Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, April 6

 

Quick Summary:  We pulled into the container port of Salalah, Oman shortly before 8:00 a.m. for a short visit.  Surrounded by a 4,000 ft. mountain range, the “Perfume City” is Oman’s second largest with a population of about 230,000. We took a ship’s excursion to see Prophet Job’s tomb, visit a beach, learn about frankincense, chase some camels and stop at a souq.

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Report:  Capt. Dag allowed Staff Captain Daniel to bring us into this very active and rapidly growing shipping port. He did an excellent job. From the sights of the new breakwaters going in and the leveled desert surrounding the docks, the expansion will be continuing for some time.

 

Our tour started with a drive to Mughsail Beach, a two-mile stretch of white sandy beaches and crystal clear waters that lies to the west and is bordered by rocky cliffs and blowholes. The blowholes depend on high tides and there wasn’t much action during our visit. However, the coastline in this area was quite dramatic.

 

Traveling to and from the beach, we saw many, many camels wandering through the desert and along the roads. They seem to particularly like to use the guy wires on transmission poles to scratch themselves.

 

On the way back from the beach, we stopped to tap some frankincense trees for their sweet smelling sap. Frankincense has been the source of wealth for this province since ancient times as the Greeks and Romans used it in holy ceremonies. It is still used around the world today in many churches, mosques and homes. While our guide was telling us about the tapping process, Larry and Cindy went chasing after some camels on a nearby rise to get some photos. Though domesticated (the camels, not Larry), they can be somewhat nasty at times. But the two-legged folks managed to get some good shots.

 

From the tree-tapping experience, we drove on to Job’s Tomb where according to legend, the remains of the Muslim and Old Testament Prophet Job are located. It is a sacred place for Muslims, Christians and Jews from all over the world. It was a moving experience as we remembered the Bible stories we had learned so long ago. While there, we were also able to enjoy some beautiful panoramic views of the Qara Mountains and the Jubriah Plain.

 

Once we arrived in Salalah, we stopped at a street-side market for some coconutdrinks and bananas. Then we had 20 minutes to shop in the souq. That was really enough. Many of the stores throughout the town were closed – whether it was due to the midday heat or economics – it was hard to tell. But it was certainly obvious that Salalah is not as prosperous as Muscat.  We did manage to purchase some frankincense and some perfume oils.

 

After returning to the ship, we had a quick lunch on the deck, before the sail-away at 1:15 p.m. Capt. Dag saw Larry hanging over the railing on Deck 12 and invited him down to the bridge (Deck 10) to view the departure from there.  Staff Captain Daniel was at the helm so Capt. Dag had more time to visit and answer questions. He wanted to know if Larry was going to publish a book of his adventures. (Hmmmmm.) He also invited Larry to come back some time to take some photos down on the anchor deck or from the high smokestack area. (Larry will certainly take him up on that opportunity.)

 

We had a delightful dinner in Compass Rose with Danielle, the cruise fitness instructor, and Anne, one of the ship’s tour directors. They are roommates and are both full of boundless energy. We will be sad to see Anne leave us in Monaco.  She will be joining the Mariner for a few Caribbean cruises followed by the transit through the Panama Canal as the Mariner repositions to Alaska for the summer.

 

After dinner we enjoyed concert pianist Panos Karan performing works of Chopin and Liszt.  It was a lovely way to end another fine day on our World Cruise.

 

Now it’s three sea days before we arrive in Sharm El Sheikh on the tip of the Sinai Peninsula.

 

  Larry and Karen

 

Photos of our cruise are available at the following web site:

 

picasaweb.google.com/larryworldcruise

 

Photos of Salalah have been added.